Thursday, July 26, 2007

Taking out the Trash

I love an empty trash can. They don't happen around me very often, but since I've taken this job at FW, the trash gets emptied regularly! It's amazing! I don't have to deal with it, the trash just goes away for me.

Do you remember the story of the Shoemaker and the Elves? The Elves come each night to make shoes for a poor shoemaker, until his business is thriving. It's a wonderful story. In my life, however, having my trashcan emptied and a new liner put in is as amazing as that story.

I throw away (or recycle) things regularly, but I hate dealing with a full trash can. At home, that's Max's job. But, he has decided that he will empty (sometimes) one trash can. So, the trash in the living room piles up until I deal with it and the second trash can in the kitchen never gets emptied, the trash in the downstairs bathroom overflows until I deal with it. It frustrates me beyond belief! I can always tell when it's time to deal with the trash myself. I no longer have room on my desk, because I haven't taken the time to throw everything away.

I could probably nag at Max and whine at him, but that's not my style. Max doesn't like it any more than I do!

Why am I telling all of this to you? Well, sometimes I think the garbage in my life is a lot like that. I do not like dealing with it. It piles up. Before I know it, the garbage is flowing over into places it shouldn't be. It makes it difficult to work and difficult to enjoy my life!

Am I calling God the eternal trash man? I suppose so. I don't even have to bag up the trash and have it outside on a certain day of the week. If I'm smart about this, I don't have to work very hard at all. I just have to pay attention to my relationship with Him. He takes out the trash! Sometimes He and I have a tug of war over a piece of garbage that He thinks should be gone from my life and that I think I'm not ready to part with, but if I'm smart about it - I just let it go.

That isn't as easy as it should be, I tend not to be that smart. I have little bits of anger and annoyance, petty arguments and stupid feelings that I hold on to. Those build up in my life like a pile of trash!

I walked into my office this morning and sat down. As I began working, I was tossing papers in the recycle bin and trash in the trash can. I smiled. Both had been emptied before I got to work, both will be emptied before I get them full to overflowing. Little things like that make me very happy. I don't have to think about it - it just happens for me.

I walk into my relationship with God. As I began talking with Him, I toss things in the recycle bin, tears and anger, resentment and arguments in the trash can. Both are emptied before I even finish the conversation. It doesn't have to overflow. I don't really have to think about it - it just happens.

God is bigger than my trash ... how about yours?

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