I was in the middle of getting myself dressed and making breakfast (does it sound like mad multi-tasking skills? It is. 😉 I looked out the kitchen window and saw the garbage truck sitting there. Whoops! It dawned on me that trash day was a day late with the Thanksgiving holiday. I REALLY didn’t want to miss this collection (but really- do you ever feel okay with missing a collection? It gives me angst to think about it, honestly). The truck KEPT sitting there, and I just stared at it. I’m like, okay- he’s there but…I’ll never make it. But he was right at our driveway. So I had to make a decision. Go out in my still pajama’ed self (new word, yes), and run like heck to try and get the huge bin to the truck? Or- call and see if they could come later (for a fee). Either way it needed to go! I threw my husband’s size 14 tennis shoes on, and one of his jackets. (I swear, if there’s ever something URGENT that pops up, his clothes are like– right there- shoes in the garage, etc. ). I HUMBLY try to rush out without looking like the village peddler/gypsy combo, but I did. Then I waived frantically (if I didn’t look like the peddler/gypsy/vagabond before- now I did for sure). The man starts walking up, and I said- do you mind? He kept walking towards me. He said, “here I’m going to get it for you”. I told him that I completely blanked because of the holiday, but really appreciated him waiting. I was a little embarrassed. I told him he didn’t have to carry the trash bin, but he just kept moving towards it, until I handed it over. He said that we always had our trash out on time, and he thought he’d give us a few minutes. He took the bin the rest of the way to the truck. Although still slightly embarrassed, I waived, and was grateful.
This was a teachable moment for me. I hadn’t experienced one in a while (I should say, my heart hasn’t been open to them ). Sometimes I feel like I need to have a ‘collection day’ with the Lord. Maybe there’s something to reconcile, or something to confess. I come to the Lord, a mess- (kind of like the peddler/gypsy…I know- 3rd time I’ve said that). I’m hobbling around trying to throw everything together- just to experience that He will kindly say…”Here. Give that to me”. And there is no need to be ashamed, even though there are things I am RUSHING to get rid of…the junk, the garbage. I want it all thrown into a pile never to be seen again, and let me say that it’s a bit humbling to be in the presence of the One who can take it away. It’s what He wants to do for us. He asks us in Psalms 52, to “cast our burdens” onto Him, because he cares for us. Don’t worry- He can handle the garbage; the unflattering junk- because whether we share that openly or not, He already knows. The waste management worker didn’t have any expectations. He didn’t require I come in (even halfway) decent attire! He made it very simple. “Let me take that for you.” We like to control our own waste management. We’ll take care of our own problems, deal with our own baggage. Because we know best, right? But while ownership of our problems is important, it’s not necessarily the right call to try and undo it all on our own. Try as we may to dump it into the deepest and most secret of landfills, there’s someone who will be there to intercept it. If someone is looking to take the garbage off your hands. Let them.
summerlbruhn 