Taking Out the Trash

As a kid, I remember the chore of taking out the trash and how it burned me to the core that my younger siblings didn’t inherit the chore as they were old enough to accomplish it. It was my responsibility for life! Then, as an adult, in a family where the husband traveled for a living and always conveniently was gone on trash day, I resented the chore even more. Why was taking out the trash MY JOB?

When you look up the meaning of “taking out the trash” you will find, “getting rid of something unnecessary in your life or in a given situation.” Or “getting rid of the rubbish in our lives.”

Wow! Why didn’t I realize as a kid that I was preparing for adulthood and “life” in learning how to accept the chore of “taking out the trash”??? There was a time that I actually went on STRIKE, put up a banner over my bedroom door that said, "I am never, EVER TAKING OUT THE TRASH AGAIN?" How far did that get me??? The following week I was still taking out the trash.

God has taught me many lessons, but as I take out every trash can in our “house in renovation” tiny basement living today, I think, “Why am I still taking out the trash?” It has truly become a joke over my near 55 years of life that I- IIIIII am always the one taking out the trash!

Maybe God is continuing to show me that I need to get rid of the unnecessary, the things that are cluttering my life, my mind, or clearing the rubbish as Philippians states:

Philippians 3:8More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

So, taking out the trash clears the way for Christ to enter in! It removes the rubbish, the unnecessary, and creates space for God to work.

Why did it take me 50 some years to figure that out?

John came home today and commented on me taking out all of the trash. My first thought was, “Well, that is my job and what I’m supposed to do, even though I HATE IT!” There is a lesson in there. It brings me to tears to think about it.

For so many years there has been junk in the way, keeping me from letting God fully work in my life. I know now that the rubbish has to be tended to. The trash has to be taken out. If not, it piles up and blocks the way for some of God’s most amazing work.

So just like I have a new job in life to run a nonprofit that my husband and I have created and to create beautiful floral designs for those that seek them, I must also remember that it is my job to take out the trash. Forever and always…..clearing the way for God to work. That’s my job.