Trash & Treasure...

I did it. I broke the shredder. Literally. Can you imagine why?



I'll admit it. I am a pack rat. I like to keep things and I don't like to throw things away. Especially papers. Going through papers is probably the one thing I like the least and hate the most. It's not a big enough picture for me. It's too many details. DoubleT, on the other hand, can sit for hours to sort through all my garbage or untangle a big mess of jumbled up necklaces. It's the difference between me and him and one of the ways we balance each other out. I am the visionary and he is the one who has the sense and persistence to clean up my messes. :-)

The huge pile of trash invading the kitchen table was generated from our efforts this evening to clean out the guest room / nursery for the upcoming last homestudy visit... 7 days and counting...


How does one room contain that much useless paper, you ask? Well, that is one of my greatest faults and the result of my view that the purpose of an empty room is to store junk (including piles of papers I don't want to go through at any given moment) until such time as that room becomes needed for a more useful or urgent purpose.

I did experience a variety of emotions as we sorted through all the things from the last few years of our life... happiness, irritation, sadness... At times, I was a bit overwhelmed at the size of the task, but as we neared the end, I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment to see a dim light at the end of the tunnel... at least for this room.




It's kind of like that with our emotional and spiritual trash too, isn't it? As long as we may let our hurts or sins pile up, ignore them, or hide them, the day arrives when they must be uncovered, dealt with, and cleaned up. Even shredded. It can be a painful process, and sometimes, it can even break us. But the end result is a beautiful thing and brings such a sense of freedom.

Occasionally, it can even unearth a hidden treasure.

Like the card I found from my Gram.

She died 6 years ago this month, and I still miss her deeply. I don't really remember the birthday card from when she gave it to me, but finding it tonight was like receiving a very special and unexpected gift all over again.

She did not come to know the Lord until she was an adult, but from that moment, she followed and served Him.

Service.

It characterized her life.

While she was not perfect - who of us is? - she was such a loving woman who spent all of her time caring for each person in her life.

She took care of me when I was little, as I grew up, and even during the early years of our marriage. She always did what she could to put others first. She was a peace-lover and a peace-maker. In her older years when she didn't get out as much, she spent much time listening to sermons on television, taking notes, and clinging to God's word. Even near the end of her life, her notes indicated her love for God and her desire to please Him.

Oh, that I could live out this heritage and pass it on to my children.

I wish she were still here with us to get the chance to meet them...

I know that she didn't have any way to get me a birthday card unless I or someone from the family had taken her shopping. She must have purchased this card when we were out to eat because it comes from a line of cards sold at a restaurant we frequented together from time to time. It wasn't a birthday card specifically, but the note written inside in her shaky script marked the occasion for which it was intended...

"Dear C.C.,
Happy Birthday
Love, Gram"

The pre-printed message on the front of the card she selected? It wasn't a particularly "spiritual" card, but knowing her life, it speaks volumes. And God knew I would find it again tonight right when I needed it... 3 little words...

No test or temptation that comes your way is
beyond the course of what others have had to face.
All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;
He'll never let you be pushed past your limit;
He'll always be there to help you come through it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message)

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...