Garbage Pt. 2

Remember my last post when I touched below the surface and said what the rest of the world wishes I wouldn’t have?  You know, the one about Garbage.

Today I am going to go even further and talk about what can happen when you try to deal with the problem at hand.  I may even give you a few hints on how to conquer it.

Now that we are past the point of recognizing that the garbage needs to be taken out the next step is to actually implement a plan of attack.  This can get tricky.  Sometimes the people in your life like your garbage and will try to convince you that you need to keep it and maybe paint it a different color.  Mold can still grow on the color purple folks.  Even if you choose green it will still eventually start to reek.  You and ONLY you can decide whether or not your garbage can truly be salvaged.  Do not let anyone make you feel bad that it’s only future home is going to be the landfill.

Once you have decided where your garbage is going the next task at hand is to figure out how you are going to get it there.  Do you need to create a support team?  Is an accountability partner an option for you?  Does someone else need to be protected too?  Sometimes it is hard to see but our children can smell the garbage long before we can see it and many times they do not have the words to get help like we do.  Make sure all of their bases are safe too.  If we leave them out of the equation we will never hit this ball out of the park.

The plan is in place, you have your bucket full of confidence and you are just sure that you can overcome any obstacle.  You think that there is no way this can get any harder than the last few steps you have taken.  I am here to tell you that it can and you need to have your shield ready for when it does.  Garbage needs to be removed in layers.  It cannot all happen in one day.  Maybe today you will go buy some sturdy bags.  Or perhaps you will get a broom that can tackle the biggest piles of dirt.  When it comes down to brass tax, however, you will realize about half way through you become exhausted.  It feels like the garbage is procreating right in front of you faster than you can scoop it into a canister.  This is when you call upon your team. Tell them to bring bags. And smelly spray.  Let go of your shame.  Warn them ahead of time that this is the hardest thing you have ever done and to be sensitive.  Express that you are embarrassed, accept their hugs, cry, and then remember to actually breath.  When you calm down and pick yourself back up you will notice that the pile is getting smaller and more manageable.  Much less daunting and scary.

Never ever forget your team.  And remember, we all have blessings and struggles at different times.  The people that you have called upon will someday need you to help them take out their garbage as well.  When you get that call, grab up your extra bags and your bins and high tail it over there. Who knows? Once you arrive you may notice their garbage has become so moldy that it has grown its own pair of legs and is ready to take everyone down to their knees. 

Be. Ready.  Because heavens knows there is no way you can let the garbage do the same damage that it had done before.  You are ready this time around. 

You've got this. Your strength is immeasurable. If you don't believe me just ask God. He has been there all along. And he loves you more than you can ever fathom. 


P.S. These pictures were taken AFTER 12 car loads of garbage had been taken to the dump. This made me tired. This messed up garage was the story of how bad it had been for way. too. long.

Garbage.

I want to touch on a little issue that all people have and we know it but we spend most of our time trying to hide it.

Garbage.

You know what I am talking about. The stuff we hurry up and shove in a closet when we find out someone is coming over and they are 5 minutes away.  We might even spray febreze so that the lingering odor from it does not give us away when it comes wafting out of the closet at our unsuspecting guests.

But lets take this one level deeper.  What about the garbage of our life that is not so superficial?  What about the abuse that has been taking place for years.  Or the addiction that has been swept under the rug.  Maybe it is a secret that we just cannot keep anymore because it is eating us up from the inside out.

That Garbage.  That is the garbage I am wanting to take to the landfill today.  The kind that should have been there BEFORE it got moldy.  The last few months of my life have not been easy.  I have had to make decisions that no mother/wife wants to have to make and yet. I have.  As I was emptying out the garage today I was realizing how much it had been building up over the years and also how exhausting and freeing it was to just. Get. It. Out. 

I have rescued my daughter and I from a relationship that was going to take my life and would show her how woman never deserve to be treated.  I am not saying everything is fixed and that hurdles will never spontaneously land in front of us but I do know that the garbage that had been festering for a very long time is now being put in its proper place.  Where someone who knows how to maintain it’s horrific smell and can stop it from weakening the foundation of our home.

I have discovered a group of people who come in and help you rebuild yourself after the damage has been done and they lift you up as you start crumbling again.   They encourage you to keep pressing on because you are worth it.  Sometimes God places them strategically because he knows this would bring you to your knees if they were not there. For this I am thankful.

Garbage.  Take it out before it ruins your house too.  Hurry up! What are YOU waiting for?

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”  -C.S. Lewis