I have hated my trash can for 11 years. Six months ago I realized I am allowed to buy another one…but I have yet to do it. Why? Well 1) I am extremely frugal, 2) it is not a need. I have a trash can. A dumb trash can, but a functioning trash can. My goal this week is to go to Wal-mart and buy a new, non-dumb trash can and a pack of glue sticks.
Maybe I am like a leaf that’s blown around by the wind. Getting swept away by life. (I am praying the next 6 weeks sweep away very quickly to get out of this nutrition class that, like my trash can, I do not appreciate.) My baby just turned one, my oldest just turned eight, and I am beginning to develop this dumb wrinkle in between my eyes…probably because of all the strange faces I give my children when they do things like lick the leg of the side table, bandaid door knobs, and eat cheese sticks wrapped in tortillas. Time goes quickly. Days go slowly. Hours drag by. 8-6 takes at least 14 hours as I wait for my hubs to get home each day. Maybe you think of a gentle breeze blowing the leaf around, but I live in Oklahoma…where the wind comes sweeping down the plains and blowing leaves hit you in the face like a 95mph baseball. (Kidding, never been hit in the face by a baseball so I doubt that’s accurate).
I love my kids! But holy cow, there’s just so much crying/whining. The baby is crying because he hates sleep, Macs is crying because it’s too dark (the same amount of dark as there has been every night for the past 1,369 days of his life), Evs is whining because Macs is crying, and Hads needs water. Just about the time the baby stops crying the buzzer to the dryer goes off and then I join in on the crying.
Oh right, the dumb trash can that has nothing to do with any of this. Maybe it’s not the trash can (ope there’s more footsteps coming down the stairs for a cough drop because everyone gets sick at bedtime), maybe it’s the amount of trash we accumulate and the frequency of having to take it out, tie it up, walk it to the alley, and put another bag in. Maybe that’s the problem. How do we accumulate this enormous amount of trash each day.
We are moving. Moving out of our gorgeous historic home with dark wood trim, beautiful wood floors, and a (1/2) wraparound, lovely porch we dropped a (well-worth-it) crap-ton of money on. I have come to have an overly annoying view of “needs” and “wants.” I need Jesus. I need water. I need food. I need shelter. I need love. I need clothes (to a small extent). I don’t need SOO much. Did I almost throw up when signing the contract to our house. Yep. Sure did, but it only hurt for a moment. I’m sure I will cry walking out of this home for the last time, but it’s a thing that could be taken away in an instant in this crazy Oklahoma wind (if a tornado actually made it into the town which I am thankful has never happened here).
My brother stood up at the capitol in OKC today and spoke about a new bill (SB13) that is working toward abolishing abortion. No exceptions. No it’s okay when ________. Just complete abolishment. Background. My parents didn’t pound us with politics. Heck, I didn’t even register to vote until I was 26 when my boss nicely scolded me about that. But here my brother was standing there speaking to hundreds of people today advocating for unborn babies. He has this incredible passion to see people come to know Jesus, to see lives changed, and to share LOVE. He lives differently. He is bold. He is a warrior for the Gospel. He fights the good fight with everything in him. He has stepped into unknown territory for something he believes in.
I have a photo of him holding my three year old Haddi while she tried to touch the sting rays at the zoo years ago. He was in his usual bandana that held in his shoulder length dreads and Hads still had her little sandy blonde ringlets that have long since gone away. The photo was date-stamped: hardest time of my life. He showed up day after day and fought for me and with me in prayer and in action. He is a constant reminder to me of the need to pray and the need to make moves with belief.
Getting swept up in the day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year life is a common occurrence in my life, but when I stop and remember the quote of my good friend’s good friend…”On the scale of one to eternity…” it helps me put things back into perspective. What in the world is important? What are you chasing? Is it something that will be swept away or is it something that will last.
Matthew 13:44-46 – “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
What can the Oklahoma wind do to the treasure you are clinging too? I hope absolutely nothing.
(Last thing…you know me. If you’re asking what the heck this had to do with a trash can, you’re not alone. Who knows.)
Bye friends.
Hey Brooke Fuller 