SEARCHING FOR THE TRASHCAN

In the quiet of the early morning, when yard sprinklers turn on to wet the soil and birds begin singing a “Good Morning” song, I hear the sounds of the trash pickup truck in the distance. A loud engine roars as the truck stops and goes to allow the workers to retrieve trash cans from each side of the street.

The engine disturbs the gentle tranquility of the morning. I am thankful for the cans to be emptied. Peeking out of the front window, I notice the workers moving quickly from one side of the street to the other, emptying each can and rapidly walking to place the cans back in the correct place.

After taking care of a few morning chores, I walked outside to get our can and prepare to spray it with disinfectant. That’s just something I do every trash day.

Glancing at the can sitting on our driveway, I noticed something different. All the cans are dark brown, but ours is older and has more wear and tear on it. Scrapes and dents show on the top and sides. I used a permanent marker to write an “H” on our can so I would make sure we had the correct one each week. I don’t want anyone else having the old, beat up can when they were given a new one.

Strange. This can looks new. Checking for the “H”, a blank spot was where the letter should be located.
Time to go searching.

Hoping the neighbors were not disturbed by my actions. Here’s what happened.

1. Brought the trash can back to house, then noticed it wasn’t ours.
2. Walked that can back to the end of the driveway.
3. Walked to the next door neighbor’s driveway to check that can. No “H”.
4. Walked to another neighbor’s driveway to check that can. No “H”.
5. Walked across the street to check that can. YES! “H” was found.
6. Brought neighbor’s can to their driveway, switched and brought our can home.

Those cans make a lot of noise while moving them across the street and up the driveways.
I wondered if anyone was watching and thought, “What is that woman doing?”

A simple act of making sure we had the old can and the neighbor had the newer can. A simple act of kindness.

I laughed along the way, thinking how silly I must have looked as I walked from can to can and checked each one.

This simple experience made me think of several things. The first was to thank God for the men and women who work on the trash trucks. Those folks are out there in the sunshine and heat and the rain and cold.
Second, I thought about “trash” in my life. Have I focused on “trash” talk in the media lately? Or have I gone to God with my concerns and prayers for the world? Has my mind been filled with negative thoughts that should be thrown away or have I looked for ways to share joy and to share God’s love with others?

I choose joy and peace. I pray my thoughts, words and actions will show His love.

How about you? Is there any “trash” that needs to be emptied from your life?

Have a blessed day,
You are loved,
Mimi aka Melissa Henderson

Tweet