"Quit Digging in the TRASH!"

I have a toddler.  Actually, as of yesterday, I have 2 toddlers now! Two boy toddlers. My world is a mess of dirt, yelling, hitting, jumping, climbing, more yelling, tackling, fighting, snuggles, kisses, and bedtime stories. I seriously think I have the greatest life...

But there's this thing with my oldest...he's convinced there's something worth scavenging for in the trash. Like, OBSESSIVELY. He just can't help it when he walks by...he has to take a peek and start pulling things out. This started when he could barely walk. I thought it was a phase...but not so much!

Now, this is extra hilarious, because he won the gold medal last Olympic games for pickiest eater in the World, y'all! Gold. Okay, but seriously-he is always in my trash! He was trying to tip an empty chocolate chip bag to see if something came out. Another time he was just pulling things out and looking at them. Other times, he was finding candy wrappers thinking there must be candy close by. And last but not least, he would pull things out and say "No Mommy! This not trash!" And attempt to redeem something that he was not wise enough to know was plain 'ol garbage.

One day as I was yellin-er..., talking firmly to him about his garbage-picking tendencies, I was struck with the many spiritual implications it confronted. I want to unpack some thoughts on what those were...

1. We often are too busy looking in the trash to see what God has for us. We miss what's right there because we've elevated the trash above what God has. When my son has his head and hands all busy with trash, he's neglecting the blessings all around him that we've given him. Food that is whole and clean, nice toys, crayons that aren't broken. In the same way, I believe our Heavenly Father has given us so much in this life to be thankful and grateful for, but we get stuck digging through the trash; obsessively so at times.

2. This kind of plays off the last point: We often get distracted by garbage. So many things in our lives pull and tug at our attention...and literally work to take it off God and His Word. We get so interested in garbage that we lose sight of our desire for something more. We become satisfied, and yes, even happy with our garbage.

3. Trash is misleading. Like sin, garbage has a way of being enticing...it has a mirage effect. It summons you by the promise and intrigue of more. The jar of jam doesn't belong there! That goes in the fridge! Ahh...but then we open it and realize it's empty, and now we've been sucked in only to find it really was worthless. The candy wrappers must mean there's candy! If I just dig far enough into the garbage, surely I'll find something special in here... when my son was tipping the empty chocolate chip bag, what he didnt realize was that I was preparing wonderful birthday treats four our younger son's birthday that evening. My son was looking for a leftover morsel when I was busy making delicious dessert to share with him. The promise of trash is misleading and causes us to be impatient with what our Heavenly Father has planned for us.

4. We identify trash by digging into God's Word instead. My son often pulls out things he thinks are not trash. My knowledge and wisdom is infinitely more than his 2 year old mind can understand right now. I know that sifting trash is confusing for him (can you imagine if the 2 year old was responsible for what is garbage and what is not? This is the same kid who asks to see his poop before you roll up the diaper...) but he thinks he is a PRO! He is sure that I must have made a mistake when I threw that piece of paper, or that broken toy, or that opened can with the sharp top...you see, I know that what I've put in garbage, I put there for his own good. He can't see that. But I know what I'm doing.

I believe there are times in our surrender to Almighty God, that He takes things in our lives that are "trash" and puts them in the garbage. And then we go hunting...we go hunting back through the things that can harm us, the things that are no longer useful, the things that are dirty, impure, and have no place in our lives-we go hunting through them to find something really great, because trash has an allure to it for us...we begin to rationalize, "...well I just thought this may be useful or we may need it...can't we use this? Are you sure you don't need this? Is there another piece of candy that got thrown away on accident?" And waste our time, energy, and focus on the things God knows absolutely don't belong out of the trash can, while all the whiling consistently missing what He is trying to give us.

Is it always peach cobbler? NO! But you can be sure of this: What He puts in the trash is no good for you, and whatever He hands you is, no matter what. 

So next time you are tempted to go garbage-picking; DON'T!  Your heavenly Father IS at work; even when you can't see what He's doing. You don't need to get on the worry train and become a self-sufficient control freak because you can't trust Him when He says get out of the trash. You CAN trust Him! He doesn't make mistakes and He doesn't waste opportunities. Stop looking through the garbage long enough for Him to hand you a gift. After all, you are called; you who belong to Him,  a child of the King. So live like it.

And stay OUT of the trash.