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WWJD and the saga of the recycling bin

So I have wasted a good portion of the last hour and a half checking out the front window to see if the guy has come to drop off our new recycling bin.

Remember a couple of weeks ago I told you about my revelation that our carefully sorted, washed and preserved recyclable garbage that I had been putting out in what I had been told was a recycling bin, was in reality being dumped, along with our regular, nasty, unwashed bagged trash,  into the same vehicle because, alas…

the nice lady who signed us up for waste hauling at our new address gave me bad information on the kind of canister we needed for recycling.

Thus we have been waiting for almost two weeks for the new one.

And being neurotically ever-seeking perfection in all things, I have been storing the nice, clean, dry recyclables in the garage until they have their proper disposal unit to put out on the curb.

Today I ran to church for prayer and came home to find a newly delivered bin on the driveway.

The exact twin of the one we already have.

This new bin brings us to a total of four waste and zero recycling bins.

I grabbed my phone as I exited the car and made the call from the driveway…and yes…I actually have Advanced Disposal in my contacts.

So I called and took advantage of the voice prompts to remind myself that I had just come from prayer so probably not a good idea to use the tone that was rising out of my adrenaline induced heart rate.

I attempted to suppress as much irritation as I could as I gave the customer service rep my name, phone number, address, blood type and a graphic description of my fingerprints to prove it was me…good grief…do these people not have a file on me yet???

I explained the situation with as much tact as I could muster and then waited as she put me on hold to see if she could contact the driver to return and switch it out.

When she got back with me, she assured me he would be coming by and with not so much as an apology or acknowledgment of my frustration she asked if there was anything else and bid me a good day.

And since we are going to have to build a room on to accommodate the recycling if we don’t get this straightened out this week, I began running to check the driveway every five minutes.

In the midst of all this pacing and non-productive work, I started pondering.

Because I have a mind that goes in strange directions in the midst of life’s situations, and while most people would just put a load of laundry in and start mopping the floor, I started asking myself spiritual questions like….

How do I live a WWJD life in this kind of stuff?

As in, how does What Would Jesus Do? work in a setting that really He never would have had to deal with.

I know Scripture says He didn’t have a home so setting up recycling and even washing trash to send somewhere to be reused were not addressed in the Sermon on the Mount

or even questions like……

Where is the line between good stewardship and moral responsibility?

and…

How much of my life is ensnared by material possession and wealth that I know other people do not have and where is the balance between being thankful for what we have been given and recognizing when it is becoming an idol?

and…

What about all the other things that everyone is getting all worked up about?

What would He say about the hot topics being debated and tweeted and shouted

What would be His words to us when we are fighting on social media or ranting around our dinner tables about this or that issue?

Courtesy of IJM

For most of it, I can imagine He would say something about rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and things reminding us His Kingdom is not of this world and asking me repeatedly where our treasure is being stowed.

I think a lot of the things we get all caught up in are really more about the temporal side of life and I know Jesus was more into eternity.

He seemed more interested in assuring us that God’s agenda matters more than ours and that He was of the mind to change hearts, not win votes.

So here is what I decided….

when I heard some noises out front, I went to the door and did what I thought Jesus might do if He was me….

I made my way out to the porch as the driver, who had to retrace his steps today because somebody (perhaps even he) messed up somewhere in communicating what kind of can we needed, was buckling his seat belt and putting his truck in gear…

and I waved and smiled and gave him one of my trademark thumbs up and attempted a sign language version of thank you.

I don’t know if the poor guy felt the love of Christ in that gesture…but it came from my heart.

A heart surrendered to my King, who understands the paved sidewalks that make up my neck of the woods and the jar-of-clay lady in her Gospel of Peace Sperry’s who walks them.

Be blessed today as you consider what Jesus would have you do as you encounter others in His Name <3

 

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6 Comments

  1. I think this kind of situation is EXACTLY where our lights need to shine. We both have read enough of Oswald to get his picture of what living in the places that aren’t the mountaintops looks like. And that’s where you’ve been during the recycling tote debacle; just the everyday filled with minor frustrations situations that give us more than enough opportunities to see if we will walk out what our mouths say is in our hearts. Thanks for sharing and giving us all another look into the kinds of places you encounter as your “training ground” for growing into the likeness of Jesus.

    1. Thank you Susan! I know each time I see Him break through my stubbornness, I grow to love Him more. He is a gentle and firm Shepherd for this little sheep…<3

      1. From Oswald – “We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.” It’s exciting to me when I’ve come to the other side of one of these ‘circumstances’ and realize that my response was different than it used to be, different because my old nature has been transformed and I didn’t even have to think about how to respond in the way Jesus would. Then I’m humbled that God’s spirit indeed has been at work in me. And like you said, it makes me fall more in love with Jesus.

        1. I do love how Oswald Chambers views and words things. Yes – just what you said. When we look back at how something just went down and can really see and acknowledge that we are different because of the work of Christ in us!! So great to be able to thank Him for that!

    1. hmmmm….because you actually know me or because you can relate to needing Jesus just to deal with the every day issues of this crazy world in a Christ-like way? Or maybe a little of both…=0)

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