Taking Out the Garbage

When I lived in New York, garbage was picked up twice a week. Our taxes went to the salaries of the garbage men. When I moved out of New York, I encountered the once a week garbage pick up. This was a concept that was a bit hard to get accustomed to but I adjusted after a while.

True story – I’m living in West Virginia with the kids. Tom is living back in New York until his job in West Virginia is ready. So he moves me and kids into an apartment and shows me how to get around. Another time, I’ll talk about getting around in this place, but for now the point of this story. It’s June, it’s hot and humid. I place garbage out in the can and I start to realized that pick up is only once a week. I go to put another bag in the can and the foulest smell comes up to greet me. There are these tiny white things moving around all over the bags already in there. I thought I was going to pass out from the odor. I call up Tom panicked (now there is so much he could do being hundreds of miles away). He tells me I have to clean it out – garbage day was still a few days away. I held my nose, tried not to puke and did what I had to do.

Well this past couple of weeks, both Tom and I forgot to put the garbage out. Thank God no white things. I meant to do it before going to work, but it didn’t quite happen. So now my garbage cans are overflowing. No foul smell, just looks messy.

Taking out the garbage is never a fun or an enjoyable task, but it is a necessary one. If you don’t put your can out for pick up at least once a week, eventually it catches up with you and overflows. Now you just have a big mess and are counting the days until the next pick up. The bad part is that your neighbors now see that you garbage is overflowing. It’s not a pretty sight. You can almost sense what they are thinking as they drive by slowly pointing at the messy neighbor.

It’s like the garbage in our hearts. If we don’t take care of it on a regular basis, it starts to overflow and spill out onto everything. It’s not a pretty sight and the people who live around us start to see it first. So it’s important to regularly ask the Man whose job it is to take out our garbage to do so. So Lord, I need a pick up today. It doesn’t matter what’s in there, just take it out.

© Nadine Z.