Tip of My Iceberg

I know I get embarrassed fairly easily. But this was ridiculous.

We had a leak in the garage. I needed to call the plumber.

Which meant he needed to go into the garage.

I don’t let many people go in there. I don’t like to go in there. But some things must be done.

I’m still cringing.

We haven’t housed cars in our garage in years. I’m thinking never in the nineteen years we’ve lived in this house.

When our plumber, Davy, came in, I apologized. Profusely. He was helping me move boxes out of the way to get to the water heater.

He grinned and motioned me to follow him out to his truck.

I felt so much better after seeing his movable mess.

The reality is that our garage was built with a purpose.

It wasn’t to be a holding tank for junk. Or a  storage unit for things broken or forgotten.

I was raised by parents who grew up in the Great Depression. (You say that nowadays and folks think you’re talking about a really blue period in your life.)

It was a time of not having much and valuing what you had. Nothing was wasted.

Or thrown away.

So as I grew up, Mom tended to hoard things that had been scarce when she was little.

At one time, we had twelve two-pound cans of ground coffee in our basement. Six five-pound bags of sugar. And meat that had sat in the freezer for decades because it had been on sale.

I’m seeing a connection here.

I actually pity my garage. It was made for better things than what I’ve done to it.

I’ve been made for better things as well.

I’m not talking about wealth and prosperity. Not fame or notoriety.

I’m talking about the kind of person I am. What’s inside. What people don’t see.

I find I often settle for getting by. Not doing my best. Cluttering my life with the junk of the world that just complicates my thinking and confuses my decisions.

A bit of a hot mess.

I don’t like seeing that in my kids. Or in my husband. I’m rather intolerant of seeing it in others I know.

So when did I get–or give myself–a pass on character and integrity?

When did it become OK to fudge on life?

It’s never been OK.

God makes it clear what my focus should be. What I should be putting into my life.

“But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously–take God seriously.”            Micah 6:8

That’s a big order to fill–if I had to do it on my own.

With Jesus in my life, it becomes possible.

Matter of fact, if those are my goals in Him, I just might clean up really nicely.