Donate & Dump

What’s the big deal about a bunch of rocks?  Seems crazy for me to wake up thinking about them, but actually the idea isn’t totally random.  Let me explain.  Last Saturday, our section of San Antonio was hosting Donate & Dump, which encourages residents to clean up and clean out.  The neighborhood brings in a donation truck for reusables and a trash truck for dumping everything else.  My husband and I loaded our give-aways into the car before we went to sleep Friday night, and I asked, “Lord, is there anything we should load tomorrow for dumping?”  At 4:30 AM, I awoke to the thought of rocks.  But what rocks?  And what would I do with these rocks?  I was too groggy to think.  When the clock glared 5:00, I was frustrated to still be awake, yet I began praying about many things and reciting my Romans 5 that I’ve been memorizing.  All the while, the idea of rocks kept recurring.  Next thing I know the clock shines 8:30, and my brain has progressed toward the specific thought of loading rocks from the backyard.  Suddenly I’m excited.  This is now making sense.  I throw off the bed blanket and walk into the living room to tell my husband.  For years, we’ve had piles of rocks in our backyard.  Trees have died, we’ve had to dig, the earth’s been rocky, and our regular trash pick-up doesn’t accept rocks.  The regular trash service says we need to drive our rocks across town to a landfill, and I’ve never arranged to drive that distance.  Consequently our yard has been decorated with piles of rocks that gradually blended into the scenery so much that I’d forgotten about them.  We just step around a pile here and a pile there as if they’re no longer eyesores.  So my husband and I happily loaded our rocks and drove over to Donate & Dump.  Everybody lent a hand to unload, and like shedding the thickest layer of any grime, what a relief came upon us!  We returned home to stand in the backyard and enjoy a gaze at clean land.  I’d forgotten what clean looked like.  The green seemed more crisp.  The brown appeared more fertile and fresh.  No clutter.  No blots on the landscape.  In fact, the air I breathed felt more free.  I wondered how we ever let those rock piles blend in.  Being without them now let me realize the hazards that build through carelessness.  The Bible talks about purity in Psalm 24:3-4, saying, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?  Who may stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”  No heaviness of pressure or any hurdle of misplaced priority.  Just welcomed simplicity of living with the Lord.  So I encourage you to avoid clutter.  Avoid the piles of junk that interfere.  I thank God for waking me at 4:30.