Yes, Taking Out the Trash Can Be Fun

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Owning a home comes with a lot of ups and downs. Fortunately the positives outweigh the negatives. Yes there are the occasional repairs and surprise bills, but at the end of the day being able to sit in my room knowing I own the place makes even my daily chores worth while. In fact knowing the place is mine even makes taking out the trash a thing I look forward to doing.

How did taking out the trash become fun? Well, to understand you have to go back more than twenty years. Back then my wife and I lived in a fourth floor apartment and taking out the trash meant going all the way down to the basement where a back door lead out to the dumpster. Once out back I never quite knew what I might find on the ground. Old food was a regular standby, with chicken bones being a favorite. At least one of my neighbors must have owned a cat as it was impossible to get to the dumpster without stepping in litter: both clumped and coated on cat landmines.

When we first moved in I could not figure out why there was always such a mess by the dumpster. Were my neighbors using cheap trash bags, the kind that fail puncture tests on commercials? If so, how hard would it have been to clean up when a bag broke? Then one day, while I was putting trash in the dumpster, a bag fell from the sky. This surprise from the heavens hit the side of the dumpster, exploding on contact. I narrowly missed the pleasure of wearing some of its contents. That’s when I realized some of my neighbors were using the fire escape for a trash chute, instead of taking the long walk to the basement.

Having to walk in a mixture of trash and kitty litter was bad. Dodging flying trash bags was was even worse. But the most unpleasant surprise came when they decided to move the dumpster. My guess is that they were trying to get it away from the fire escape, forcing us all to stop being lazy. They moved it over several feet, putting it right under our apartment window. I wouldn’t have thought much about the move except that it came at a most inopportune time for me and my wife.

Dads, did you notice how sensitive your wife’s sense of smell became when she was pregnant? When they moved the dumpster, my wife was four or five months pregnant. We had just come back from shopping and she was in the apartment less than two minutes before complaining about the smell. Without even looking she told me the dumpster had been moved and was now under our window. A quick glance outside proved she was right. Of course the task of contacting our landlord fell to me: better the embarrassment of pleading for a dumpster move than to endure a pregnant and nauseous wife for another four or five months.

Compared to trips to the dumpster, trash day is now a pleasant opportunity to go outside. I no longer worry about stepping in anything...most of the time. (Cleanup after your dog please!) I control where I put the trash cans and I better not catch anyone tossing trash bags down from above. When my wife was pregnant with our second son, I was able to make sure the trash cans were as far away from the house as possible. What a great feeling of control. But most of all trash day reminds me that the building I live in is mine. And so I look forward to taking out the trash. It is a reminder of where I have been and of the blessings I now have.

Should I Hate Mr. Ratburn Now?

Arthur (the children’s cartoon on PBS) was a fixture in our household for a number of years. Both of my children enjoyed watching and we even had a few of the books in our home library. I suspect my entire family can still sing the theme song. I certainly know it by heart. Arthur was a safe place to learn about manners and about handling bullies. With a cast made up of a number of different types of animals the cartoon was also a safe place to learn how people who are different can get along. But Arthur’s 22nd season began with a twist, one with which I suspect Christian parents will struggle. How we handle this twist will shape the beliefs of our children. Our responses will also affect how the church is seen from the outside.

This plot twist involves Mr. Ratburn, a third grade teacher who has been a part of the cartoon since its start. For twenty one seasons Mr. Ratburn has been a calm (but not perfect) mentor to the students of his class, representing an adult point of view for dealing with the ups and downs of being a child. This year we learn something about Mr. Ratburn which to my knowledge has never been talked about in any other episode. In this season’s premier episode Mr. Ratburn marries an aardvark: an aardvark who showed up for the wedding in a suit and tie.

So, how should followers of Christ deal with this plot twist? The knee jerk reaction is one of anger, lashing out at the show and its writers. I think this is the wrong response. For 21 years there was nothing wrong with the cartoon (aside from controversy over an episode of its spin-off “Postcards from Buster”). If parents suddenly slam the door on the series we send the message that Christians are afraid of and/or hate people who, in real life, are like Mr. Ratburn. We leave our own children with the wrong impression of how they should deal with real world issues. We also send the wrong message to people outside the church to whom we are called to minister. In order to avoid sending the wrong message believers should avoid the knee jerk reaction we are told we must have, choosing instead to trust God’s Spirit to give us the words we need in order to minister instead of trying to fight back. In other words we need to have a conversation with our children and with others who might be curious about our views.

Yes, I am certain that Mr. Ratburn’s wedding is meant to deliver a certain point of view, one that is at odds with the Christian faith. But we are told that our battle is not with flesh and blood. And so we must avoid the temptation to fight back out of a spirit of fear and hate, choosing instead the wisdom and love that can only come from our relationship with Christ. We must respond by being the light both in our homes and in our community.

No, I do not hate Mr. Ratburn. Nor should you.

Do you watch tv with your children?

On the day I finished this post I read about an Alabama PBS station which refused to show the episode. In their explanation they spoke of how parents trust PBS to provide programming that is safe for children to watch alone. I never trusted PBS or any other station, choosing to watch with my children. In fact even if the programming was “Christian programming,” I watched. (I know a lot of VeggieTales songs by heart.) I felt safer doing this and it gave opportunity to bond with my children.

Here is a link to a post where, while watching tv with one of my children, I found myself asking, Have We Lost Our True Heroes?

My Identity In Christ

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The biggest hurdle on the path of my Christian walk was that of recognizing my identity, as most of who I was and how I perceived myself was the result of codependent living. In fact I identified more with codependency than I did with being black. It didn’t help that my friends from time to time called me an Oreo Cookie, leaving me questioning my own racial makeup, nor did it help that I equated value with the ability to meet the expectations of other people. Even after becoming a Christian codependency is what defined me. That, along with being an Oreo who often fell short of expectations, was the reason that I didn't really like...me. These made up my identity and none of them was worth writing home about.

One of the things we tell people when they come to Christ is that they are a new creation. We tell people they are different: different from who they once were and different from people of the world of which they are no longer a citizen. That all sounded good to me and I made sure to tell everyone about this new me. However my heart did not feel new. It felt like the same heart of stone, the one God promised to replace but I felt like I missed my appointment. I called myself a child of God but in reality I doubted this fact more often than not. Though I said I was a new creation I still struggled with insecurity and with the view that I was a failure with fake relationships and with no real racial identity.

I wish at this point I could say that things just clicked one day and I realized something different about myself. That’s not how it happened. Instead I struggled for years after receiving Christ and being baptized. I struggled with impostor syndrome even as I was elevated into church leadership. I struggled with doubts, believing the promised abundant life in Christ was only for others not for a person like me. I believed these things because while I am saved and living the gift of eternal life, the most important part (a growing relationship with God) was missing.

The Bible tells us that eternal life is about relationship with God (John 17:3). It is about a complete change in identity wherein we become children of the Most High and He becomes our Father. As a result of the cross we are free to come home to our Creator, whose will is for us to know His love. In Christ we are given a new identity which we claim by faith. It may take time to learn to live as one of His but know that He is doing a good work in you. Know that as a believer you are not an impostor. By faith know that your identity is God’s son or daughter.

A Matter of Perspective

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I would have made it if not for all the people. Like a herd of cattle, they funneled into the door that stood between me and my ride home. I tried to go against the flow but made very little headway. When the crowd finally thinned I ran onto the platform just in time to have the train door close in my face. And somewhere between the station door and the train door I passed a woman who made some remark about wishing people would just move out of her way. Initially I was annoyed at her comment which was clearly aimed at me. Later I laughed at the difference in how we each saw the situation. I still find it funny that each of us thought the other was the problem. Who was right? It’s all a simple matter of perspective.

Followers of Christ need to keep perspective in mind as we deal with people who do not know God. From our perspective every blessing comes from God and every daily event is orchestrated by Him. Even when a crowd of people sweep us away from the train we want to catch, God is still in control. That is how we see (or at least should see) life. That is our perspective. This is not, however, the perspective of the nonbeliever, who has no reason to look beyond chance or blind luck in explaining how our prayers are answered. People of other religions or of no religion might even think us a bit off when we speak of one who was raised from the dead. This is the perspective we must keep in mind as we share our testimonies with our friends and neighbors and with anyone else outside of the faith.

What do I mean when I say keep this perspective in mind? I mean we should not be shocked nor become angry when confronted with other explanations for what happens in life. We should not take it personal when someone refuses to accept what we say. In fact we should expect them to look for the flaws and the holes in our presentation, knowing that ultimately we’re not the ones whom they are rejecting. And so remember Christian, as you share the truth the resistance you face is not something to get upset about. It’s simply a matter of perspective.

How God Blessed Me in March and April 2019

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In church we have sessions where we ask for testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This serves as a reminder to us all that God is active and that He blesses His children on a regular basis. I would like to share a testimony of just a few of the ways He blessed me during the months of March and April of this year.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

I enjoy spending my Sunday afternoons watching sports. Sometimes my son will join me, especially if I am watching NASCAR or football. I don’t really care what sports are on, if there is a competition I am ready and willing to spend my Sunday watching. And so I was none too happy when one Sunday in March, just as my posterior landed on the couch, my wife yelled about a leak under the kitchen sink.

Twelve years ago I installed a new trap under that sink and I guess I did not buy the best materials for the job. The trap corroded allowing my wife to punch a hole through the metal as she was moving something around in the cabinet. While I usually enjoy a trip to the hardware store, this was not what I wanted to do on my Sunday. But duty called and about an hour later I was back home with a new trap.

Now I consider myself somewhat handy when it comes to repairs but it did not take long for me to realize I was in over my head. Not only was the trap in bad shape but the pipes on either end of it began to crumble, leaving me with a much bigger problem. Realizing I would only continue to make matters worse I was forced to do something I really did not want to do: call in a professional.

I admit the estimate for the work was a little higher than I expected but as usual God was a step ahead. We had money set aside  and were able to pay cash for the repair. I thank God that our unexpected repair did not catch Him off guard and we were able to take care of things without any hardship at all. With reminders that so many of us are one unexpected bill away from financial disaster, it was good to get a quick reminder that God provides for His children.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Not only did God provide financially, having the plumber come in turned out to be a huge blessing. Through the eyes of a professional I was able to see that our kitchen plumbing is not up to code for a number of reasons. Knowing this changes our approach to the kitchen remodel we hope to start in the next year or two. We now know what needs to be changed. This will help us avoid future headaches. It also means we have an opportunity to make our kitchen more user friendly as the current location of the plumbing would have limited where we could put a new sink. I thank God both for providing for the repair and for the wisdom gained after spending a few minutes talking with our new plumber.

Our plumbing problem was not the only repair God provided for. A small rock hit the windshield of my wife’s car, leaving a good sized crack. That of course means we need a replacement. God has provided and we are in the process of scheduling the repair. Once again, because of God’s provision we will be able to pay cash for our deductible. Soon we will have a shiny new windshield.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

I John 5:14-15

My oldest son is finishing up his freshman year in college. While he is comfortable with the roommates chosen for him by the university, he believes he will be able to better focus on his studies if he has his own room. There are single rooms available in a few of the dorms but room assignments are based on a lottery system. We’ve been praying about this since January, asking God to provide a single room for the next school year. God heard our prayers and delivered. Not only will my son be in a single room next year, he will also have air conditioning. How is that for answered prayer?

Now I would like to hear from my brothers and sisters in Christ. How has God blessed you over the last few months?