Taking Out the Trash

I like Tuesdays for a couple of reasons. 

1: It has been the day when I have lunch at school with my "breadstickers" group. (I bring Little Caesars breadsticks and some other treats to the now highschoolers and am grateful for those that choose to come spend a bit of time hanging out.) 

2. Tuesday is trash day for our neighborhood. We put out the big, rolling trash can for early Wednesday pick up. Maybe it's just me, but I find a certain satisfaction in making the rounds and combining the trash cans in preparation of taking it out for "trash day". We (and by "we" I usually mean ME) take it out as necessary during the week, but for those cans that are not quite full (but by Monday usually starting to smell), TUESDAY is THE day.

I (or the kids) make the rounds picking up the various trash cans. I check the fridge for stuff that is no longer in an edible state. Tuesday is the day when I'm sure at least once during the week, we have done a general tidy up of the house. 

Trash cans are pretty easy to see when they are getting full (or overflowing sometimes) by the time we take care of it. We take out the old bag of yucky, smelly stuff of leftovers of the day(s). We might do some freshening up of the can by spraying some air freshener or disinfectant and wipe down the outside where things have spilled over. We put in a fresh bag....at least for a small bit of time....until we start loading it back up with yucky stuff....and do it all over again!

Recently, I got to thinking of the times when I have not felt so great mentally or emotionally. It is not quite as easy to see when life has been piling up some of the yucky, smelly stuff that I've allowed myself to think about. On a good day, I catch myself before those thoughts take hold. On a bad day, I can let that stuff start to take over and overflow into my thoughts and out my mouth. 

Just like life: what I put in is what I get out. Usually when things have begun to pile up, I have been neglecting my clean up time. My quiet time sometime during the day. Opening the Bible and letting God speak to me and freshen me up. Replacing the negative thoughts with life affirming thoughts. Music that isn't as uplifting as it could be. Fun to listen to, but not always positive. Finding time to keep myself busy, but not really taking out the trash I have allowed to creep in and start smelling up my thoughts and life.

What trash have you allowed to stay to long in your thoughts? Did someone say something to you that you have let stay in your mind for WAY too long? We can be really good at letting negative thoughts and somebody else's opinions stay in our minds way beyond when we should have emptied that bin.

It's not Tuesday. The bonus is we can clean out our minds of ANY trash ANYTIME we want. We just need to remember to do it! TODAY is trash day. What do you need to dump?

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.