Junk

Earlier this summer, as my husband got out of his car and started walking up to the house, my neighbor “politely” asked him what we were gonna do about our grass.  For some reason, my community is OBSESSED with the appearance of their yards…constantly mowing AT ALL HOURS OF THE MORNING OR NIGHT! I’m kinda of impressed with the care that my neighbors have for their yards.  We care about our yard as well.  That’s why it struck me as odd when she asked what we were gonna do about it.  Our yard was not bad at all! Sure, it wouldn’t have won “Yard of the Month”, but it didn’t look like we had been out of town for a month either.  Anywho, my husband told her we’d take care of it and proceeded to come in the house.

This morning, as I was opening the blinds, I was reminded of that “rebuke” she gave months ago.  As I looked out our kitchen window, I could see her backyard…and just kinda took in what I saw: a car, two dogs, doghouses, clothes that had been hanging from the tree drying for a few days, all sorts of “projects” that Mr. was working on, trash, etc.  As I looked at the state of their backyard, I was hit with the parallel of her pristine front and junky backyard with how we Christians do the same with our lives.

Don’t know about you, but I am so guilty of this.  I want people to see me as a person who has it all together and is on top of things, all the while concealing what is really going on:  a scared wife/mother who fears she is failing at every aspect of her life.  I don’t want you to know that part of me.  I don’t want to be the “needy” friend. You know, that friend that always get poured into, but never does any pouring.  So I daily have to strive to rest in who God made me to be and what I know to be true: I am a child of the King! Fearfully and wonderfully made.  That apart from Him I can do nothing! In His strength and made strong.  Yes, I will fail, but it’s not the end of the world.  There is a lesson to be learned somewhere in this…

We have been conditioned to always put our best foot forward and that 1st impressions are everything. This is very wise counsel and we should adhere to it.  However, all to often, we take it to the extreme where our best foot or 1st impression is all we’ll allow someone to see.  We believe the devils lies when he tells us “If they really knew you, they wouldn’t like you” or “They can forgive this sin, but not that one” or “You’re the only one that can take care of you…you don’t need anyone else”.  These are all lies.  Everyone is in need of a little grace (or in my case…a LOT of grace).  We all have stuff and no ones stuff is worse than the others.  It took me a while to learn and apply that.  When I would share my testimony, there were sections that I would gloss over because deep down I knew that those “dark” years were the “unforgivable” years and people would judge me today by what I did then.  By God’s grace and mercy, I’m not that same person.  So, now I’m learning to present my authentic self and if I am judged, I am not to take it personally and love those people even more.

So, what about you?  What would happen if you stopped putting your best foot forward and started allowing people to see what you struggle with?  I bet that you’d probably meet other individuals with similar struggles…similar junk…similar mess.  Everyone has stuff.  

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