GARBAGE CANS ARE NOT LAWN DECORATIONS

 

There is nothing more welcoming than walking up to a house on a cleanly swept sidewalk, leading to a well-lit porch and knocking on a door that is freshly painted and in good repair.  It is not only inviting but hints at the serene restfulness that lies beyond the door; a clean, neat home.  No matter how awesome the inside of your house is laid out or beautifully decorated, a weedy lawn, broken down toys, strewn trash and the lack of or overgrown landscaping can ruin the picture. 

For years we were perfectly happy to use a 32 gallon Roughneck, Rubbermaid garbage can to hide our garbage until “trash day.”  We could keep it in our garage or hidden discreetly behind the house out of public view.  Then about a year ago, our trash collector decided to be more efficient and automate the collection trucks which meant giving every resident two monster, bright blue 95 gallon trash cans.  Well nothing is more inviting or says “come sit a spell” than adding a couple of garbage cans to your landscaping.  Fortunately, we have a side-entry garage which provides a small alcove at the side of the house to hide the ugly, gigantic, blue plastic receptacles.

And about that ugly, gigantic, blue plastic receptacle, most of us seem to have one in our life.  It has a name; we call it FACEBOOK.  Not everything on Facebook is garbage and not everyone lets it “all hang out” marring the awesome picture of the beautiful you.  I love to see the pictures of your kids and grandkids, the beautiful sunsets and exciting vacation pictures but I can live happily ever after without seeing a picture of your surgical scar complete with stitches, your swollen toe and yesterday’s prize, a medical bag full of the contents that had been drained out of a lung.  I don’t need to read the hints about what someone is saying about you, either tell the story, complete with names or better yet, go tell the person to “shut up,” either way, I don’t need to step over your garbage.  If your husband is a jerk and your kids won’t talk to you, pray for them or send me a prayer request and I will pray for them, but please don’t set the garbage cans on your front porch.

What do people see as they walk up to the “door” of your life?  Is it warm and inviting?  Is the love shining through your eyes and a welcoming smile saying, “come in and sit for a while?”  OR do you have your garbage sitting out for the entire world to see and the wind to scatter until bits are even blown into the lives of your friends and neighbors?  We all have garbage in our life that must be dealt with but PUHLEEZE keep it discreetly in the can behind the garage, I don’t want to have to wade through it before I get to the real you.