Dinner and The Box Cutter

Sometimes the smallest things make our jaws drop! Recently, we did a garage clean out and ended up with quite the pile of scraps and garbage. Very long story short, it was the end of an exhausting and time-crunched day. And we needed to get rid of the waste asap on a deadline.

My daughter got a free trailer rental as a reward from all her chicken feed buying, so we hooked it up and I bravely drove a trailer for the first time. I even tried to back it up, once. And then that was over quickly. Lessons to table and learn on a less tight parking spot and for another day with more leisure and time.

We loaded up that trailer with an old mattress and all kinds of bags of freezer burned popsicles and who-knows-what else. But as we took off for the dump, we realized they were closed that day. Without time or options left, the trailer got emptied on the driveway and walkway to the front door and my help had to leave town.

I called a junk removal option but they wanted nearly $400 for it, and that was hard to justify since I knew it looked much worse than it was. The next night was my very last night to deal with the situation but it was the end of another 4am to midnight all day hard labor and massive decisions kind of day. After eating a meal at an actual table, I started sobbing with my head in my hands. Just pure exhaustion since this is not our normal pace of life.

We’re staying with friends right now and Mr. C saw the state I was in and offered to help go deal with the trash. He said he raised his boys to know that, “Girls never touch the trash.” I loved this sentiment. The relief of an offer for help actually just made me sob even harder, thinking, “Oh Jesus, thank you! Thank you, Jesus, for sending help!” We ended up driving top down on a convertible Mustang, sun setting over the fields, and cool crisp air in my face. It was like a blast of refreshment. On the drive to the house to deal with the rubbish, it was like the Lord was saying through the cool burst and warm setting sun, “You’re going to make it! This last hard push is almost over.”

I knew we needed to figure out how to repack and drag those super heavy massive bags down the long driveway to the curb; it felt like an impossible job. My garbage company let me only purchase 5 extra bags so I needed to consolidate trash and take out the cardboard fluff. I knew I could break the boxes down to save me space because the recycle bin had extra room.

The first bag I picked up was some melted popsicles and they smudged all over my jeans. I tabled that one and grabbed a smaller bag to carry down the driveway to the curb. This one was an easy win and I need that to get started. As I reached the bins, the bottom of the bag broke through and spilled out. And guess what was the first thing that popped out?

A perfectly good box cutter. One I don’t remember ever seeing in my garage. I didn’t even have time or energy to marvel or take a photo but that sight is burned in my memory. The Lord was like, “I see you. I know this is hard. But here’s a box cutter.” He provides our every need and helps us get through very hard things. I smiled, quickly grabbed the cutter and went to work breaking down fluffy boxes so I could squeeze everything into 5 massive trash bags.

I tried to stop by the house earlier that day and move the trash bags with my girls, but I felt the nudge of the Lord saying, “Just go back to your friend’s house (where we are currently staying) and make dinner.” I wanted to power through and just be done, knowing how tired I’d be once I finally sat down for the day. But I listened. We went back, made dinner, and that’s when the sobbing and the help that led to the box cutter all began.

In hindsight, that stuff was so heavy… there’s no way my kids and I could have done that! What took me and Mr. C about 1.5 hours could’ve easily been a 4 hour job for me and the girls. And God knew. He sent help in Mr. C at just the right time. Mrs. C stayed home and crafted with my equally exhausted kiddoes who just needed a good creative relaxing night.

We’ve been asking God to plan our days and schedule them for us. I’m quickly seeing that God doesn’t plan things on my time table or at my pace. But when I decide to obey the things He’s leading me to do, even if they seem nonconsequential and nonpriority, like go make dinner instead… I’m seeing He is always looking out for us at every corner.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Do this and He will act. He may even send you back up and box-cutter just when you need it.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The big and the little. The angelic and the challenging.