Probably not many people outside of my immediate family know this, but…I am the Queen of Recycling!
Yes, it’s true. I attained this title by memorizing what’s recyclable and then fanatically making sure nothing gets missed. I even bring home all the plastic containers from fast-food restaurants so I can rinse and toss everything into the recycling bin (also eases my guilt a little for eating fast-food).
My daughters know that I will be looking in their kitchen trash and recycling containers to make sure items are in the correct bin and will lovingly move them if necessary. However, I do refrain from inspecting friends’ kitchens and making the same adjustments. (Well, maybe I’ve moved a few items at our good friends’ house across the street.)
My obsession got a huge boost a few years ago when our local trash hauler built Total Recycle, a multi-million-dollar “groundbreaking state-of-the-art single-stream recycling facility.”
Since then we have been able to recycle all kinds of flexible plastic packaging like candy bar wrappers, drink pouches, plastic wrap, and all those bags for chips, pet food, groceries and food storage,
We have weekly, curbside recycling pickup and our big blue pail always is full, sometimes spilling over into two smaller containers. (Disclaimer: I don’t always wear my crown when I take out the bin, but I wanted you to know my royalty is legit.)
Christmas 1980
And why am I so committed to recycling, you ask? I’ve decided it’s in my DNA.
My mother, born during the Great Depression, was the oldest of nine and learned from an early age to salvage, safeguard and save everything possible. (In photo: my Barbie doll clothes she made from fabric scraps and I handed down to my girls.)
Mom’s thriftiness carried over into my marriage, especially during those years of me staying home to raise a family on a not-very-large pastoral salary. I don’t need to scrimp and save like I used to, but repurposing, reusing, and restoring things (especially OLD things!) just seems to be in my nature.
And that got me thinking about the God I love and serve.
He doesn’t just recycle…He refreshes. He renews. And He restores.
It’s His nature.
And the One sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”
–-Revelation 21:5
And while much of that promise refers to the final restoration of a new Heaven and a new Earth, there are still plenty of promises that God makes things new right now.
What would you like to see restored in your life? Relationships? Health? Peace of mind? Hope?
What needs renewing in your world? Your marriage? Your thoughts? Your words? Your attitude?
Hear God’s message to you:
Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin anew every morning.
–Lamentations 3:23
So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support and strengthen you,
and He will place you on a firm foundation.
–1 Peter 5:10
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.
–Psalm 84:6
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
–2 Corinthians 4:16
Perhaps Psalm 51:10 could be your prayer today: Create in me a clean heart, O God; restore within me a sense of being brand new.
And whenever you recycle something, don’t think about me, the Queen of Recycling. Instead stop and thank the King of Creation who can renew, refresh and restore your walk with Him.
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I hope you’re blessed by the song “You Make All Things New” by Big Daddy Weave ©2019 CURB/Word Entertainment .
