“It Broke, Mama! TRASH!”
“It broke, Mama! TRASH!” Has been a top-used phrase for our toddler recently. From coloring with his crayons to ripping paper, there have been a lot of intentional breaks just to use the trashcan in this house. In the case of a toddler, I think it’s as simple as figuring out the trashcan lock and being fixated on a new trick. But it has me thinking about how often I say something is broken, so it’s trash.
I broke a pair of earrings at the basketball game a few weeks ago. I could have super glued them back together, but then I would have to keep up with the broken parts through the game and remember to glue them after bedtime … after finally remembering where I stashed the super glue during my last cleaning frenzy. It’s a lot of “work” for some cheap earrings I could just replace, right? I could just order a similar pair off Amazon while the boys get drinks and snacks and wait for tip off. Or my even lazier option would have been to say, “Oh, no!” Show my husband and just know that he would replace them because that’s the type of man I married.
So, what did I do? In the moment, I went to throw them away.
They were broken, so obviously they were trash.
But, literally over the trashcan in a women’s restroom, I changed my mind. I told myself I wouldn’t stress keeping up with them, but if they made it home in my pocket, it was “meant to be,” and I would fix them.
It was a rough game. Our team is in a … uh… growing season? We won, but it wasn’t pretty. It was watching one disorganized team beat another. So my mind drifted…
I started thinking about the stud earrings poking me in my pocket and the waste we accumulate. I started thinking about how generations before us couldn’t easily replace things; they had to fix them. I started overanalyzing my consumption in coordination with God’s word as the game played in the background. I fixated on my role as a steward of God’s creation.
Am I leaving a positive or negative impact?
That night, I came home curious to see what God said about “waste” and “broken” things.
Ephesians 5:11-16 talks to us about waste in the sense of our time. We aren’t supposed to waste our time or energy on “useless” work but instead make the most of every opportunity given to us.
John 6:12 says, “When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted.”’
& The list goes on, but Biblically, God calls attention to wastefulness and warns against it. We aren’t supposed to waste our time, energy, or resources. We’re supposed to give abundantly to receive abundantly.
Recently, my church did a consecration Sunday service, and we talked about giving tithes to the church. The sermon Roy gave alongside the broken earrings I could easily fix got me thinking about what else I should be giving or fixing instead of wasting.
Right now, Andrew and I do not have a lot to give fiscally outside of our Biblical convictions. We’re a young middle-class family with two babies, so additional monetary giving is tight. But what I do want to work on and what we have heavily been planning, implementing, and doing these past few weeks is trying to show our son and ourselves how impactful we can be if we give in other ways.
We have found other ways to give more of our time to our church family. We have found local organizations who give our hand-me-downs directly to those in need instead of reselling them. We invested in reusable grocery bags for both cars. And we repaired some household items that we were originally going to replace.
Now, obviously these are all small steps, and we will slowly move to more. But, what I don’t want is for my sons to see the world and the things around them as disposable. Twice in the first 3 chapters of Genesis, God calls mankind to be stewards of the earth. It’s my responsibility as a Christian to reduce my impact and make conscious decisions. But as a mother, it is my wish for my sons to see that even broken trash can be fixed into something beautiful and useable.
There is a greater lesson here - outside of consumer trash and waste.
At some point, we all come to God feeling broken or having been treated like trash. God NEVER lets us settle in that mindset. He heals us, covers us in his grace and blesses us with his unwavering love. I am so thankful God always fixes my brokenness instead of calling me trash and tossing me to the side.
Going into the new year, I’m challenging myself to look differently at the broken things or pieces in my life. Can they be repaired? Do they deserve a fresh look? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure after all.
What treasures am I letting slip by with my wastefulness?
Oh, and just so you know, I fixed the earrings. We addressed our broken parts. & we gained a new perspective on our trash.
As for our toddler, we are trying to show him creative ways to repurpose the things he breaks, like remolding the crayons, & hopefully, that open-minded perspective will carry with him through life.
I challenge us all to go into this new year with an open mind. Let’s creatively review the pieces of our lives before we discard them. You never know what lesson or diamond in the rough is waiting to be found.
God’s Love & Mine,
Christina
