Most Monday afternoons, I get to pick up Steve, our 17 year old grandson. He and Ben and Rachael are all members of the West Coast Youth Symphony. Steve has to be across town from his home much earlier than the other two, so I get to “drive and pay”.

We talk about a lot of things. Steve is a weightlifter as well as an excellent musician. He talked about the self-discipline it takes to go to the gym even on the days he’d rather do something else. He likes to do things with a friend or two and doesn’t care much for doing things alone. We discussed how much more fun it is, for instance, to go skim boarding at the beach with one or two (or more) friends.

Well, as we continued driving down Bee Ridge Rd., I stated that going to the YMCA to swim three or four times a week wasn’t always fun, either. I do, however, bump into some very interesting people there sometimes.

You know how conversations develop. Out of nowhere, I declared, “I hate Mondays!” Steve jokingly stated that he hated Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. When he asked why I hate Mondays, I told him that it was because it was trash day. For some reason, even though it’s not a huge job, I just hate to see Mondays roll around.

I begin toward the end of the week reminding Pat what’s coming on Monday. Pretty silly, eh? Probably so, but it’s just how I feel about trash. It occurred to me that trash isn’t just confined to our plastic containers. Oh, I don’t deliberately allow trash to build up in my life, but occasionally I notice more than dust debils gathering amongst the cobwebs in the corners of my brain! (g)

BTW, one of the further things I shared with Steve was how challenging it is each week to come up with fresh stories from my life to share on “Inside Out”. He said, “Well, Papa, you’ve got a story for this week. How about this conversation about hating trash?” How helpful a grandson can be.. Wow!

Further BTW, a good friend who writes fairly often, e-mailed me and commented how much she enjoyed my approach that leaves the conclusions to my readers. She did say that she sometimes missed the “Life Lessons” I used to provide. I told her that I’d try to comment a bit, but not try to cover every possible possibility!

Here’s my question: Does God ever get tired of taking out the trash? Now, what has the Lord said to you through these brief and humble thoughts? Just use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I’ll get back to you!

– So, you are really a Klutz! I could share similar stories with you about falling upstairs and finding the only hole in an acre parking lot, but the truth remains the same. He is made strong by our weaknesses. We certainly qualify as weak in the agility and balance categories. But He is made strong. He has strengthened us in our tolerance of others. (I never reprimanded my children for spills either). Where others pray for patience and compassion, He has been able to develop that in us. Where we feel weak in the ways of the world, He has made us strong in the ways of His Kingdom.

     Praise Him for His awesome wisdom to develop the “Klutzes” of the world. Would we have always picked the underdog if we had been real “winners” in life. Would we be the same people if we would have had grace and agility abounding? I know I would not have. I encourage all the “Klutzes” to Thank Him for His wisdom in choosing us to be the “Klutzes” and to learn His compassion and mercy for others. I believe we are His special “peculiar” people.

– We are all, in some form or another, klutzy people. We do stupid things at stupid times that make us look more stupid than we really are at that moment. However, it is in those moments that we can, or maybe not, recognize God’s strength, grace, and love for each of us. When we fall, where do we usually look? UP! God is there. We reach for something to help us get UP. Who should we look for for that job? UP! God is there. We brush our knees off, bottom off, whatever other body part that we just happen to fall on, and go about our business. When we sin, God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, brushes away our booboos in life and sends us on our way.

– I, too, am very clumsy and run into doors, hit my knees on drawers and tables, etc. So I really understand where you are coming from. As for the lesson here? Well, where do any of us fall the most? In our Christian lives. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. That may not be verbatim, but you know what I am saying. We daily trip on our own whims and weaknesses and fall flat on our face before God. The idea is to pick ourselves up and repent—–turn away from those things that cause us to stumble. Then we must be strong in study, prayer and meditation. We need to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord”. We may be a klutz in our physical lives, but we can be full of grace in our spiritual lives if we allow God to have His way in our hearts and lives. I am so thankful that your Mom’s fingers are getting better. Praise the Lord!!!!

– As you know, I have recently begun working at a new job. After about eight weeks, I happened to lean up against the desk across the room and take a good look at my desk. The entire front edge was chewed up from me banging the metal arms of my chair up against it! The CFO of the company nicely put it by saying, “You’re really not very delicate!” Do you think she, too, might have meant “Klutz”?

– The first thing that came to mind when I read about your fall and your self accusation of klutziness is more secular than sacred (unless you conform to the Celtic view that there is no difference.) How quick we are to apply labels to ourselves and live into them. If someone else had fallen, you would have been there with a kind word, reassuring the injured person that a fall like that could happen to anyone, especially someone who had been through so much with their knees. Jesus told us we were to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, not love others and not ourselves. (BTW, I hope your knees are okay.)

      The second thing that occurred to me is that this is the way the devil works. He finds our most vulnerable spots and hammers away at them, always seeking to “trip us up” and weaken us even further. If we let Him, though, God can work so powerfully through our weaknesses. I wonder if you can’t think of ways that God has used your “klutziness”? For one thing, it has definitely given you an ability to empathize with others when they have accidents. I’m sure there are more.

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