Today I cried over a plastic bag.
That’s right. You heard me correctly. Today, I shed more than one tear over a plastic bag.
You see, it wasn’t just any plastic bag. It was my one, singular plastic bag. It was a Ziploc, freezer, sandwich size bag, which in World Race terms means that it was the cream of the crop. This bag had a great variety of uses. It was my pantry, my refrigerator, my wallet, a potential trash can and literally anything I needed it to be. On this day that I lost my plastic bag, it was the place where I was keeping my crackers to protect them from the many ants that live among us.
This morning, I ate my usual breakfast of peanut butter and crackers, placed my remaining crackers in the plastic bag, zipped it up and happily went about my day. Suddenly, tragedy.
The ants had gotten into the crackers.
When I say the ants “got into the crackers”, I mean they really got in there. It was as if every ant in the entire world had told all of their friends that a party was happening in my plastic bag. Somehow, they had used their ant strength to find a small hole and make themselves at home among my crackers. The bag was not salvageable, it was time to say goodbye. And yeah, I cried.
Ya see, the Race is not comfortable. It is a step off the deep end into living life minimally. It’s letting go of the normal luxuries that we take for granted and living with little. It’s living with 3 pairs of shorts, 5 shirts and 2 dresses for 11 months. It’s living in a community center with no AC, no bed, no shower, no privacy, no fridge, no toilet, no clean water. It’s having 1 plastic bag that has multiple purposes. It’s a beautiful challenge, really, because it forces us to only take comfort in God. But even with the little that I have, I was still finding comfort in a silly plastic bag. This bag was more than protection from the ants, it was my little sliver of luxury. It was my small piece of control in an environment where everything feels out of control.
So yeah, as silly as it sounds, I cried over a plastic bag. I cried and laughed at myself for crying, it really was a sight to behold. But in throwing away my beloved ziplock baggie, I surrendered a little more to God. I let go of my comforts and abandoned my need for control. It reminded me that even if I have nothing, I still have Jesus, and that will always and forever be enough. My hope is that by the end of this year, this revelation is deeply rooted within me. I hope that every day I release control and comfort in worldly things that much more. I hope that I cling to nothing as much as I cling to Jesus.
So here’s to throwing away my plastic bag! I hope to throw away many, many more in my future 🙂
“And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
