Vivid oranges, greens, reds, blues, purples and yellows lay in a tangled mess amongst the rubbish. It’s kind of like a little “pile of paradise” right in the middle of the dump. A splash of color that holds potential. For the family sorting through the scraps of cloth, it means a warm coat. A colorful, warm coat. A amazing technicolor dreamcoat…
“Go spend time with them.” The Lord has subtly been speaking to me over the past week. “They are beautiful. They are my people. My heart breaks for them. As you continue to push into Me and love them and spend time with them, you will see. Your eyes and heart will change. It will hurt, but it will be fruitful. They are your fruit. Don’t be afraid of them. Love my creation. My heart breaks for them and longs to see them all come to know me as their personal Savior. Go to them and let Christ be his hands and feet and eyes and mouth through you. It is a daily emptying. Do it for me. Don’t be afraid.”
Each time I pass by the dump, it calls to me. I can’t turn off that voice. It beckons to me. I don’t understand it, but it calls. Truthfully, I am a little scared. I am breaking and I do not know what that means. I’m vulnerable to God’s call. That scares me to death. Enter into their lives. Share your life with them and let them share their lives with you. If that means sorting through the trash alongside them, do it. So I did it.
I crawled up onto the pile of cloth and started to dig. I glanced over at the family. The little girl held their white sack open. The other three dug though the multicolored cloth heap searching for the ideal peices of fabric in order to create thier masterpiece. I picked up a long, skinny, peice of purple cloth. A perfect headband I thought. Just then it slipped through my fingers and the wind took it. It blew by the little boy, Jose, and gently landed next to his dad, who is also named Jose. Before the wind picked it up again, Jose (the dad) grabbed it and handed it back to me. He understood. Or maybe I was beginning to understand. This was not just trash. This random peice of cloth was my treasure. Not the other purple scraps in the pile, but this specific peice.
Open your eyes. Trash to treasure. God does not want one of us to slip through his fingers…to get lost in the wind. We are his treasures. And we are called to love each other as God loves each of us. We are called to treasure each other just as God treasures each of us.
From this trash pile, one little girl will receive her dream coat. Her own amazing, technicolor dreamcoat. A coat of many colors. A coat that transforms – trash to treasure.
