Get Dirty

I was recently reminded of how messy life can be... and when I say recently I mean within the last week. I also came to the realization that I have gotten out of the practice of being inconvenienced for others' sake. We can grow accustomed to the idea of doing what is convenient for ourselves. Now that doesn't mean we only do what we want to do, but it means even in the tasks that are "work" we take the most convenient path for ourselves. I feel that I am still a person who serves others. I try to help friends and family even when I don't feel like it, but most times that doesn't really inconvenience me. It just adds something extra for me to do. So when an incident arose that completely and utterly inconvenienced me I realized I needed an attitude adjustment.


Not gonna lie, I felt pretty crummy. Here I am thinking I am doing my best to love like Jesus and be like Jesus, but didn't want to give up my plans and my comfort to help someone in great need. It wasn't the fact that I didn't help the person, because I did, but it was my attitude and secret thoughts that worried me. Goodness. When did I get so caught up in my own life that people became second class compared to my comfort and convenience? The more I dwell on it the more I desire to change.

In my experience being inconvenienced for others is easiest when you are in the practice of doing so. The deal is allowing yourself to be inconvenienced for others isn't letting yourself go, letting go of obligations, or even responsibilities. It is simply putting aside your comforts and giving up what is easy to meet the needs of someone else. It means that you are willing to get your hands dirty so to speak. There are plenty of people to throw money at problems, carry the light weight, and clean up clutter. But there aren't enough people who will get down in the trenches with people and "put their hands to the plow," carry the heavy burdens, and do the dirty work. We will all come to a point in our life when we will need just that kind of a person. I hope that I can be that person for people. I want to get in the habit of putting my comfort on the back burner and getting dirty for someone else's sake.

In fact, it seems that beautiful things can come from dirty places.