Trash or Treasure?

I love love love a good bargain & I love searching for and finding treasures - especially in other people's trash.  No I'm not talking about dumpster diving, although the thought has crossed my mind a few times!!  I'm talking about bargains like the $12 roadside dresser I mentioned in a previous blog.   A dear friend & I frequent antique shops, thrift stores, and Goodwill.  And next weekend this friend, my sister-in-law and I are off to have some girl time and to explore a yard sale.  That's right - a yard sale.  But not just any yard sale - a 65 mile long yard sale spanning across Southwest Georgia!!  I am so excited - it's going to be Bargain Hunter's Paradise!!  But first, we're having our own yard sale this weekend.

That's right - we're hoping to sell off a bunch of our own stuff this weekend so we can spend next weekend pilfering through other folk's stuff!!  Sound crazy?  Maybe.  But you know what they say - "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  Hopefully people will find treasures in amongst our trash this weekend and then we will turn around and do the same next weekend!! 

In this economic frenzy that we're living in, it seems that more and more people are thinking differently.  Second hand shops and consignment stores are listed in the slim category of businesses who have actually seen a rise in profits the last couple of years.  Everyone is looking for a bargain these days.  Whether it be shopping for clothing at a consignment shop, searching Craigslist for a piece of furniture, or finding new purpose in someone else's yard sale item...it seems that more than ever, people are looking for treasures amongst other's trash.

That's what God does with us after all, isn't it?  Doesn't He look at our trash and see treasure?  Doesn't He see past the tarnish on an old piece of silver or beyond the rip in the seam of a second-hand shirt?  He overlooks the chipping paint and water stains on an old piece of furniture.  He finds new life and new purpose in our trash.  He knows the silver can be polished and the result will be a beautiful shine.  He knows the seam can be re-stitched as good as new.  He knows the furniture can be stripped and refinished with a beautiful new stain or paint color.  He sees beyond the mistakes and sees the beauty within.  

I recently wrote about seeing beauty in others, but  do you see this beauty in your own life?  Do you see past your mistakes and see the potential?  God does.  And when He forgives us of our mistakes, He doesn't even see them at all anymore.  We may still remember them occasionally, but that's not God reminding us of them.  He has cast them as far as the East is from the West.  They are erased from His mind. 

Question of the Day:  What about having your own yard sale?  Do you need to get rid of the trash in your life so that you can make room for treasures?