Today, I spent a couple of hours cleaning up my yard. I cut the grass, raked leaves, cleaned out the flower beds, and cut some limbs off of our only tree, a Bradford Pear, in our yard. I have to be honest and say, that I was getting very frustrated with the whole leaves issue. I am not a fan of raking leaves in the slightest form. It makes it even worse that I only have one tree in my yard, but it is on the side and I had to clean leaves from all over my yard.

While I was in the yard raking the leaves and trying to bill them up at the street, I had a thought in the midst of my frustration. Sadly, I asked myself this question, “Can I give a bill to my neighbors for the time and energy it took me to clean their leaves out of my yard?” Of course, I can’t do that, but it did make me work a little harder.

You see, I became very frustrated with the mess in my yard because it was not “MY” mess. I was having to clean up leaves that did not come from trees in my own yard. I had to take time out of my day and spend it raking leaves out of my yard. I really wanted to do something else with my time instead of raking leaves. After wanting to charge my neighbors for their leafs in my yard and being very frustrated, I had this thought: “I wonder what mess (sin) in my life is affecting others?”

That question made me think about the people closest to me and how they are affected most, which is something that they do not deserve.  So I challenge you, ask yourself that question and understand that we affect others, even when we do not think we are. What mess in my life is affecting others?