.the ash.

so we are in the midst of the worst fires california's ever seen. and i realized today about 4pm that i am by human nature, a selfish person. it's hazy, brownish-orange, ashy, dusty everywhere here. as i'm driving home from coaching volleyball, i am stopped at a light where some ash gathered itself in a little clot on my windshield. i was so annoyed because what happens in this process is: the ash gathers in the "ash clot", it needs to be wiped away with the windshield wipers but when you do that, the ash smears across the entirety of your windshield and i have been doing this numerous times the last few days and just was sick of it this afternoon.

this time it struck me differently. first of all, i was irritated by it and then i became bothered that i was irritated. i had a very rational moment where i thought, "why are you irritated by the ash?" as i stared at it. as i continued to look at the "ash clot", i thought of what those ashes represent - likely the bedroom of a 6 year old child whose toys, memories, games, bunk beds and teddy bears are now burned and turned into an ash clot on my car. and then i realized just how selfish i am. wow. i have a home that's safe and comfortable and standing, why am i complaining about the ash?

so, i chose to change that and instead of playing goofy games and doing ridiculous skits at young life tonight, we chose to be Jesus' hands and feet and bring food to 3 of the local fire stations. it was great for the kids, it was great for my soul and it blesses those who are risking their lives to save homes all over southern california. i most definitely learned a lesson today.