Inventory
When every December rolls around and Dad always asks me the same question. Not, "What do you want for Christmas, Natalie?" It's, "Natalie, are you gonna be able to help with inventory over break?"
I know if I say yes, I'm going to have to be in Pontiac every morning at 7:30, and that thought just makes me sick to my stomach. If I say no, he's going to ask what else I'm doing. And my response will have to be... "Um, sleeping?" And then he gives me the, "Oh, Natalie. You're probably the least reponsible and hardest to get out of bed of all my kids," look. And then I feel bad and end up doing it.
So I show up in Pontiac, half asleep with my nasty jeans and CASE IH shirt on. I get paired up with one of the guys that work there and we go to work. We switch on and off reading serial numbers to each other while the other flips through stacks of papers, looking for the item.
"A1890374".
"Yep, how many?" he asks.
"Five."
Sometimes it's the right amount, other times it's more like 50. We throw the wrong items into a bin and the guys figure it out later. It's usually not so bad, depending on which employee I get to work with. Jack who keeps me laughing or Mike with no personality. When we get back into the dusty bottom shelves of the last row in the back of the service department, things get pretty icky. Parts for tractors that probably don't even run anymore. But we still have to take inventory on them.
As I was thinking of taking inventory lately, I was thinking of the inventory of my heart. What items do I have in there? Pride, bitterness, jealousy? Or love, forgiveness, and joy? Would I be embarrassed if somebody took inventory on my heart and they had to read off, "Resentment"?
How many would they get if they read off "Grudges" compared to "Acts of Kindness"?
What items are hid in the corners of my heart that nobody can see but me and Jesus? What items are in there that should be thrown in the bin? They can sit for years (or in the case of inventory, one year) but eventually, God will take inventory on my heart. To see what's inside and what's not.
So I challenge you and I to take inventory on our hearts in the next week or so. Really examine what you have in there, not just what other people see because it's so easy to hide or cover up our shortcomings. We are to be like Christ, not just spiritually "good enough" to get by.
Hope you all have wonderful weekends. God Bless!
Love ya'll.
posted by natz at 9:47 AM
13 Comments:
at least you didn't have to do herscher's inventory...by yourself...pretty humdrum.
anyhoo, the inventory of the heart reminded me of joshua harris's "the room." i'm sure you've all heard it or read it, but in case you haven't, here's the link:
http://www.joshharris.com/theroom
/originalarticle.htm
(blogger cuts off links in comments so you'll have to reconstruct it yourself)
I did some of Herscher last summer by myself.
That article gives me goosebumps everytime I read it. Thanks for sharing it.
good post, stoller :)
I don't know the Harris article, but there's a poem that your post reminded me of. Here's the link http://www.spiritwatch.org/hearthome.htm Some brother turned it into a Bible study and we've done it twice in Phoenix over the last eight years or so. Good stuff.
On a side note, you need to see if ISU offers a class on writing personal or reflective essays - creative nonfiction. It really sounds like you have the start of a really good paper here. I'd love to read the rest!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Thanks, wuthrich.
Thanks for the site, Morgan! And for what you said. And did you delete a message?
Scott, Blogger doesn't cut off links in comments. You just have to use the a href= command. And then delete the break.
Here's your article.
Yeah, my connection was goofy and I accidentally posted twice, so I got rid of one of them. Hey, are you going to the Peoria invite? You should! I think like 5 or 6 of us are gonna be there. :D That goes for the rest of you too!
I have my cousin's wedding on the that Saturday night, but I will be in Peoria on Sunday. That would be so exciting if some of you could make it out! :)
Amber asked me about that invite, but she said she probably wasn't coming because of the drive. If you guys actually drive out, I will have to dub you some kind of knight...
Someone give me a good Sir "knight-name" for Morgan.
Who's thinking about coming?
Hey, great post Natalie! I like the analogy. I agree with Morgan that this would make an excellent personal reflection essay.
How about Sir Fork-Bender?
Stoller, that's what I'm talkin about. Now all you have to do is twist it around to make it sound more Knightly. You know, like LAN-celot.
like...
Sir Bendyfork.
or Sir Fancypants. I've always liked that. Morgan's a sharp dresser, right?
Post a Comment
<< Home