he took the trash out

i opened the cabinet under the sink and saw an empty trashcan. no, not a trashcan that was recently emptied of its contents. a trashcan that was missing its bag.

i think this is one of my nagging issues in life. i see what isn't there rather than what is, what hasn't been done rather than what has. in this instance my wonderful husband had taken the trash out without even a single prompting from me (he usually does this, and quite well). but he forgot to put a trash bag back in. this often annoys me to no end, and i normally like to point it out to him. but this time something, perhaps a nudging from the holy spirit, stopped me. i realized i would be chastising him for something he didn't do rather than thanking him for something he actually did, and constantly does.

it was one of those humbling moments. the kind where i sat back and wondered how many other times i looked at what wasn't rather than what was. how many miracles from god did i overlook because my expectations weren't met? how many acts of service were done unto me that i ignored? how many times did i miss a blessing because it wasn't up to my standard? time for a change in perspective.

so i closed my mouth and pulled out a trash bag and said thanks to my husband.
and then this week i asked why he didn't finish cleaning the kitchen (even though the dishes were all done)....
i guess i'm still a work in progress