I am moving into a new home in a few days and have been sorting and thinning out possessions for a couple of weeks, resulting in a huge pile of donations. In our area the United Cerebral Palsy Association sends a truck around every couple of months to pick up donations set out at the curb. Our donation pickup day was today.

Sometimes, when the truck is already full, the driver is not able to take every donation. That possibility had weighed on me for days and  increased when I learned my neighbors, who are also moving, would be putting out a large pile of donations, as well. This morning our combined offerings were more a mountain than a pile and I feared I would be hauling at least some of my things back into the garage to be added to the load I would be moving to our new home.

When I went out for my daily walk before lunch I was reluctant to look at the sidewalk, afraid my donations might still be there. As I walked down the driveway I didn’t see my neighbor’s things, so I knew the truck had already been by. Looking to the spot where my own pile had been, I discovered only bare sidewalk. They had taken it all.

I was elated. I almost skipped on my way with songs of thanksgiving in my heart. Although my worry about the donations may seem fairly insignificant to most folks, it had been a major concern and an object of prayer for me. I felt such a lightness and release!

I was a choir director and soloist for many years and have way too large a collection of sheet music. In trying (unsuccessfully, I’m afraid) to winnow it down for the move, I’d come across a favorite arrangement of the song, “Lay Your Burden Down”. The song’s refrain sprang to mind as I walked. I was experiencing, in a very small way, the joy of having my burden taken away. How much greater is our joy when placing our every care at the foot of the cross and having them all carried away by our Lord.

We all needlessly worry and fret over insignificant problems; carrying a load of stress when we could be rejoicing and dancing through life, unburdened and free.