The Bra Factory Dumpster

I grew up in this house until I was in the 6th grade.  Oh the memories there!  As I drove down Darby Street tonight with my mom, I was struck with some of those memories.  We moved into this house when it was brand new.  The whole street was new and we were blessed with great neighbors.  Our house was at the end of the street and to the west was a big field.

This field.
But instead of this small building in the back center of the photo, there stood a large complex which housed a bra factory.  I don't even remember the name of the factory--we just always called it the bra factory.  They actually made bras there.  I have no recollection how we came upon the amazing discovery that the bra factory dumpster held some fascinating treasures, but what a great find!  I remember climbing into that dumpster and finding huge rolls of lace of every width, full cards of snaps and hooks, bolts of fabric (literally), large cones of thread and mammoth spools of elastic.  Why would they throw this stuff away?  It was good stuff!!  I took as much as my 10-year-old arms could carry home to my mom, a seamstress, and we oohed and aahed over the wealth which came from the bra factory dumpster.  That wasn't my only trip to dumpster dive.  It became a regular habit--we even began to figure out the prime time for the best finds.  And if my mom was running low on something, she might even send me to dig around.  Looking back, it's weird that there was never any "trash" in the dumpster--it was always large quantities of bra-making textiles.  I thought the workers must be really wasteful.  But there was that one time when I scratched my hand on a rusty sharp ridge on the dumpster causing it to bleed profusely.  With my quick thinking, I just grabbed a piece of fabric and made a tourniquet.  Seriously.

Yes...I used to dumpster dive.  As I remembered back on those days and our excitement over the riches which came out of that dumpster, I was reminded of this verse :  "But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart..."  Matthew 15:18.   Most dumpsters hold nasty things and a stench assaults you before you get too close.  This dumpster was like a man-sized treasure chest and it overflowed with an abundance of valuables.  It's the same as our hearts.  Let me hear what comes out of your mouth and I can tell you the state of your heart.

You know what?  I'd dumpster dive all over again for those treasures!  And I don't even sew.