There are lots of things we take for granted. It never occurred to me until this week that trashcans are one of them.

There I stood. On the edge of a mountain. In the worst neighborhood in Honduras. Picking up trash. Poop everywhere. Tangled in weeds and barbed wire. The whole shebang. And it hit me. We take trashcans for granted.

This may sound silly, but I’m completely serious. When you see the piles of trash outside of these people’s “houses,” you want to be angry. You want to give them a list of the top 10 reasons why they shouldn't litter. You want to inform them about green living. You want to tell them just to throw their trash in the freaking trashcan just like everybody else in the world.

But then you realize…they don’t have trashcans.

They don’t have trashcans. Or trashbags.

They don’t have toilets. Or toilet paper.

They don’t have showers. Or soap.

And then you realize that you’re the jerk in the situation. Not them.

Because they literally don’t have trashcans.

The problem is bigger than a bunch of people just throwing their trash out the door because they feel like it. The problem is that they don’t have any other option.

And I can come pick up their trash as often as I want, but they’re just gonna throw it right back there again. And again, and again, and again. Not because they’re rude. Not because they don’t care. Not because they hate the planet. But because they have no other choice.

Because they don’t have trashcans.

I picked up some pretty nasty stuff the other day, you guys. But, honestly, that didn’t bother me. I knew I could go home, change clothes, take a shower, and be clean again. What did bother me was that these people couldn’t. Ever. They live in filth. Not sometimes. All of the time. And that’s what bothered me.

It bothers me that they don’t have showers or soap.

It bothers me that they don’t have toilets or toilet paper.

It bothers me that they don’t have trashcans.

So I have a challenge for you today:

Identify your trashcan.

That one thing that is so simple, but so key to everyday living that you’ve never even thought to appreciate it.

That one thing you’ve always thought was a right, but is really a total blessing.

And then ask yourself: Have I thanked God for my trashcan today?