Warm Pipes

It was 10:00 pm on the night we moved into our sweet new home.  It was the grand finale of a 30-day total house repair/remodel.  Brent and I were functioning on less-than-adequate amounts of sleep at that point.  Yes, we did pull all-nighters to hang new drywall and sand all the wood floors.  I went to brush my teeth in the brand spanking new vanity.  I turned the hot water on.  It sputtered and gasped.  I turned the cold water on.  It trickled.

It was a wopping 2 degrees outside.  I tried the tub.  Then the kitchen sink.  No luck.  I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe knowing I had to tell my worn out husband. 

Like a pro (or, rather an amazing man of faith and determination) he bundled up, got the blow dryer and headed to the crawl space.  He had plans of blow drying the pipes to unfreeze them.  I had the faucets on and ready for the water to gush.

10:30… 11:15…

I laid in bed recounting the past blur of a month.  The stories of God’s goodness and incredible blessings through this process were overwhelming.  

We set out with the mindset of viewing this house repair and remodel as an intense time of spiritual growth -- A mission trip of sorts.  We knew that there were much more important things going on in the world than the remodel of our new home.  We knew that people were starving and losing their jobs and facing illness and death.  

We didn’t, for one second, want to get so self-absorbed that we lost sight of what real problems are in life.  God had blessed us with this house and we wanted to see each hurdle as an opportunity not a problem.  We hoped this house would be a journey for us to hear God’s voice and obey Him in the small things.  We hoped to grow closer as a couple and as a family.  To be more grateful and to trust God with all things.

11:45… 12:15...

A little panic started to settle in.  Or was it fear and anger?  I wondered what would happen if the pipes burst.  And, I hated for Brent to have to keep working so hard on such little energy.  Would we have the money to fix this one?  Why was God allowing such a big problem like this now once we’ve moved in?  And, could anything just go smoothly?

Then, He whispered to me deep in my spirit.  Trust. I remembered.  He always provided.  All the days of my life, He has never left and never failed.  All hard things have only led me closer to Him and to understanding how He works in the world.  And, yes at that moment the rest of the world’s problems were still raging.  And God is a God of relationship and restoration and redemption.  Yes, this water problem was meant to draw us to Him.  Not to fret or control.  But to Trust.

I figured Brent was having his own “moment” under the house.

12:39…

The water came bursting in the tub and sink.  Relief washed over me and I went to meet Brent in the kitchen.  He'd been under there with the blow dryer for two and half hours.  He was bundled.  I was thankful.

Slow and calmly Brent said, “The water was turned off.  The valve was off."

Nope, the pipes weren’t frozen at all.  At some point in all of our repairs and leak fixes here and there, the main valve was still shut off.  But we sure did have a heart to heart with God and some warm pipes that night.