"When we get home, lets just flop into bed and nap," Rachel said as she leaned back her head and dozed off in the passenger seat.
"Mhmm," Steven managed to murmur while he concentrated more on keeping his eyes open than on the road in front of him.
They were on their way home from their church's married couples retreat and on top of battling to keep illness away, they'd had a few too many nights without enough sleep. Upon ceasing to hear the car's engine, Rachel woke up from her mini nap and headed happily into the house with one thing on her mind. bed. sleep. now. She was still a bit groggy which is perhaps why she didn't recognize the puddle in the middle of the floor as being out of place. But when she stepped onto the hallway rug and got a shoe full of water, she realized something wasn't right.
This was the scene on Sunday afternoon. It took us quite a while to piece together what had taken place while we were away for the weekend. Our upstairs neighbors helped us solve the puzzle by explaining that water had been gushing out of a pipe in the garage and that they'd found a way to shut it off. Panic tried to enter my body; my head wanted to ache, my lungs weren't sure they could breathe, and my heart tried to race. But my husband wasn't panicking so I realized it wouldn't help if I started. I reminded myself that this minor event was not a great devastation worthy of tears. What did the pipe lead to? Would we still be able to shower and wash our clothes? Who were we supposed to call? The only thing I knew to do to start to put my house back in order was to mop. So I mopped. And we slowly explored the house and found the extent of the "damage." 2 ruined rugs, soaked clothes (that's why you're not supposed to leave them on the floor, kids!), soaked blankets and sheets, some discolored floorboards, 2 ruined card board boxes, 1 ruined library book. We figured out that the pipe being shut off didn't cut off any of our appliances so we were able to do some laundry. We finished mopping up all the water and then re-mopping with clean soapy water (the water we removed had been as black as used oil). Dad suggested using our dehumidifier so we did. We emailed the home owner so he could give us further instruction. We started to feel dumb for not having checked all the garage pipes before. We started to feel annoyed at all the extra work we weren't expecting to have to do. We never got our nap.
Thank goodness
- my laptop hadn't been on the floor where it often is.
- we didn't have carpeting.
- the floor boards haven't warped too badly yet.
- it's going to be warm this week so things can continue to dry out.
- nothing more was ruined
- our neighbors figured out how to turn off the water
It was really more of an annoyance than a catastrophe but it made me realize how having things actually makes you poorer, not richer. When you have things, you have to take care of them. You have to spend time and energy on them. It's an investment. The rugs that were ruined, we got for free. So although I'm disappointed and I may have to spend money to replace them; I haven't actually lost anything.The more you have, the more you can lose. That's why the rich young ruler couldn't follow Jesus. He had too much to lose. He couldn't lay down his whole life. This event has reminded me of why I enjoy living simply. I have what I need and I do my best not to accept much more beyond that. I don't like being controlled by my possessions.
"Mhmm," Steven managed to murmur while he concentrated more on keeping his eyes open than on the road in front of him.
They were on their way home from their church's married couples retreat and on top of battling to keep illness away, they'd had a few too many nights without enough sleep. Upon ceasing to hear the car's engine, Rachel woke up from her mini nap and headed happily into the house with one thing on her mind. bed. sleep. now. She was still a bit groggy which is perhaps why she didn't recognize the puddle in the middle of the floor as being out of place. But when she stepped onto the hallway rug and got a shoe full of water, she realized something wasn't right.
This was the scene on Sunday afternoon. It took us quite a while to piece together what had taken place while we were away for the weekend. Our upstairs neighbors helped us solve the puzzle by explaining that water had been gushing out of a pipe in the garage and that they'd found a way to shut it off. Panic tried to enter my body; my head wanted to ache, my lungs weren't sure they could breathe, and my heart tried to race. But my husband wasn't panicking so I realized it wouldn't help if I started. I reminded myself that this minor event was not a great devastation worthy of tears. What did the pipe lead to? Would we still be able to shower and wash our clothes? Who were we supposed to call? The only thing I knew to do to start to put my house back in order was to mop. So I mopped. And we slowly explored the house and found the extent of the "damage." 2 ruined rugs, soaked clothes (that's why you're not supposed to leave them on the floor, kids!), soaked blankets and sheets, some discolored floorboards, 2 ruined card board boxes, 1 ruined library book. We figured out that the pipe being shut off didn't cut off any of our appliances so we were able to do some laundry. We finished mopping up all the water and then re-mopping with clean soapy water (the water we removed had been as black as used oil). Dad suggested using our dehumidifier so we did. We emailed the home owner so he could give us further instruction. We started to feel dumb for not having checked all the garage pipes before. We started to feel annoyed at all the extra work we weren't expecting to have to do. We never got our nap.
Thank goodness
- my laptop hadn't been on the floor where it often is.
- we didn't have carpeting.
- the floor boards haven't warped too badly yet.
- it's going to be warm this week so things can continue to dry out.
- nothing more was ruined
- our neighbors figured out how to turn off the water
It was really more of an annoyance than a catastrophe but it made me realize how having things actually makes you poorer, not richer. When you have things, you have to take care of them. You have to spend time and energy on them. It's an investment. The rugs that were ruined, we got for free. So although I'm disappointed and I may have to spend money to replace them; I haven't actually lost anything.The more you have, the more you can lose. That's why the rich young ruler couldn't follow Jesus. He had too much to lose. He couldn't lay down his whole life. This event has reminded me of why I enjoy living simply. I have what I need and I do my best not to accept much more beyond that. I don't like being controlled by my possessions.
Amen, sister and twin!
ReplyDelete:) thanks Raquelita :)
ReplyDelete