Normally this wouldn’t surprise me. We run out of water nearly every day. All I need to do when this happens, though, is to turn the pump on and pump the rain water up into the attic tank to then be used in the kitchen and elsewhere around the house.
But this time when I turned the pump on, nothing happened.
No water. Nothing.
So I turned to my B for a solution. I knew he could figure it out and probably fix it as well. But when B got back from the water tank, he was stunned.
It was empty. So empty that he could even lift the mammoth metal container off of the ground.
Okay – sure – that could happen if the city decided to stop pumping water for a few weeks and it didn’t rain. But as far as we could tell, they hadn’t. And what is more ~ that very afternoon, we’d had enough rain to float Noah’s boat. Just a few hours earlier I was calling the kids in from their makeshift tent outside because the rain was pouring so hard that I thought it could easily bring some tree limbs down with it – onto them. With a pretty elaborate rain-catching gutter system on our home . . .you’d think we would have at least have caught a drop or two.
But there was none.
No water.
The kitchen sink sat empty and dry.
B later noticed that one of the gutter elbows had come loose and presumably that problem had led to our lack of water.
Now, I admit – I’ve grown a little hyper-sensitive to these things. When the electricity goes out (right now – that’s nearly daily), or when the water runs dry or when the email refuses to work and the phone no longer dials . . .well, these things have become little irritants – I admit. I know I’m not supposed to covet but I do covet a fully functioning home.
However for some reason, this time – the water was not such a big issue to me.
I simply smiled at my B and said, “Hey - you know what? In 19 days, we’re going to have WATER!!! And hot water, too - whenever we want it!”
B smiled back and we started jumping up and down and hugging each other like
college teammates who had just won their school’s championship game.
Because in 19 days . . . we will have water when we arrive in the great US of A.
Our little raindance reminded me of something, though. It reminded me of how quickly I forget that I’ve only been put here on this planet for a spell. My life is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. A dot on the line. A note in the entire score.
Yes, there is pain. True. Irritants. Disappointment. Failure. Fear. And loss.
But it’s only for now. It, too, will pass.
And by remembering that Someone has already paid the price for my ticket home . . .helps keep all of life’s irritants in perspective. No, you won’t see me jumping up and down in elation over the schisms that have scarred my soul. Pain is real and empty sinks do feel dry. But what you will see is a hope in my eyes reflecting the reality that I will truly one day soak in the abundance of grace & mercy. My heart will be healed. My soul will be new. My body will work. My mind will thrive.
My emotions will be whole.
For forever, and a day.
It is in that hope that I find the strength to seek peace, work and to wait.
No water?
I know Someone who has more than enough and He’s willing to share.
One day He’s going to return and take us there.
And when He does, we’ll toast a cup of it together.
Until then ~
Heather
Titus 2:13 “ . . . looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”
tereza
