Coming Home

Arriving home, the garage lights didn’t work; the light fixture in the mud room didn’t work; the kayaks were full of water; the hot water tank had standing water in the base and the pilot wouldn’t light (no hot water); the hydronic heating system for the main floor didn’t work.  Though definitely a first world problem, I felt overwhelmed.  And all the more so since the leadership team was coming in two days and so many things weren’t working.

“Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.”  Psalms 55:22. 

Easier said than done.

First, I have to get past my pride.  I am good at fixing things and my pride really gets in the way.  Turning to God for help is not second nature to me. 

Next, I had to humble myself before God and Carol; admitting that this was all way over my head and I needed help.  It wasn’t hard humbling myself before God.  But telling Carol that I needed her help, was very hard.  Amazingly, she did not think any less of me.

What’s the next step?  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalms 37:23.

Not that I consider myself especially “godly” but I do appreciate His help.  So, let’s get started.  The front door: new batteries.  The garage door keypad: another new battery.  The garage lights: you guessed it, another new battery.  The mud room light: wrong, new lamps.  The boat lift cover, that took most of the morning, three trips to Home Depot, a drill press, band-saw, stainless steel bolts and a 3/8” aluminum bar.  I was able to reattach the post to the cover frame.  And I was happy (relieved) with the result.

Now the hot water tank.  When we first arrived home, I wasn’t aware of a problem.  The water was hot at first, but over time it became lukewarm.   How odd.  I should check it out.  I did notice that the hydronic floor heat wasn’t working, but I figured I would address that later.  Nonetheless,  I did disconnect the hydronic system from the water heater, and that seemed to fix the source of the leak.  I looked at the ignitor and saw that the pilot flame wasn’t lit.  There was standing-water in the area underneath.  Not good.  I tried lighting the pilot half a dozen times.  Nothing!  No hot water!  What am I going to do?  Am I going to have to replace the water heater?  That would be no small task.

I went into Bob mode.  Let’s find a new water heater: Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s.  I stopped looking to God and went into research mode.  I was set on replacement that day.  I was ready to disconnect all the piping, drain the tank and remove it.

About an hour later, after deciding on a new water heater, I saw that the water heater was drying out.  I don’t know why, but I thought I’d try to light the pilot again.  It didn’t work before, so why would it work now?  That was Bob mode.  But something prodded me to try again.  AND… it worked!  Praise the Lord!  We will have hot water!  The leadership team will not blacklist us.  And all is right in our little world.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…” Romans 8:28.

I’ve experienced God’s workings so many times in my life that I don’t remember them all. With me, He usually works in small, quiet, under-the-radar ways.  Easily overlooked or explained away.  Skeptics would say, “Oh, that’s not God.  You’re just good at what you do.”  Perhaps.  Maybe one or two times.  But dozens?  I don’t think so.  All I know is that if I seek His help with humility and faith, trust others (like Carol and Craig), He always comes through.

But, Bob, what about the water trampoline and the hydronic floor heat?  Not fixed yet.  But I’m sure there will be a story attached to both of them.