Coming Home 2

After a few days home from Palm Springs (and fixing everything imaginable), we left for Cabo for a week.  A week later, coming home, I expected everything to be as we left it.  Wrong!  The water heater continued to leak.  The 5-gallon bucket was full to overflowing, there was standing water at the base of the water heater and on the garage floor, and the pilot light was out.  Oh, my goodness.  Here we go again.  I thought this was behind us.

I guess not.  And so, I go into Bob mode.  “Bob Mode” is where I forget to rely on the Lord for help and guidance.  I can do it…by myself.  I don’t need help.

So, the water heater leaks.  It is heavy and waterlogged.  I need to purchase a new replacement and redo the plumbing to include the in-floor water heat.  I am confident that I can do the work, but there are still so many things that can go wrong.  This was Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I presented my anxieties to the Men’s Bible Study group.  They included me in their prayers and tried to encourage me.  “Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.” (Psalms 55:22)  I knew that I needed to trust the Lord to take care of me, to clear my mind, to be open to help.

After the study, John Stuart met me in the parking lot and gave me a come-along and two 8 ft. cloth straps.  He said, “This might help you get you water tank off the shelf that it sits on.”  At first, I wasn’t convinced.  But later, after setting a hook in the ceiling, we were able to lift the tank (about 300 lbs.) and set it on the garage floor.  Notice I said “we”.  I asked my son-in-law, Drake, to help me with the heavy lifting.  “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”  (Ecclesiastes 4:9)  He helped me get the old water heater to the floor, set the new one in place, and put the old one in the back of my SUV to go to the dump.  It felt like the worst and most difficult part of the project was over.

Next was the plumbing with dozens of solder joints and connections.  Again, there were so many things that could go wrong: bad solder joints, leaky fittings, air in the lines, a heat exchanger that was new to me, and the mix of old and new piping.  Yes, what could possibly go wrong?

But in the end, nothing leaked and everything worked.  This included the in-floor water heating and all the revisions I had to make to get it to work again.  All I could say is, “Thank you, Lord!”

Now, the trampoline.  It was 16 ft. in diameter but only about 12” showed above the water.  It was anchored with four 60 lb. pier blocks.  Rather than put on diving gear, I thought I would try to pull it out of the water using John’s come-along idea.  Hmm, “Bob mode” again.  I was making slow progress measured in inches.

Finally, my neighbor Dan saw me and offered to help.  Between the two of us and with great difficulty, we were able to drag it to shore.  (Eccl. 4:9 again)  I felt stupid thinking I could do this by myself.  I never learn.

I removed the pier blocks, cut it into a half dozen manageable pieces and took it all to the dump.  The new trampoline looks good.  The “kids” were on it within five minutes of getting it inflated.

No sooner was that done than we had another windstorm, and another post broke on our boat lift cover.  As if that weren’t enough, the in-floor water heating system started making a hammering noise (at 3:00 in the morning)!

Have I learned my lesson?  Will I ask for help?  Will I seek God’s help?  We’ll see in Part 3 of “Coming Home.”