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| The eighty-five pound Lucy in the cat bed and the twelve pound cat, Wilbur, in the dog bed. |
I came across this post in the archives this week while searching for something else and Paul's words seem especially poignant for today. I updated the photo, which used to be Lucy and our poodle Charlie who is no longer with us. Some things never change as I found Lucy and Wilbur in almost the exact circumstance. And yes, during this politically charged pandemic, so much seems upside down, but his unfolding grace continues and what is eternal never changes. Many blessings, friends.
Ever had one of those weeks? Maybe it’s one of them now.
So what goes down the drain should stay down. Right?
Had some plumbing problems, and we thought they were resolved.
I went upstairs to straighten a closet, and in the few minutes I was gone, when I returned downstairs, I found the washing machine had emptied twice all over the hardwood floors we installed only a couple of years ago.
I waded to the laundry room, grabbed several beach towels, fell on my hands and knees, and started mopping gallons and gallons of soapy water toward the back door.
I didn’t even stop to call Jerry, only kept praying, “Oh, Lord, don’t let this water ruin the floors.”
A neighbor friend called. I answered robotically, “Can’t go for a walk--can’t talk--have to keep mopping.”
She arrived a few minutes later with a mound of towels in her hand and mopped, too.
When I finally had a moment to call Jerry, he came straight home and went to work unstopping the blockage that had evidently resulted because of our prior problem.
Exhausted, with the water finally pushed out, and windows and doors open to let air circulate, my neighbor and I had a few moments to sit.
Jerry turned on the water to a pulsing bulb mechanism he’d slipped into the plumbing, and the pipes bellowed wild moaning sounds.
Soaked to the skin from the knees down after becoming human sponges, my friend and I melted into laughter.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:17 The Message).
A rainbow of assorted beach towels took two days to dry on the patio grill—the aftermath of our unfortunate plumbing fiasco. And though the hardwood floors threatened to buckle at some of the seams, after a few hours with a fan blowing on them and a little time to dry, they seem to be calming down a bit.
Someone will probably buy this house one day, rip out the floors we worked so hard to save and install the latest thing they’ve seen on HGTV. As Paul said, “…here today, gone tomorrow…”
In the future, I’m most likely not going to remember how important it was to rescue the floors, but I’ll remember the crazy vibrato of the plumbing, and the laughter my friend and I shared.
I’m latching onto His unfolding grace and keeping what’s eternal in my sites even and especially in this upside down, backwards week. Because Paul’s right, this stuff doesn’t matter compared to what God’s bringing in our future.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for me. The release date for my new Christmas novella, A Season for Everything, has been changed to November 6. I am so thrilled for this and am looking for a team of people who will help me promote the book. If you like writing book reviews, are on social media, and would like an advance free digital copy of the book, please contact me through my website HERE, private message me on my author page HERE, or contact me through Instagram @BeverlyVarnado. Spots are limited, so thank you for responding quickly.
The Cover Reveal of A Season for Everything is coming October 26.