THE JOYS OF A HOT SHOWER

For almost 97 hours, I had not been able to stand under the shower spray of hot water in my own home.  On New Years Eve, my hot water heater sprang a leak, halting all showering in the house for almost 4 days.  What a way to start the New Year.  Have you ever noticed that you never seem to appreciate the simple joys of life until they are harshly stripped away from you.  Now, before you begin to imagine me walking around, being smelly and offensive, let me say:  Thank God for a job with gym facilities that include (free) showers and other amenities for its workers. 

Thanks to a home service warranty, today, Andrew of High Priority Plumbing, came to my home and fixed my hot water heater problem.  A few hours of draining, removal, soldering, hammering and other plumber technical stuff and I was told, "give it an hour, then you can run the hot water."  I was warned of potential air in the pipes and discolored water and after writing a check the size of Mount Rushmore, he went on his merry way and I crawled into bed for a quick nap before preparing to come to work.  I woke up a few hours later and in preparation for my work shift, took a nice, long, HOT shower in my own bathroom under my own customized showerhead with the massage function and perfect water pressure.  Oh, the joy!  Oh, the bliss!  Oh, the satisfaction!

Five minutes later, my bliss was shattered by a shout from my mother that the hot water heater was leaking...again!  WHAT!?  Turns out that in one of the pipes connecting the new heater to the old expansion tank, there was a hole.  A small, minute, you can barely see it, hole in the pipe. [I have attached a picture just in case you wanted to see what I was talking about.]  Yep, a small, minute, barely there hole ... but it was spraying a small jet of water over the washing machine, onto the floor and basically just causing a mess.  Again.

Fortunately, over the weekend, while waiting for the plumbers to come to the house, I purchased some teflon tape and was able to cover up the hole and stop the water from spraying all over the place, although there was still some seepage and small drips going on.  A call was made to the plumbing company to inform them of what happened and now I am just in a "wait and see" state until they can get back to me when they open in the morning.

This situation could easily cause me to be frustrated and irritable - and I have to admit, there is a little bit of that going on - but this is day four of a New Year in which I have determined to "exhale" my way through situations.  There is nothing I can do about this situation (beyond what I have already done) until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.  My mom has checked the leak and the teflon tape seems to be warding off future damage to my laundry room and home.  I am confident that the plumbing company will "make it right" in a timely manner.  And somewhere, somehow, there is a lesson I am supposed to be learning.  Off the top of my head, the lesson is not clear, but once I figure it out, I'll be sure to share.

Until then, be blessed.  (and be patient, Kristina)

© 2018 Kristina E. Smith

EXHALE

This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalms 118:24

Maybe this has been a trend for several years and I just missed it, but a lot of my friends on Instagram this year have been picking a "word" for the year.  For those that are more metaphysical than me, this word is supposed to "guide" them, give them "purpose", "shape" them for the year ahead. Sort of like a "resolution" of sorts.  I must confess, I don't tend to make resolutions - I mean, seriously - most resolutions are made with the knowledge that there is no way you will ever keep them, if only because in your heart of hearts, you know you are not willing or ready to commit to the change(s) necessary to be successful at the resolution itself.

But something about choosing a word for the year appealed to me.  Something about having a "theme" to guide my path for the next 365 days.  As I searched for the word, I realized that it was right there in front of my face.  A few years ago, on my travels, I picked up a pair of prints.  One simply says, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe - in various shades of black and grey.  The second print (pictured above) simply says, Exhale.  Sounds so simple, doesn't it?  And yet, in reality,  this can be very hard to do.  Speaking only for myself, it is so very easy to get weighted down by the cares, struggles, concerns of life that sometimes you forget to just breathe.  Of course, I am not referring to the autonomous action of breathing - in and out and in and out - done automatically and without thinking.  I am referring more to the intentional taking in of a deep breath and holding it.  But more importantly of exhaling it.  Of letting go.  Of releasing.

On New Years Eve 2017, I went downstairs to move some laundry for my mother from the washing machine to the dryer.  Surrounding the bottom of the hot water heater were small pools of rusty water.  I cannot say that I was totally surprised because earlier in the year, I was warned that my 20 year water heater was rusting out and on its last legs.  At that time, the plumber told me that it could possibly cause more damage to move it / replace it and I needed to just wait it out, but to be on the watch for leakage.  He also told me what to do in case it started leaking:  turn off the water valve and run a garden hose from the heater outside to drain it.  I was given a three month reprieve, but having your hot water heater go out at 9:00 p.m. on New Years Eve ensures that 1) no plumber is going to be available for a few days; 2) the thought of a hot shower was off the table for at least 24 hours; 3) washing dishes, clothes and even preparing food was going to take a little more thought and effort and 4) I could either sit down and cry about it - or I could just accept that things were going to be a bit rockier than planned as I started the New Year.

With my new "word of the year" ringing in my consciousness, I pulled up my "big girl panties" and got to work.  Towels were placed around the base of the water heater until I could make a trip to Lowe's for a new garden hose.  A fortuitous phone call from my play brother, who was vacationing in Jamaica, lots of photos sent, and multiple step-by-step "no, Kristina, turn it the other way" instructions - all made for an interesting start to the New Year.  But I kept my cool and calm and pleasant (ok, mostly pleasant) demeanor throughout.  A phone call from the plumbers early on Tuesday, let me know that the situation will last a few more days as there is a backlog of service requests and the earliest appointment is not until Thursday afternoon.

What is keeping me sane?  Remembering that it could be worse.  I could have been away when the hot water heater started leaking and come home to a flooded laundry room and/or house.  I could have been without the resources of knowledgeable friends and accessible tools to temporarily fix the problem.  I could be without electricity.  I could be without food.  I could be without access to facilities to bathe and otherwise survive the non-water issue at my house.  I am blessed in spite of any inconveniences I'm undergoing now.

In searching for a Bible verse to go along with this blog posting, I couldn't find one that simply said, "Exhale".  But I was reminded of my father's favorite Bible verse, found in Psalms.  Nothing that happens to us in any day happens without God's permission.  He KNOWS what we can and cannot deal with.  He also provides us with WHATEVER we need to survive and to deal with the issues of the day.  Every day, we know that we can face the challenges of the day equipped to come through victorious.  And when that happens, we can exhale and let go of any stress, anxiety and angst.

I pray that you have a great day in the Lord, and that you will find the fortitude to "exhale".  Be blessed.