Three and a Half Hours Later

The ominous entrance into the crawl space and my tools.

Last night, I spent three and a half hours attempting to unclog a drain that I had clogged.  My story begins with me setting up a romantic evening with my wife on Sunday.  I knew that we did not have the money to go out so I wanted to be able to create a romantic atmosphere at home.  My idea was to grill hot dogs, prepare sweet potato fries, and light a bond fire in the back yard.  I setup small tables so that we could eat outside and bask in the warmth of the bond fire on a cold winter night while talking and enjoying each other's company.  The night ultimately was a hit but there was one thing I didn't consider.

I did not consider that the ground would still be soft and muddy.  I had prepared all of this in my good tennis shoes and as the night went on I realized that I had caked my tennis shoes in a thick layer of mud.  After realizing the damage I was doing to my shoes, I quickly switched into my work boots and solved the problem.  My wife apparently did not have the same issue I had and ended up with her shoes being fine.  Well a couple days later I decided that I wanted to wash my shoes and take off the layers of mud to hopefully restore them to their former glory.

The kitchen sink seemed like the perfect candidate for accomplishing this task since it was freezing out side.  I was able to clean the first shoe with no problems but did not have time to get to the other shoe.  There was quite a bit of mud and debris going down the drain but the drain still seemed fine so I figured that everything was okay.

Well yesterday, after a long day at work, I decided to finish the other shoe before my wife got home from a late night of grading at school.  The shoe was cleaning off with no issues just like the first one until I noticed that my sink had stopped draining.  I thought maybe it was just a simple clog and proceeded to try and plunge it in hopes of a quick fix.

Needless to say the clog was by no means a quick fix and three and a half hours later, I was covered in a filth I can only describe as disgusting, I had been both under the sink and under the house, and I was no closer to unclogging my clog.  I finally gave up around 1am, took a very long and thorough shower, and proceeded to dream of the hundreds of dollars I would be paying to a plumber in the morning.

After a very slow start this morning, I finally bit the bullet and called the plumber to help me with my problem.  They were able to come out immediately and the plumber easily cleaned out the clog making me wish I had called him in the first place instead of wasting my time trying to repair it myself.  I was so thankful for his help and grateful that the visit was quick, effective, and relatively cheap compared to my nightmares of a large plumber bill. ;)

Through this Jesus was working hard on my heart to teach me the lesson that there I can't do everything on my own.  Many times in my life I have been able to get by on my own and I struggle with letting others help me.  This is also true in my Christian walk.  I think that I can get by on my own and be a good person without any help.  I tend to take my life in my own hands instead of allowing Jesus to lead me.  It is very hard to humble myself, admit i can't do it alone, and ask for help.

I am so thankful that Jesus understands and loves us even when we are prideful and stubborn.  He is patient even when we are not.  He has compassion with us when we out in exasperation.  He never puts us down in our failure but lifts us up in His strength.  I have to admit that I am so grateful that Jesus' grace is sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in my weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.  

In whatever you are struggling with today, give it to the Lord.  Trust Him in your every struggle.  Don't end up three and half hours in or more and covered in filth before realizing you can't do it on your own like I did last night.  There is no struggle to big for Jesus to handle and no struggle to small for Him to care.

Thank you Jesus for your love and grace in my life.

Blessings,

Greg