I now have a new appreciation…and respect for…and even dread for…

WATER

It’s been over two days now since all of our plumbing was ripped out.  As I write this, we have pipes leading down to the basement from our two bathroom sinks, toilets, kitchen sink, and utility room sink…that all lead to…nothing.  The pipes have been severed and hubby has large buckets hanging from each abrupt end so that any errent drips don’t get to the basement floor.

I know it can ALWAYS be worse…but I will just say that this is HARD.

Until now I didn’t really appreciate how much water I use.  Every time anyone turns on a faucet that water has to be contained in some kind of reciptacle that can be taken out of the house and dumped somewhere.  I do dishes at least three times a day dumping my dishpans into a large bucket and then calling a teenage boy to come empty the bucket when it is full.

We live pretty close to several public restrooms that we have been utilizing…but that gets very old very fast.  I never realized how often the kids use the bathroom.  Honestly…it seems like someone has to GO every hour.  It’s exhausting.

I swear I will NEVER take indoor plumbing for granted ever, ever again.  I’m not sure exactly what God is trying to teach us with this trial…but I suspect that we need to have a keener awareness and appreciation for some things that have been taken for granted.  I also suspect that maybe we’ve become too “soft”…maybe we needed to toughen up a little bit and practice some endurance and keeping a good attitude in the face of adversity.

I’m workin’ on it, God!  Really…I am!