I soon began to run the spectrum from patience to aggravation as I became more and more tormented by a leak in the roof of my apartment, which seemed to never stop. This was no ordinary leak; it was witty, because every time we thought we had stopped it, it would show itself again with a vengeance. After grumbling to the landlord, the kids, my friends, and anyone else who would listen, frustration won the battle in my mind, and I began to allow the tentacles of self-pity to slowly wrap around me. In my impulse to fix this myself, I sank further into the pit of self-pity, and glimpses of hope began to slowly fade.
How could a leak consume and cripple me?
A leak in a roof may sound like a silly problem, but we all allow these little things to become giants in our lives. It was actually driving me crazy because I couldn’t fix it. We have bought into a culture that demands an instant fix and that convinces us that our way is the best way! Over time, this becomes an automatic response, like breathing, and we blindly strive to satisfy this intense, cultural lie. This striving robbed me of my ability to rest and enjoy life’s moments, and for much of my life, I struggled with this. No matter what I did or where I went, something would entangle me and pull me into restlessness.
This is a snippet I shared in my book Heartstone of a leaky roof I had in an apartment I was renting during my divorce. Not sure about you but whether you own or rent having any leak is a real pain because they are usually not that easy to find and fix. Lets roll the tape ahead to December 12, 2012. My son and I got up to start running through our normal morning routine and sat down in the family room to eat our breakfast and catch up on the morning news and weather.
Just an ordinary day…so I thought.
I went out into the kitchen to put my dishes in the dishwasher when my son says, “Um Dad? You might want to come in here!” I walked into the family room to water coming down with a steady stream from the ceiling. We immediately jumped into action to get buckets to collect the water and realized that it might be coming from the heating system. I have forced hot water in the house.
“What the heck?” would have been my typical response and my son noticed that I was not too phased by this. Here is what my response was, “Its all about perspective! We were home when the leak started, we have the means to fix it, no one was hurt and its just a house. I did not respond out of striving or restlessness this time. Over the years the Lord has helped me to change my perspective on many things.
When unexpected things happen in your life how do you respond?
For those who want the end of the story, here it is. Called a plumber and we went right to work trying to figure out where the leak was. As he was doing his thing I went into the other room and asked the Lord to help us pin point the leak, because He knew where it was, right? Long story short, we cut into the wall in the right spot and found the leak!
Years before I bought my house the previous owner put an addition on. During that construction the contractor sent a nail right into the pipe while putting on the baseboard. It took years for the nail to corrode and leak. Go figure!
Well, I have a bit of sheet rocking to do and now I have an excuse to paint the room.
