I am sure my fellow home owners already know how this story goes. It has been a long weekend and you are ready to wind down before starting the week anew in the morning. Then someone says the last thing you want to hear: “the toilet is overflowing.” Not only is it a mess, all your plans for the rest of the evening have been completely derailed and you just know, at some point, you will lose your temper.
It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” you will lose that temper. But make no doubt about it, it will happen.
Last night brought that very episode. Instead of sitting down to spend 30-40 minutes to write a blog post before pitting the kids to bed, I found myself plunging and trying unsuccessfully to use a toilet auger on our basement “throne.”
At first, I was just a little agitated, thinking it would be one or two simple plunges and I would be back on track. When I realized that was not going to be reality, I began to plunge with more intensity, hoping a little more effort would shake it free.
No such luck.
I began thinking about our former home and all the troubles we had with the toilet when we lived there. We spent a lot of money, energy and frustration trying to keep the ONE toilet in the house in functioning condition. Moving into our current home was supposed to put an end to all that… or so I had thought. I plunged with even more anger at that observation.
And then came the words. Just as filthy as the toilet I was plunging, I said a few words I reserve only for such occasions and immediately feel guilty about saying them. And, of course, the tongue didn’t stop there. I made it very clear to my kids that if I found out they had flushed anything they should not be flushing, there would be consequences.
Photo Credit: The Facey Family via Compfight cc
Sump Pump… Two Sure-Fire Contentment Killing Words
The irony of it all lies in the fact that I had just led Sunday School in one of our studies of Ecclesiastes where we focused on the topic of contentment. Here I was, a broken dude screaming and cursing about how we moved out of our old home with the thinking that we’d never have to deal with such toilet issues ever again. And yet, just that very morning I facilitated a discussion that clearly pointed out that our earthly desires and the toils they bring will never be realized.
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. – Ecclesiastes 6:7-9
Long story short, I spent a long while trying to plunge it free only to stop and consider another perspective. Maybe the problem is not the toilet. Maybe the problem is the sump pump, which is a different sump than the one all the other drains in the house feed into. Sure enough, when I checked the pit, it was full. I won’t gross you out with the rest of the details, but I was quickly able to determine the sump was burned up.
Sadly, I missed the closing time of Home Depot (the last store in town to close on Sunday night) by about ten minutes. I cleaned everything up, cleaned myself up and apologized to my daughters and wife. I confessed that I was frustrated, said some words I should not have, and placed blame upon them despite their (i think) innocence in the matter.
Friends, I am not perfect. None of us are. Contentment is a rare feat and being able to respond in an unbroken way despite our clear brokenness is more challenging than we’ll ever know. Can we overcome it? Sure, but we cannot do it alone. Look to God, who blesses us with many blessings big and small. He is constantly refining us and nudging us along the very path with which he desires.
I take from this evening’s events an understanding that teaching and living the word as well as following God’s commands are two very distinctive things. Words without action are meaningless. However, words with contradictory actions are damning to your self and to others.
I pray that, when the sump pumps of life take a crap of their own, we will be more self-aware and striving less after the wind.