water. the gift & the cost.

It’s just not something we think about.

We know we are privileged to have such free and easy access to it.

But it’s not on our grateful radar all that often.

Until you wake up one morning and turn the faucet on to fill up your tea pot and nothing comes pouring out.

That’s this week at our house.

Sunday morning we discover our water is not working.

We do all the things we know to do:

Check for leaks in the pipes under the house.
See if a breaker has been flipped.
Find out if there’s any water available from the spigots outside.
Call several friends who surely know more than we do.

And when all those things are done and the water is still not turning on and the toilets are still not flushing, call a professional.

But cry a little too, because professionals are just that for a reason.  And their skill set always comes with a price tag. (Not that it shouldn’t. It should. But still – a price tag is a price tag.)

Actually, the tears didn’t really come until the well pump and one hundred feet of pipe were lying in the yard and the estimate for a new well pump and some pipes and labor all came in over a thousand dollars and the kind gentleman informs me that he doesn’t accept credit cards.

Cue a couple of tears because some days it feels like Too Much.

This is the price of adulthood. Of home ownership. Of the glorious luxury of fresh running well water all throughout our cozy home.

I’m thankful for it. I don’t regret buying a house. 

But it’s still a bit of a shock to the system, nonetheless.

Merry Christmas kids – this year you’re getting running water!

Hopefully by the end of the day the new well pump will be living inside its dark home inside our well and routine bathing and laundry can resume and this whole jug of water to flush the toilet situation can end.

Here’s to fresh water, a new well pump, neighbors who let us shower and fill up our water jugs, talented plumbers and the divine nature of God who meets our needs each and every time they bubble to the surface.

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