I was on vacation last week. Well, sort of. It was supposed to be a vacation, to enjoy spring break with my kids for the week. But when you have one independent college student, it seems making spring break plans is kind of up for grabs. Couple that with unexpected ministry engagements, and it makes for a not very vacation-y vacation. Jeremiah and I drove through 6 states (TN, AR, MO, IL, MI, IN), saw 3 different friends and family members, and I spoke at 2 business meetings in Chicago. It wasn’t exactly what we planned, but it was a nice whirlwind trip.
It has put me in a reflective mood, as the amount of “unexpectancies” in the past week has been pretty significant. Going into the Chicago meetings, all I really knew was that we were hoping for some potential contacts from business professionals in The Barnabas Group. However, Jesus and I have been doing this ministry thing long enough together that I was relatively certain that that was only the cover story. I went in figuring there was something beneath the surface that He was up to, and I believe I was right, though I don’t know the full story yet. He has been stirring some things in the ministry, and in my own heart and the hearts of my board members, and I think these meetings might have been more pieces in that Divine Puzzle. But we’ll save that for another day.
Upon return home, the weather in Memphis was a gift to my chilly body and soul – perfectly sunny, a little breezy, and hovering around 60 degrees. (I prefer 80 – but I was totally good with 60 and sunshine after a cold week in Chicago and Michigan!) So, I recruited Jeremiah to help me with some spring yard work. That led me to the need to address an outside faucet that rusted out in the winter and needed to be repaired. And it just so happened that while I was outside inspecting my faucet and figuring out a plan of attack, my neighbors drove in. They are a young couple and he is a bit of a handyman, and also pretty friendly and helpful, so he offered to help me replace the faucet. Seemed pretty straight-forward. I went to Home Depot (3 times – that starts to tell you something about where this is going…) and bought the stuff, and he brought out his tools and so forth, and we started working on it. In the end, we got the faucet replaced, but I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.
As we turned the water back on to the house (a feat in itself, as we didn’t have one of those T-bars), it seemed like I could hear some water running, while the faucet was turned off. We weren’t sure, and we were standing next to the gas meter, which was making some noises too, so we checked for any leaking and called it good. As the evening wore on, every time I went into my bathroom (the room right inside of the place where the exterior faucet is located), I could hear water running. Kind of like the toilet was running, but it wasn’t. By late that night, I was convinced that water was running inside the walls somewhere, even though I couldn’t see where it might be – either from the inside or the outside.
With visions of waking up in the middle of the night to a flooded house, I called the emergency number for the water company and had them shut off my water. Since my kids and I are not rookies when it comes to a lack of running water in the house, we prepared first – get a quick shower, place a full bucket of water in each bathroom and the kitchen, instructions to not flush unless “necessary” – and off with the water. We’re now 12 hours into our waterless adventure, and I still have a lot of questions about what damage was done with water running somewhere in the structure of my house that I cannot see, and I have been in contact with my home warranty company who are in no hurry to resolve this. And that is part of my angst. This home warranty gig is a joke. They have so many loopholes and clauses that getting them to actually fix anything is a pretty big headache. (If you are ever tempted to buy a home warranty, call me first…)
So, on this Sunday afternoon, I am contemplating water and warranties.
I am reminded of how grateful I am that I have drinkable running water in 5 different locations in my house. When everything is working right, I don’t have to walk more than 20 feet to get to running water. I would like to say that with my background, I don’t take that for granted. But I often do. Though not today! I have thought many times today about how difficult everything is when you don’t have easy access to water. It causes you to rethink EVERYTHING – your standard of cleanliness, what you do inside (I was trying to repot plants in my kitchen…), how and when you shower or wash your hands, what you cook, how you eat or drink – everything. Having unlimited access to clean, drinkable, flowing-from-a-tap water is a privilege and a blessing. And only 40% of the world’s population has this access.
And then there are warranties. I don’t have any stats on warranties, but I can tell you that whoever thought up the concept is rolling in money, but probably doesn’t sleep very well at night. Warranties sound like such a good idea. And they are a good idea. But they are mostly good on paper. Because with a home warranty (maybe a car also? And for sure the same holds true for a good amount of health insurance policies…) they will cover the repair for stuff that breaks in your house in exchange for a chunk of change. Unless it’s Tuesday, or the thing that broke was made before 2009, or you touched it before it broke, or you breathe air… In those cases, sorry – that is not actually covered.
And not that I am super spiritual or something, but I will say that my thoughts during times of trial and crisis turn frequently to Jesus and Truth. Praise God for that! That is grace and growth. So, as I have rationed my buckets of water, and talked with my warranty company (with whom the jury is still out on if they’ll cover something of this nature), I am so grateful for Jesus.
You know what Jesus said He was? Living water! From a spring that won’t run dry! And while most days, this metaphor doesn’t really resonate in the deepest places of our souls like it should – try shutting off your water for a couple of days, and read it again. He is Water! Never-ending, never-destructive, never-rationed Water. His water ensures that you have enough. You never thirst again. You never run out. It’s never polluted and dangerous. It isn’t destructive like hurricane or flood water. And it’s available wherever you are. It is HIM! This is good news. That woman who was standing in the mid-day sun in Samaria drawing heavy containers of water from a very deep well got that. We generally don’t.
And the other thing? Jesus didn’t actually say this in the Bible – mostly because people wouldn’t have known what He was talking about – but He is also the Ultimate Warranty. It’s not listed that way, but it’s there. He fixes everything (Col. 1:20). There are no exceptions. No fine print. No pre-existing condition exclusions. He will make everything right, and restore all things. All things new.
And while it’s kind of shocking that only 40% of the world’s people have easy access to water, and that probably gives us pause, here’s what’s worse; only 33% of the world’s people know Jesus. That is 5 billion people that are not drinking Living Water, and are not assured of the Ultimate Warranty promise, that everything will be made new. That is sobering.
And it puts my empty faucets in perspective.
Drink deeply today, and let Living Water flow out of you to the world,
Kim