Janet and I recently moved into a big ol’ house in Wildwood, Missouri. This is the 28th place I’ve lived in 60 years. If that sounds like a lot of moves, it is! I grew up in a military family and then served a career in the Air Force myself. This old rolling stone hasn’t gathered much moss.
My internal clock that tells me it’s time to move every 3 to 6 years may have met its match, though. Their names are Bradford and Chapman (aka Gollum, because until recently, he moved across living rooms and playgrounds by dragging his right knee under his body with his arms). I can’t imagine a scenario where we would drive off in a U-Haul and leave them (and their parents) behind, unless it was to be near granddaughter Rooney (and her parents) in North Carolina.
Why? Because grandparenting is as addictive as what I imagine crack cocaine to be. It has lived up to the hype and then some. In the series finale of The Office, Andy Bernard famously states, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.” Of the numerous wonderful seasons and “good old days” across our six decades, I can state, unequivocally, that we are living the “good old days” right now!
Thus, we were super pumped to move “Nonni and Fob’s Fun Factory” from an apartment in Chesterfield to the wooded and wild… Wildwood! This town, nestled in the rolling foothills of the Ozarks, is surrounded by state parks, countless miles of hiking trails, and all sorts of things to see and do. We have a wooded backyard view frequented by deer. We’re also now just a 10-minute drive from Gollum and his brother!
But this blog isn’t about moving or grandparenting or Wildwood.
It’s about plumbing and blessings in disguise.
On Day 2 at our new home, our garbage disposal began regurgitating, despite working fine the previous day. Ugh! This was not what we wanted in our new abode, which had recently passed an inspection.
I removed and cleaned the P-trap and used a 15-foot snake to try to unclog the pipe. That worked for about an hour. Then more regurgitation, like after you chase spaghetti and tomato paste with a Mountain Dew. Ugh!
The next day, two plumbers used their big, electric auger to try to clear the jam and thought they had. However, that night, the problem repeated. Ugh! We were frustrated. We couldn’t use our kitchen sink. This wasn’t how our first week was supposed to go.
The next day, the plumbers returned to attack the pipes from our basement. The older one said, “To access the pipe, we’re going to need to cut about a 14” x 14” hole in your basement ceiling. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Do what you have to do.”
After several more hours of snaking gunk from the lower pipes, he returned with good news and bad news. I’ll come back to the bad news.
“We were able to clear the blockage! It looks like the previous owner(s), for years, put grease down the disposal. Don’t ever do that.”
“That’s wonderful! Thank you! I suspect the house being empty for a couple of months may have caused the gunk to settle.”
Unfortunately, the problem returned at 9 p.m. that night! Not only did the kitchen sink regurgitate, but the washer backed up, flooding our laundry room! Ugh! We were supposed to fly out the following morning to visit family—a trip we weren’t about to cancel. We went from being highly frustrated to low-key depressed. Some of that had to do with being physically and emotionally exhausted from the move and all the prep leading up to it. Some of that had to do with not wanting to deal with a significant issue in our new (to us) house. I realize our plumbing issue was not at the same level as some of the challenges people deal with—physically, relationally, and otherwise. This wasn’t a “Why, God?” moment, per se, but was highly frustrating, nonetheless.
Upon our return, the plumbers came out for a third time, at no charge, and snaked laterally from the basement. It sounded like a war zone, leading Bradford to ask, “Why the boys do that?” Several hours later, the gunk was finally cleared and we’ve been good ever since. (If you ever visit us, please avoid putting grease down the disposal or eating Taco Bell.)
Now, I want to take you back to the end of the plumbers’ second visit. I mentioned that he said he also had some bad news.
With his head inside the new 14” by 14” hole in our basement ceiling, he noticed our dryer vent hose had become disconnected where it makes a turn toward the back of the house to vent. He said, “You’ve got a mess up there, and it’s a big-time fire hazard.”
Sure enough, we had a mess on our hands! In a 5’ x 7’ area above the ceiling, lint was piled 4 to 7 inches deep! To access and reconnect the dryer hose and clean up the mess, I had to turn the small hole into one 2’ x 4’. I then spent three hours sweeping, vacuuming, and grabbing two large trash bags’ worth of lint—enough to fill King Kong’s belly button. With Janet’s help, I inserted a 2’ x 4’ access panel into the hole in order to address any future plumbing or dryer hose issues.
Here’s my point: we had a fire hazard right under our noses and weren’t aware of it. Had we not had the plumbing problem and the ceiling hole that resulted, we never would have found out about the more serious dryer hose issue. What we initially perceived as an aggravating, expensive plumbing problem turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I’m not suggesting God caused the plumbing problem to point us to an even bigger issue. I don’t have that kind of insight into God’s thoughts and activities. I am suggesting that bad things that happen in our lives often lead to unexpected blessings.
The chest pain (a bad thing) causes you to see a doctor, who diagnoses the need for heart surgery, which saves your life (a good thing).
The tornado damages your home and neighborhood (a bad thing) but compels neighbors to finally meet after all these years and help each other clean up (a good thing). Someone who barely survived the storm decides to visit the local church that helped him (another good thing).
Your longtime girlfriend and love of your life breaks up with you (a bad thing). Later, you find an even more amazing woman—the perfect fit for you (a good thing).
I’m reminded of Romans 8:28, where Paul states, “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” That doesn’t mean everything we experience in life is “good” or brings immediate happiness—far from it. Sometimes plumbing problems are just plumbing problems. It does mean that, for believers—those “who love God”—things are ultimately going to work out in the end. Our stories end well. The trials we face also have the potential to increase our faith and steadfastness—see James 1:2-4. If nothing else, I certainly have a new appreciation for a functioning garbage disposal.
Listen, I don’t wish hard times on anyone. I’ve got friends and family members dealing with cancer, dementia, broken marriages, estranged children, and financial struggles. I work with guys dealing with guilt, shame, addiction, and incarceration. None of those things are “good.” In fact, they’re devastating.
But whatever it is you’re dealing with, let me encourage you to leave open the possibility that some good will come from it. That God can somehow redeem the bad thing. That through the “clogged pipe” in your life, or something far worse, God can ultimately bring about something positive.
Let your story play out before rendering a verdict. Perhaps the thing you initially considered “100% bad” comes with a blessing in disguise.
