Geyser
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work. 10 If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up!
I had a DIY emergency recently, and something you should know, my skill level allows me to change a light bulb but probably very little else. I have to generally rely on my wife and the skills she learned from her dad, MacGyver, or trained professionals. It’s not that I’m not smart enough, nor is it that I don’t want to learn it, or do it. It’s that I can’t seem to readily translate the mechanical thoughts in my mind to the bolt I’m turning.
Anyway, we had been awoken by our son, who had gotten up to see if it was raining – only to find that the seam on the side of the water heater was no long a seam but a nozzle. I went downstairs to find a sizeable stream of water shooting out about 6 feet from “old faithful”.
We got the water shut off, and things moved out of the way, and my wife mopped up some of the puddles. I immediately got on Facebook to work my magic. I have a decent mix of friends – all with a number of different skills. I wanted to see if anyone could recommend a plumber.
It wasn’t 5 minutes, and a friend told me it was easy and I should do it myself. Then another chimed in with the same recommendation. I laughed a bit and as I shared it with my wife, she started to get this look of fear that I might just consider it. (I was but wasn’t about to share that with her.) Instead, I made a joke about it with my friends and one came back “Call me”. It’s 12:15 AM, I’m not going to call anyone one unless death is imminent. About 10 minutes later, he sent me a text, “Call me” to which I responded, “now?”
Well I did, and immediately he offered to come over and help me replace the water heater. I told my wife, and she seemed ok with it. I told him I’d call him later in the day and we ended the call.
Now I didn’t take him up on the offer. We found a plumber who was VERY reasonable and we had them there and gone within 12 hours of the initial geyser.
If you ran upon my friend, while he’s respectful, he’s also a bit rough around the edges, but I’ve had the opportunity to know him a bit better. I know that while we see many things from the same perspective, there are topics that we’ll never see eye to eye. I know that the church, and more importantly God, is very important in his life, but I’ve learned something new about him today.
The words that come from his mouth about his beliefs, about his faith, and about the importance of God, aren’t just words. He genuinely takes those words to heart. There’s a song that talks about us being the body of Christ and asks, “If we are the Body, why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? Why aren’t His feet going?”
Well today, He was – through my friend.
“Father, I have so many things to be thankful for, not the least of which are my friends. Be with them, protect them through this day and all their days. Amen.