Count Your Blessings - Running Water

I must have been taking running water in the house for granted. Actually, many of my neighbors do not have running water in their home, so this is something that I do try to be mindful of and thankful for. However, I didn't truly appreciate it, so something had to happen to make me do so. The kids were taking a shower in the bathroom one Friday evening, and Meriel slipped and fell onto a pipe that sticks out of the wall. I was sitting on the couch reading - a few minutes of child-free time. Eris came out to tell me that one of the water spigots had broken and water was rushing all over the bathroom. I thought she must have meant that the knob had come of the spigot, which has happened before. This is an easy fix, just twist the knob back on and turn it to the off position. When I got to the bathroom, however, I realized this is not what had happened. The pipe that sticks through a hole in the wall to connect to the main water supply had snapped in two. I called to Philip to shut off the water to the house.

Philip surveyed the damage and determined that we just had to keep the water off to the house until he could get it repaired. Our shower is a full bathroom shower with a drain in the floor, so there was no need to mop up the water. I took a Thai style dipper shower from the tub that normally stands full in our bathroom. Then we arranged tubs at a few spigots in the house to fill, and especially made sure to have a water bottle or two ready to fill from the filter. Philip turned on the water, causing another bathroom flood but also providing enough water for us to get through until the next morning.

The next morning, we planned to go the the library, so we would be out of the house for a while. Philip would ride the bus to the supply store and hoped to have it all fixed before we returned home that afternoon. In the meantime, we survived the morning with no running water in the house. We washed our hands in a tubs of standing water, flushed the toilet the usual way with a dipperful of water from a tub, and washed dishes outside. I was thankful to have the hose available, as it is connected to the water supply before the turn off to the house. The kids were excited to help wash up outside, and Eris had fond memories of camping.

Philip was able to have everything fixed and the water on in the house by the afternoon. I was very thankful for a resourceful and helpful husband. Even less than 24 hours without water was enough to make me extra thankful the next time I turned on the tap. God has a way of helping us stay thankful for our blessings!