Disaster

I came home Wednesday afternoon to find water on the back porch steps.  I thought, "that's a little odd" and then I heard the sound of water as I opened the door.  There was about an inch of standing water in the back porch and kitchen.  I, of course went into panic mode trying to shut off the water coming out of the pipes leading to the washing machine.  After doing a couple of stupid things, I went down to the basement and shut off the water main.  Two rooms in the basement had several inches of water that had leaked through the kitchen floor.  What a mess.  I called the plumber and he said he might be able to get to it Friday and that he would put me on his list.  There were thirty ahead of me.

I spent the next hour and a half mopping water, hauling out rugs and trying to figure out how to fix the broken pipes.  Finally, I remembered that a relative had once been a plumber.  To make a long story short, he and his wife fixed it that evening when he got off work.  I was soooo grateful.

I was thinking this morning that my Wednesday afternoon disaster needed to be put in perspective.  I saw on last nights news a story about a young girl in central Africa who had lost her whole family to civil war.  She had watched as they were murdered.  All she had left in the world was a great aunt.  I remembered watching the tears streaming down the cheeks of this little orphaned girl and I thought about how my disaster was not a disaster at all.  I just had water in my kitchen and basement and it was fixed in three hours.

There is so much human tragedy in the world and I know we can't fix it all.  We can do our small part in our own communities.  You know the old saying, "Think globally, act locally".  I will be working at our local food bank this morning.  Maybe I can help.

Peace,
Deacon Fred