Last week I lived without water (sort of)

The truth is I COULD get water, but the water itself wasn’t connected properly to the water line. Instead I could get the water from one pipe, because the rest had corroded and become rotten.

This wasn’’t too big of a change because there are only two things that were directly affected (I couldn’t take a shower, or run the washing machine).

But that didn’t keep me from becoming very frustrated!

The frustration came from experiencing a problem that I couldn’t fix. The Lord creates men to be “fixers” and this is a good thing. We are called by God to lead, and part of this is dealing with problems or challenges in a calm way.

But occasionally we experience problems that cannot be fixed!!!

When this happens we have a choice.

Do I spend all of my time stressing about the problem that I cannot fix?

Or do I focus on what I CAN accomplish?

This focus doesn’t seem like a massive thing at first. But trust me, it makes a HUGE difference! The point is if all of my attention is focused on what cannot be fixed (the water pipes) then there is no energy or focus for what I CAN do! But when my mind and energy is focused on things that I can accomplish or fix, a huge difference is made.

I refer to this focus on what I can fix as “making it work”

The problem isn’t fixed in this situation, but I’ve found a way to WORK AROUND the problem!

For me that meant spending a week

1. Bathing from a bucket
2. Washing clothes by hand
3. And spending lots of time filling buckets of water
   

At first this was annoying….

but I got used to it!!!

The thing about making things work is it helps us develop new rhythms and habits (a new normal). This may not be something we are thrilled with at first (nobody likes to wash clothes by hand) but over time we will get used to the change.

Yesterday the plumber came to install the new water pipe so for the first time in over a week I had running water! It felt REALLY GOOD to take a shower, and run the washing machine.

But it felt better knowing I could live without it.