A Very Present Help in Trouble

   So today has been a day.  It all started last night when one of our toilets clogged.  I plunged and plunged and couldn't clear it so I decided to wait till morning to see if whatever was in there would dissolve a bit.  This morning, our other toilet decided to clog too creating quite the 'situation'.  Water flowed everywhere soon followed by my tears.  You see, my handy husband who would have been all over this is currently asleep on the other side of the world.  I am normally pretty calm and clear headed in emergency situations and after getting the water to stop flowing and looking up the number for the plumber I figured I could figure this out and get people here to fix it.  Of course, as I am talking to the plumbing company though, my emotions take over and I am fighting back tears.  He calls me back soon after telling me they would be here in the next hour or two to ask when the last time we had our septic pumped.  After asking my very groggy husband, we realized it was way over due and most likely the issue.  I then get a number for the septic company and am a emotional mess as soon as I start explaining our situation.  I really don't know why I was so emotional except that in that moment I just felt so overwhelmed at the prospect of not quite knowing what to do to fix the issue let alone what to do with my three children with over active bladders and bowels for the day.  (And anyone who knows me knows that I have the bladder of a small child as well).

   After waiting awhile for the septic company to get here (and a trip to our good friends and neighbor's house to use the bathroom) they finally come only to tell me that the septic isn't actually the problem.  It is pretty full and needed pumped out sooner rather than later anyways but it was not causing the situation with the toilets and I needed to call the plumber back.  Sigh.  Now I sit here with a several hundred dollar septic bill and still no working toilets.  And you know what?  It is ok.

  I have so clearly felt the attack of the enemy today because this is just sort of his MO when God is working in your life.  Ask any adoptive family and I bet they have a least one story of crazy things like this happening during their process.  Our garage door busted right before we left to get Ellie among other things.  Our friends that are in the process of adopting again too have been hit from every side with their refrigerator, dryer AND furnace all needing to be replaced within weeks of each other.  It is just all the little/big things that add up and can leave you feeling overwhelmed, incapable and unable.  It is the enemy coming in to kill, steal and destroy our joy, our resolve and our faith.

  But the flip side of all of that is this- the Lord is faithful.  He takes our troubles and uses them to bring glory to himself.  He shows up and shows off in way that only He can.  He encourages us, strengthens our faith and our passion, and He does not leave us adrift.  As a friend reminded me today, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" Psalm 46:1.

  I have decided to ditch my bad attitude and complaining today and start leaning into this truth.  And it is truth.  I have seen all day how true it is that God is a 'very present help in trouble'.  God uses people so often to be His hands and feet-  To be His tangible help.  He has shown Himself as my very present help today by having people offer us refuge (and bathroom use) at their houses, by praying for us, by letting us come and use their toilet just to poo so a certain little one didn't do so outside!, by offering the use of a camping toilet if we wanted it, by taking the kids for the day so they can stop peeing outside ;), and even going as far as driving to our house and digging up where the septic is to save us time and money (thank you Todd!).  As overwhelmed as I have felt at times today, He has not left me on my own.  I have friends and family that love me with the love of Jesus and that is more powerful than any attack the enemy could muster.  Today I am going to choose to praise my God for showing me how powerful His love and faithfulness and kindness and very present help is in the midst of troubles!


UPDATE since I started typing this up:  Plumber has come and gone after working on things for about two hours (and leaving another bill for several hundred dollars).  I have no idea what he did but it sounded brutal.  The funny thing is, (At this point I have to laugh because when things are this ridiculous the enemy just sort of gives himself away) after not being quite sure what was going on at first, it seems that there were three SEPARATE issues.  After I made the comment, "What are the chances?!" he tells me, "To be honest, I have never been to a house that had a 'sludge' back up further up in the pipes and a clogged toilet and another toilet that just happened to break at the same time for as long as I have been on the job!".  Yup, sounds about right.  Oh, and right before he left, he let me know that we might even have to pull up the almost new flooring in the one bathroom because the wood under the toilet seems to be rotted so the bolts won't get good hold to keep the toilet in place.  Sigh.  It's cool, it's cool.  We have one working toilet now, another that can be fixed and the love of Jesus.  Lord, help me to say Hallelujah! :)