As I had my hand submerged in the toilet...

Since moving into my house, I have done some things I don’t generally do.  Or at least things I don’t generally do successfully.  Some of these activities include:

Hooking up my television to the cable.  When my efforts on this endeavor proved to be successful, I could barely believe it.  How in the world did I manage to make this work?!  These are the things I usually have Dad or some other more “technologically equipped” person do.  Last time I tried to do something like this (which was hooking my computer up to my printer), it took about 4 months to get the thing working… and I didn’t even do it, I ended up having a friend fix what I had done.

Fixing the toilet when it broke.  Yes, I have been here for just over three days, and the toilet is already acting up.  These are the things I generally have the big sis or the invincible Mom do.  First of all, it’s gross.  Secondly, if you read the previous paragraph, you know there’s a good chance I’ll mess up something like this more than it already is.  BUT, I pulled off the lid to the top compartment, saw the chain being all unattached, and knew I had to take matters into my own hands.  I reached into the not-quite-clean-looking water, and successfully fixed the toilet, which is now flushing again.

Being especially homemaker-ish.  In these past three days, I have cooked and baked copious amounts of food, because of said cooking- have done lots of dishes, done the laundry, sanitized the kitchen, moved in my stuff and organized it all. These are the things I do on occasion, but not on the high frequency schedule like the past few days. 

As I had my hand submerged in the toilet tonight, I realized that God has equipped me with the skills and “courage” (hey, for me, sticking my hand in the toilet requires courage) I need to be living on my own.  I love how God provides even the smallest needs.

And then I was reminded of this past summer.  I was invited to co-lead a mission trip to Costa Rica.  Now if you know me, you know this is outside of my comfort zone.  I had only been camping once before (and not all that successfully), I had never been on a mission trip longer than about a week, and I tend to be a “homebody.”   But I said “yes” and had the most amazing summer of my life.   And God was faithful to equip me this summer. 

I could not imagine spending my summer any other way than in Costa Rica.  I learned so much about myself, about my God, and about life in general.  “Comfort” to me before this trip was having 13 kinds of yogurt to choose from in the fridge, a bathroom all to myself with 6 different kinds of perfume, a car at my fingertips at all times, and a comfy mattress with University of Washington sheets.  There were times during this summer that I missed these items, but I was never in need.  I had plenty of food, bathrooms that served the needs I had, shoes to walk in or buses to ride, and a cot and sleeping bag to rest in. 

When God leads me to any situation, good or bad, He always equips me.  Even when I think there’s no possible way I can get through it, I do.

Wherever it is that you go, God will go with you and provide you with all you need.  “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Deuteronomy 31:6)

So wherever God is calling you or leading, fear not.  He is there with you and will never forsake you, even if you’re fixing a toilet.

You would do this

Seeing as it’s about time for student teaching and classes to start up, I made my way down to Salem yesterday to move into the house we are renting.  All I could think about on my drive down was this cute yellow house I have been dying to get into.  By the time I got to Salem, it was about 9pm and getting dark.  I turned onto the street where our beloved yellow house resides and I began smiling from ear to ear.  I got to the top of the hill, which I knew meant I was finally at our house, I pulled into the driveway, grabbed the first suitcase that fell out of the car when I opened the door, and waltzed my way to the front door.

Before I had left, I wrote down the key box code on my hand to make sure I wouldn’t get locked out.  As I walked/waltzed/flopped my way to the front door, I look down on my hand, pleased that the code is still present and visible.  I open the screen door to get to the key box, but it didn’t seem to be there anymore.  I wondered where it would have been moved to, so I used the light of my cell phone to search the premises for this essential key (no pun intended) to my entrance. 

Now I begin to panic.  How am I going to get in?  Why would they take away the key box when they had just sent me the email telling me the code?  As I got myself into this panicked frenzy, I realized there were lights on in the house.  “Hmm, that’s funny.  I thought I was the first to move in.”

Then I noticed the furniture in the front living room (which I was seeing because I had my face pressed up to the window) was different than I had remembered. 

This is when I realize I am at the wrong house.  Completely humiliated, I grab my hefty suitcase, my purse, and run for my car.  I remember getting into my car and saying under my breath, “you would do this, Jill!”  Apparently, I turned into the driveway one house too soon. 

I sat for a long time trying to tie this into something Biblical… like how heaven awaits us but we’ll get there on the first try, or how we need to pay attention to the details, or how we have to stay focused until the very end, or something along those lines.  But then I realized this is just a funny story.  If it teaches you any lesson, let it be this: write down the house number to the house you’re moving into before you get there.