Chance Meetings?

 

When a faucet in our bathtub began dripping incessantly, I asked my husband, Al, to take a look at it. No amount of turning would completely shut off the water.  Something needed to be done.

Al took off the handle, thinking that there was probably a bad washer underneath. After buying a new housing for the faucet, he discovered that he lacked the proper tools to do the job.  A special wrench used by plumbers was needed. 

“Every plumbing project is more complicated than you think!” was Al’s last remark before picking up the phone to call a plumber.

The plumber arrived a few days later, with all of the right tools and necessary parts in his truck.

“Do you want me only to replace the one faucet?” he asked “If I have to come back to do the other one, it will cost you the same amount plus the labor. But if I do both at once, you’ll be saving money in the long run.”

Well, that was the right approach for him to take! We opted for the two faucets and the shower handle in the middle to be replaced.  After turning off the water to the house, the whole job was finished in an hour and a half. Pretty impressive, but all of that for a leaky faucet? Goodness!

 “If you have any trouble,” he assured us, “call the office and I’ll be back.” The new parts, as well as his work, were under warranty for a certain period of time.

Before leaving, he shared a bit of his own story with us. Growing up in an abusive home had been difficult, ending with a divorce between his mother and father when he was still young.

“She really didn’t have a choice about the divorce,” he said sadly referring to his mother.

To add to her pain, people in their home church no longer accepted her. She and the kids finally dropped out of the church completely. It was apparent that this had made a deep impression on him.

When we noticed that the other faucet was leaking a short time later,  I called the office and asked for the same person to return, which he promptly did. After assessing the situation, he told us that the spring was probably faulty and proceeded to change it again. It wasn’t long before he was finished, advising us not to turn the faucets too hard when shutting them off.

“Sometimes the springs aren’t springy,” he said. “I used to work in a spring factory. At the end of the day, we would have to sweep up all the springs. But it didn’t do any good, because the next day everything would be covered with springs again. That’s what springs do…they spring!”

We got a good laugh at that observation, and it helped me remember to be gentle when turning off the faucet. Well, the drips have stopped for now, as have the calls to the friendly plumber!

 It is easy to forget that the people we meet have their own struggles, their own stories and experiences. I confess that only recently have I been taking the time to notice the people God brings my way. Prior to retiring and slowing down, there was always something on my “to do” list clamoring for attention.

Not so Jesus! There are many stories in the gospels that tell of his stopping to talk to people, including the Samaritan woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene and two of Jesus’ followers who were traveling to another village on the very day of his resurrection…  Lives were transformed when Jesus spent time interacting with them. 

Stopping long enough to listen to people and give them our full attention is enriching and often inspiring as well as educational! And it can make a difference in their lives as well.

 Did God have a hand in setting up that plumbing appointment? I think He did!  

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ ( His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)…”

 “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’” John 4:7-9, 39 NIV. (The entire story is found in John 4:4-42)

The finished project!