KP Writes:

Well, you have heard it said that a picture is worth a million words. But there are no words for the plumbing issues we have experienced in the last month. What you see depicted here is NOTHING!! Just a minor case of Super-Dad to the rescue. (except for the fact that he almost gave up his 'cape of honor' due to the odoriferous nature of the job)

Anyway, the house that we live in is 40+ years old and our neighborhood has an abundance of large old trees with extensive root systems. Those roots grow into your plumbing lines (don't ask me how, I just pay the plumbers and say thank you). Apparently you have to have your lines snaked and rotor-rooted with the large agar jaws each spring. Being that I have never lived anywhere but Georgia, I didn't have the inside scoop. So in April I noticed the water that was supposed to drain out of my washing machine, into that pipe in the back, and down under the concrete floor to nicely disappear forever, was instead coming out of the top of the pipe, running down the wall and under my washing machine, across the laundry room floor to the drain in the middle of the room. Sounds like it might have a happy ending...not so fast! Remember that the whole reason that the water didn't leave the house to start with is the roots in the lines, so the floor drain also is obstructed. When I came down to change over the laundry I proceeded to splash directly into the soapy pond on the floor which was creeping under the door out into the garage. That is the same garage that we refer to as our storage unit. (Since we are only in this house for the term of our 6 mo lease we left most of our 'stuff' in boxes in the garage). The Lord was so good, as nothing was damaged by the water. (the water only reached cooler, yard tools, that type of thing).

The plumber came to my rescue and fixed my problem. So I thought....until last week. What we didn't know was that he only tended to the lines below the house, not the ones that exit the house, travel to the main line that drains into the city sewer lines. Now there is a word I haven't yet mentioned, sewer. Hum, do any particular aromas come to mind? Let me help you.

Last week we were cleaning the house in preparation for the Inro home group, that we host every Wednesday, to come over for their cell meeting. We had just finished thoroughly cleaning every bathroom, the kitchen and mopping all the floors. All that wonderful water.....Jeff went to the basement to get some extra folding chairs and SPLASH!! Do you remember that floor drain in the laundry room? It seems that it is also a secret escape route for water that is blocked by tree roots! This time the water creeped further into the garage and was not as sparing as the week before. Also, this was not nice, clean soap water. YUCK! The home group was due to arrive in 45 minutes and needless to say no one was going to be able to run any water or flush any toilets! So, A1 Plumbing was called yet again. He arrived about the same time as the first of the home group members. This time it was necessary to remove all the boxes from about 1/5 of the left side of the garage because he had to snake/roto rooter starting at the main sewer exit line out of the house, under the driveway, and to the junction of the city's line. Did I mention the severe thunderstorm? Yes, at the same time as the plumber and home group arrived so did the 'act of God'. (We got about 2.5 inches of rain on the already saturated ground in about 2 hours.) Left with no other options, we had to move about 40 boxes into Mallory's room. Needless to say, we had many hands to make the human work chain. The real 'work' began after the plumbing was done. Jeff had an opportunity to sit and talk with the plumber, who was a believer but was really struggling. This divine appointment lasted for about an hour and ended with an incredible time of prayer. Oh, did I mention the rain stopped just as the they began to talk so that they could sit outside in the cool...

Next day, same story...I suggested to Jeff that he 'monitor' the floor drain in the basement the following morning, just to make sure....as the 3 of us girls took our showers. Guess who we got to call? Yes, the landlord and the plumber. By 3pm, we were back in business again after having them both come to the house.

Since then, our plumbing has been operating properly. The basement and laundry room have been cleaned and disinfected. The boxes have been returned to their 'storage unit'. I asked the Lord what exactly I could learn from this episode. (I surely didn't want to miss the opportunity to learn and have to go through a repeat trial to get the lesson!!) All I can say is , "Dig deep. Get to the root of the issue. Otherwise, a lot of stinky stuff will surface!!"

Love ya,
Kristian