Hearing the knock on my door and my dog barking in response, I walked to the door. Who was it? As I opened the door my neighbor across the street asked me, “did you know that water is rushing out your garage door and on to the street?” I looked toward the street and said, “Oh my, no I didn’t.” I rushed to the garage door my neighbor following me and punched the code in to see what in the world was going on. As the door opened I and my neighbor seen a stream of water gushing out over the top of the hot water heater. My neighbor hurried toward the hot water heater and shut off the emergency cut off valve. Now the decision lie in my court. What to do next. I called my homeowners insurance to see if they had a company referral that I could call to help clean up the mess and repair the damages. As soon as I had the phone number for Oklahoma Disaster Restoration, I called them and gave them a description of what happened and what needed to be done. Then plans were put in place to begin the cleanup.
The first thing that needed to be accomplished was find a plumber to fix the hose that had blown off the hot water heater. The next day the plumber arrived and installed a new hose to the hot water heater and tightened securely with a metal clamp. Next, he lit the pilot light on the heater. I was concerned that the heater might have been ruined due to the amount of water that had poured down over it. Thankfully the pilot light stayed lite and in less than an hour we had hot water again.
That evening I spent moving all the boxes and containers stored in the spare bedroom closet out to my front office. There were plastic boxes, cardboard boxes with family pictures and plastic bags with loads of bedding of all kinds such as quilts, blankets and crocheted throws plus sheets and pillow cases. Everything that was in the spare bedroom that I could move, I moved to my front office. Then I proceeded to move boxes around in the garage that had gotten wet and tried to salvage books and other items. Some of the items we too water socked to save. I set them in a pile for Oklahoma Disaster Restoration to load up and throw away. My goal was to make room for workers when they returned the next day.
The following day the Oklahoma Disaster Restoration people arrived with their multiple drying fans. They set up six fans in the garage around cabinets and storage boxes that had been soaked with myriads of water that had poured through the garage. They cut out drywall next to the heater and cleaned up the insulation that had washed down under the shelf where the hot water heater was located. Next, they set up six large commercial fans to dry out all the water-soaked cabinets and cardboard boxes. Then they went into the house where the spare bedroom closet was located next to the drywall to assess the damage. Water had soaked the carpet so they took off baseboards and pulled up the carpet cutting off the carpet pad that was saturated with water. Next, they set up four commercial size fans to dry out the floor and the carpet. The drying process lasted for several days. On Friday the team came back to check to see if the cabinets and boxes were thoroughly dried and the carpets and floors were dry. They determined to wait until Monday to ensure that everything was completely dried out.
One thing about it when a flood happens because the hot water heater hose blows off it requires patience. Everything that was moved out to my front office now had to be moved back in place. Some items were no longer useful. Counting what was destroyed or lost its utility gave me a feeling of the need to think about how I may be holding on to things that I really didn’t need. You know earthly possessions, the things that we can’t take with us. A wake-up call of sorts. I felt that I needed to focus more on living a life not so cumbered with those things that are going to wear out and are temporal. Overall, a lot of things that were not harmed, including many blankets, quilts, bedding, boxes of family pictures and plastic containers with pictures albums, etc. most of it was gradually put back in place. Other items I set aside to give to family members.
Yes, my water bill had doubled the next billing, and yes; the use of extra electricity certainly had caused my electric bill to go sky high. Yet in all the extreme, out of control circumstances the there was a feeling of peace and an awareness that God was behind the scenes helping me get my life back in order.
How many times in life have you encountered a similar circumstance that left you in shock? Or maybe angry, sad and distressed for a period of time. Tests and trails are a part of life and we can either have an attitude of faith and grace or we can get angry and blame others. For a short period of time, I looked to blame the company that installed the hot water heater only two years prior. They only guarantee a year on the installation even though I had bought a heater that was guaranteed 12 years. Yes, it was a shock and disappointment but in the end the disaster put me in a position to trust the Lord for his guidance and provision.
Rekindling the Flame 