Motivation

A jackhammer, a backhoe, trucks, pipes, and blowtorches all arrived at my house yesterday morning. The long awaited work on the water cistern has begun. There is again a promise of clean running water by Friday. I am hopeful, but I am not holding my breath. In a house that is over 100 years old that has held many people over the years who have each had their own plumbing and electrical ideas, excavating an area can prove to unearth some clever and some not so clever innovations. Depending on the finds, the time frame could lengthen.

The work started early-- for here. Early in our area is about 10. There is not a big hurry here for much of anything. It is very strange to me but strangely nice.

The backhoe guy was to dig the four foot trenches quickly and be on his way. I was occupying myself in the house unpacking boxes of books when I realized that the backhoe man had been here for a while. I looked outside and saw worried looks. Everything was taking longer than they thought. I could hear the cash register ringing in my head. The backhoe guy had done all he could, so the remaining digging was to be done by hand. The water man had a thousand other things he needed to be doing in the cistern and with piping, but he was going to have to dig first. Then I saw my husband with a shovel. He dug for two hours while the water man did his work.

About noon I walked out to put an empty box on the porch when I noticed that the water man was sitting in his truck eating lunch. What is so unusual about that? I still heard the jackhammer. I looked out of the bathroom window to find my husband in a huge hole jackhammering while the water man took a much deserved lunch break.

We have a very long and creepy dirt tunnel crawlspace that goes from the basement and runs under the north side of the house. It has been a place of mystery and just plain creepiness since we moved in. To complete the path for the pipes, my husband was to crawl in there with his shovel and dig out from the inside. He called me down to the basement to ease MY fears about him getting into the dirt. He crawled right in and was pleasantly surprised to find no animals and to find a really nice hard packed dirt tunnel with overhead lighting and all. He dug his way out in about thirty minutes and came up the stairs about to announce his victory. He was covered in dirt and spider webs.

All in all, the water man got to the point he was hoping to get to by 6pm. He spent the majority of his day down in the cistern. I am thankful that inside every man is the desire to be a construction worker-- for the day. My hard working, sweating, cobweb covered husband saved us some cash and had some fun in the process.

This morning, I awoke to find an amazing sunrise, three happy children (today is their Friday- four day a week school), and one very sore man.

The water man should be here soon for round two, but he is on his own today. My construction worker is back to working with his own tools-- his computer and calculator.

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."