Week 2: The Sewer

That's right, week 2 of my new appointment has been somewhat centered around the sewer, and I'm not being metaphorical here.

On Friday I was excited to have most of the day to work on preparation for Sunday and laundry. At the end of my four loads of laundry, which resides in the basement of my new parsonage digs, I opened the adjoining door to put a few boxes away. (I have been keeping all of my moving boxes since I have an entire basement and nothing to put in it.) When I opened the door, there was a lake stretched out before me. Pool party in the parsonage basement!

Naturally, I thought this was the product of the intense rain that we had on Thursday night, since it hasn't rained in weeks. I waded through the water to save my big wardrobe boxes, which I actually paid money for, and then called the Trustee chair. Poor guy; he probably sees my number on his phone and wants to run way.

I will say this, the trustees of my new church are ROCKIN'! He was at my house in 20 minutes with a wet vac, which might be my new favorite appliance. He would vacuum up the water and I, water-conservation-conscience that I am, would transfer it to a bucket and haul it upstairs to dump it on the plants.

I felt great about this until another trustee showed up, and they determined that the problem was not the rain, but the sewer. Ah, the sewer had backed up.

I take great comfort in knowing that the washing machine was the reason for the backup, and in remembering how I had pondered why the water that I was carrying up the stairs looked soapy.

So today, the head trustee has been here all day as the plumber is working to replace the pipes, which is made much more complicated in that they are underneath a chunk of the concrete carport and concrete driveway. Let's just say that first there was a jackhammer, and then a bobcat to dig down the 8 feet.

I have to give a shout out to the plumber, who is the first female plumber I have ever met, and who has been slinging concrete and working the jackhammer with the best of them. Yep, women can be pastors and they can also be plumbers! When God calls, all we can say is: here I am, send me!