AJ The Wrecking Ball — And Lessons Learned

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. – Romans 5:4

I’ve recently mentioned the outdoor shower we have and my high dreams for making it better. But did you know that we also have a mud-bath? It is said that the mud along the Peace River has special restorative power… today I got to find out.

Under that plywood I’m sitting on is a huge hole. A huge MUDDY hole. We’re pretty much at sea level around here. Literally. Water comes up into the street at a very high tide if that tells you anything. So the ground can be a little damp during the rainy season anyway.

Break a main water supply coming into the house, and things get really soggy! Especially if it takes a couple of minutes to get some tools improvised and shut off the water at the meter, which it did.

Here is what happened… my oldest boy and new right-hand man (helping me with work) AJ, is 14 and almost bigger than I am. He and whole concert full of those like him inspired me to write about How To Teenage Proof A Home! I should have included the outside.

AJ nicely rode his bike up to a local shopping spot to see what he might find for me for Father’s Day (isn’t that sweet?!). On his way back he got into a race with his brother (the story is sketchy, but I think Mom was involved too) and big AJ took the lead. He entered the home stretch at high-speed and headed straight for the house.

He realized too late that the brakes were not going to stop him in time and he crashed into the side of the house! Right where a whole group of plumbing pipes come up out of the ground. You can see the tire marks on the wall!

Water was everywhere and we had some pretty serious plumbing issues with two completely broken water lines underground! Fun!

An Opportunity to Teach

Adversity is the best place to teach a boy how to be a man. But it’s not the easiest! In fact, it’s really hard, but it’s much better to be able to say “do what I do” than it is to say “do what I say, not what I do”. So I tried to remain calm.

The best part about the whole thing was when I smiled through the mud on my face and said to AJ, “you know, this whole thing is really a blessing.” He looked kind of puzzled and I reminded him of the Bible verse I quoted at the top of the post. We had been talking about the verse and the whole idea earlier in the week. Now was a chance to show him.

I’ve gone past the place in life where I try and figure out what the Bible means by this or that. I don’t try to analyze how it applies to life today. I just read it and try and do what it says. It says to rejoice in suffering. That’s a tall order sometimes, but it’s clear nonetheless.

I’m thankful that the only suffering I had to rejoice in today was a couple of busted water pipes. I know that many folks are suffering much more serious problems.

But the same thing applies to all circumstances. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope.

And Hope does not disappoint!

We got it all fixed and it only cost a few dollars in parts. AJ quickly calculated how many minutes he would have to work to replenish his lost money (I made him pay for the parts). So he learned some lessons about the value of work and money too. Overall, the day was a huge success.

And I haven’t even mentioned the sublime bounty from the RG Grill!