Plumbing the Depths

I wish I were a DIY sort of girl. 

Just to make little repairs around my house, nothing too ambitious. It seems that something in the bathroom always needs attention.

I’d like to figure out how to clear the drains in my sink. Or find a better way to change the lightbulb in the fixture above my shower without teetering on a ladder and getting doused by plaster from the ceiling. Or even how to install a new shower head.

I know there are a plethora of YouTube videos that might show me how, but it took me five viewings of one before I had the strap attached to my camera correctly so I can imagine how long it would take before I could make a home repair.

I do have three toolkits, though, strategically stashed around my house should I need a wrench or a pair of pliers or a teeny-tiny screwdriver. I even have a level. Which I’ve never used because if I wonder if anything is straight, well, I just tilt my head and eyeball it.

My limited success at DIY projects has been sewing little fabric flowers to a lampshade {which took much longer than I thought and looks messy}, or ironing tape on the hem of my pants instead of sewing {since as the lampshade project proves, I can’t really sew}, and leaning two panels of shutters on the windowsill {instead of attaching them to the wall}. 

So when it comes to changing that ball and chain thing on my toilet, I call my handyman. But installing a new toilet seat? I think I’ve got this. 

Last year {to my immense surprise} I successfully installed one, so the second time around should be a breeze, shouldn’t it? 

The instructions said to attach the bolts with a wrench until the bottom of the bolts broke off. 

I didn’t remember using a wrench or tightening bolts last time, and I know I would have remembered practically standing on my head to get a grip on the bolt, with my hair sweeping the toilet. 

I think this job would have been easier with a little help. 

Maybe instead of going it alone, some things are meant to be done in tandem. 

I’ve spent a lot of time lately wondering how things work when we partner with God. I wonder how much work God wants me to do when I bring him my problems and concerns. 

It seems impractical — and also a little lazy — to say, “It’s up to God.” 

Maybe I’d rather do it myself, because to leave it to someone else makes me look weak and needy and helpless. 

I’ve fallen for the myth that I’m strong enough to figure life out and make it work on my own.

God certainly doesn’t need us to pray for him to act, but sometimes — maybe more often than we think — he extends the opportunity for us to join him in his work. Maybe that’s when we step into a new chapter of our relationship with God to experience him like we haven’t before. 

And that's when I see what's in front of me couldn't have been accomplished on my own and I know I'm living in faith.

After an hour of wrench-turning, the bolts on the toilet seat finally broke apart, signaling that I’d successfully completed my installation.  

For a prim and proper girl like me, I don't relish the idea of blogging about toilets {and I considered flushing the entire idea}, but somehow writing this has shed a little more light on the way things work. 

For it’s here in this space for words that God meets me and does a little restoration work on my soul.

How about you? Are you a handywoman or DIY-girl? Tell me your secrets! 

And if you're in partnership with God about something, I want to hear about that too!

{Art photos are from San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore church in Milan, Italy}

I'm having coffee with my friends at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for your Heart and with Bonnie Gray at the Faith Barista. Join me there for more inspiring posts!