Fix It Mode

My husband was away on business.
I was sitting in my favorite chair reading a good book.
Everything was quiet and peaceful.
Just the right conditions for falling asleep with the book on my lap.

However, not this time.
I heard a noise and felt a vibration.
I immediately thought of a plane flying low overhead.
I went into the foyer and opened the front door.

Everything was still and quiet.
It was a typical fall night.
I went into the kitchen and opened the back door.
Nothing was stirring in the woods and no planes were overhead.

I came back in and realized that the noise had stopped.
Now my quiet evening with a good book was not so quiet.
My ears were on full alert.
I knew that I would sit back down to read but my mind would be elsewhere.

About twenty minutes later, I heard it again.
This time I ran to the basement stairs.
The sound was coming from down there.
I could feel the vibrations on the top step.

I went downstairs.
Everything seemed fine but the heater was running.
I went into the unfinished part of the basement to inspect whatever needed inspecting.
The heater was definitely making the noise.

I called my husband.
He didn’t answer the first time.
He answered the second time but I could tell he had already gone to bed.
Important meetings take their toll and it was an early night for him.

I explained what had happened and what I was hearing.
By now he was wide awake.
I will Face Time you and you can show me what you are seeing.
I was back near his woodworking equipment feeling very close to him.

My phone rang and there he was looking back at me.
Go over to the heater and very slowly move the phone all around over all the pipes.
I did what he told me.
Go over all the pipes. That’s right, slowly, he instructed from a hotel in Washington, D.C.

We have geothermal heat.
We have a system of pipes that supply water to our upstairs and downstairs heaters.
The heaters have each been replaced since we have lived in this house.
My husband, the engineer, maintains them well so there shouldn’t be a problem.

As I was showing him the pipes via Face Time, the heater kicked on.
The pipes began to shake.
They were not shaking violently, but that was the vibration I felt.
Do you see that? Can you hear that? I said much louder than I had planned.

Hover over the valve that’s right on the side of each heater.
Back light it with a flashlight so I can see where the float bubble is.
I want to see if water is getting into the system.
I tried to do all he asked me marveling that I was keeping up with this engineer of mine.

Move the camera, move it up higher, I could hear his voice growing a little less patient.
He realized his tone and I realized his frustration.
Go over to the well pump and let me see that gauge.
More instructions about sitting there until I heard it click on and describing what I saw.

There I was on the floor of my basement with my phone in my hand.
I was waiting for a click that seemed an eternity to finally hear.
Click and the shaking began again.
This time the pipe near the well pump that goes to the heater was also shaking.

Did you see that? This one is shaking, too! I said ready to turn everything off.
You’re fine. I will look at it when I get home.
There is air in the system; the air bubbles are causing the shaking.
Will it blow up doing the night? not believing that question really came out of my mouth.

I’m usually not afraid.
I’m usually fine when my husband travels.
But this was different.
My thoughts seemed like those of a little girl worried the heater would blow up.

Put on the back-up emergency heat and I will look at it when I come home.
You may still hear a sound or feel a vibration when you run the washer or take a shower.
But you’re fine; it’s really fine, he said seeing my face and hearing the tone of my voice.
It’s just air in the system, he reassured me again.

We hung up after our goodbyes.
I went to bed.
It was only then that I thought of praying.
Through the incident itself I was in a fix-it mode.

Now in the quiet of my room listening for every sound, I prayed.
Prayers of protection.
But also prayers of gratitude.
Gratitude for my husband who helped me though hours away.

Gratitude for the fact that the situation wasn’t more serious.
However, I was surprised that the fix-it mode came first.
I talk to God throughout my day.
I lean on Him for strength and guidance.

However in the middle of uncertainty, when the adrenaline was pumping, I relied on me.
I relied on my husband who was hours away.
I tried to think of all the ways I could fix it.
I put God on the back burner.

God who is right there with me.
God who never leaves me or forsakes me.
God who knows me better than I know myself.
All powerful, all knowing, ever present God was there even when I didn’t acknowledge Him.

Grace.
Such grace.
Such undeserved favor.
Even when I don’t consider Him, God considers me.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in an uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:1-7)

Grace even when I am in a fix-it mode.
Grace even when I insist on doing it myself.
Grace when I run to other options first.
Grace when I should know better.

God is my ever-present help in trouble.
May I not forget to go to Him first, and during, and after.
My Helper, my Lord.
Help me to remember.