The Oil Tank

It was an oil tank that caused all the problems.
An oil tank that we had in our basement.
The oil tank was in two different houses.
The stories happened at two different times.

We had moved from our apartment into our first home.
We stayed in that home for five years.
That house had oil heat.
Deliveries needed to be made monthly.

Oil prices were expensive; however they would get more expensive in the next house.
I remember the big oil tank in the basement near the bottom of the stairs.
I remember the oil truck coming to our house.
I remember the man pulling a long hose around the side of the house.

He was able to deliver the oil to our tank from outside our house.
I could hear the oil pouring in as I was in my kitchen.
He would leave a bill on a yellow piece of paper.
My husband would pay the bill right away.

It was when we were selling the house that the first story happened.
We had two little girls by this time.
Our oldest daughter was almost three years old.
The younger daughter was seven months old.

My husband was away for two weeks for work.
That meant that I was alone in the house with my little daughters.
It was February.
It was very cold that year but thankfully there was no snow while my husband was away.

Since the house was on the market, the realtors were showing our house frequently.
I baked a lot of brownies and burned quite a few scented candles.
Having our little daughters, I could not drop everything and leave when the house was shown.
My daughters and I stayed but made sure that we were out of the way of the potential buyers.

My husband had one stipulation during his absence.
He told the realtor that under no circumstance were they to tell anyone that I was there alone.
The realtors were a husband and wife team.
They agreed to my husband’s wishes.

There was a lot of activity.
My little girls could not understand why strangers were walking around our house.
We sat on the sofa and read books together.
I remember having a book about packing up and moving to a new home.

The realtors walked a couple through the house one cold, winter night.
When they came up from the basement, the wife of the realtor team called to me.
I just want to let you know that your oil tank is a bit low.
You may want to call and have them fill it since you husband is away, she said.

As soon as she said it, she realized what she did.
Her husband gave her a very serious look.
My heart sunk.
I did not want total strangers knowing that I was alone in the house with my little girls.

As the realtors escorted the potential buyers out of our house, the husband of the team spoke.
I am terribly sorry that my wife said that in front of the couple.
We broke our promise to your husband, he said with great remorse.
Please call us if you need anything for the rest of the time he is away.

I slept very uneasy that night.
I lay awake listening for every sound.
It was not like me to be afraid.
But it was cold, and it was February, and I had two little girls, and my husband was away.

The oil truck came the next day after my phone call.
It had been so cold that winter, the heater was running quite a bit.
The house sold, though not to the people from that particular showing.
We moved into a home that we built, which also had oil heat.

The year of this story was 1993.
We had been in the house for seven years.
My fourth child, a son, had been born the year before.
One more child would be born in that house, two years later.

It was a very cold winter that particular year.
We were on a schedule to have our oil delivered.
I remember the heater seemed to run all the time.
I didn’t think anything of it since it was so bitterly cold.

One morning, when I woke up, the house was ice cold.
I woke up my husband who went down the basement to check the heater.
He came up after doing a routine assessment.
There is definitely a problem; you better call the company today to have them come out.

I called the emergency number, since the house was freezing and we had small children.
I wore a jacket over my clothes.
My two daughters went to school.
My two sons went to our neighbor’s house, while I waited for the repair man.

They sent someone soon after my phone call.
The repair man went down the basement stairs.
As he walked down, he said, it is really cold in here!
He looked at me in a condescending way as if that was somehow my fault.

After a few minutes, he yelled up from the bottom of the basement stairs.
Miss, your oil tank has run dry!
The tone he used when he spoke to me suggested that my negligence was to blame.
That is not possible, I said, we just had a delivery of oil less than two weeks ago.

He looked at me as if to say, sure you did!
He checked his records and saw that we were on automatic delivery.
Oil had been delivered just as I said.
I have to do some checking, he said as I shivered in my jacket.

I went upstairs.
Snow was in the forecast for the overnight hours.
My boys were safe in our neighbor’s warm home.
My girls were safe at school; my husband, who works for our utility company, had gone to work.

The repair man and I shivered.
He yelled up from the bottom of the basement stairs.
Miss, I know what the problem is; want to see?
I walked downstairs holding my jacket tighter around me.

You have the head of a bat stuck in the heater’s nozzle.
I thought I heard him wrong.
What did you say? I asked in confusion.
The head got stuck in the nozzle, which made your heater run all the time, using all your oil.

Do you want to see it? He said quite excited about his discovery.
No thank you, I said, a bit queasy at the thought of a severed bat head.
What a story this would be for my boys though my girls may not be quite as impressed.
Bats fly into the flue to keep warm, he told me.

That night it snowed.
The storm was known as the ’93 Super Storm or the Great Blizzard of 1993.
The storm included “thundersnow” and white out conditions.
High winds knocked out power to 10 million households along the entire East Coast.

It was reported that 40 percent of the country experienced effects of the storm.
There were 318 fatalities.
It was one of the most deadly weather events in the 20th century.
Thankfully we never lost power, though my husband was needed at work for the duration.

Be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

Our tank can run dry.
We need to fill our spiritual tank with God’s Word.
The truth of God’s Word will fill every crevice, giving us power.
Why go about your days on an empty tank?

An empty tank will catch up with you sooner or later.
You will run and run until you are forced to stop.
Check your spiritual levels.
If they are depleted, ask God to fill you with His Spirit.