Lessons learned without hot water

Just yesterday, Aaron and I finally got hot water back after having none for well over three weeks. Actually, it had been pretty bad for a while, but it was officially unplugged for three weeks. So not even a drop of warm water!

At the beginning of our cold water saga (which is a bit of a complicated tale not quite worth recounting here), I was definitely grumpy. I complained a lot to my poor hubby, at times I think multiple times a day! But somehow (maybe the prayers of some close friends), my attitude started to change. It got so bad and so cold that really the only way to deal with it was to laugh and find new antics to express our dramatic feelings each day. It became a sort of camaraderie between me and Aaron--knowing that there was an end in sight but a little unsure how long it would take to get there and how much longer we could take it!

The reason we put up with not having hot water for so long was because doing so would end up saving us a significant amount of money. In hindsight I'm so glad we waited--and it's made these first few showers since the repair so much sweeter. But at the beginning of the journey--before the water even gave out, but when it wasn't functioning optimally--I actually couldn't believe we were doing without optimal hot water. It was so hard to do chores when I had to wait several hours between laundry and showers (so I thought)! Washing clothes in cold water was decidedly disgusting and not something I could do! But my darling Aaron's assessment was simple, "we don't need hot water; people do without it," or something to that effect. I wish I could say that like a model wife I believed him right away and got on board with the program, but it was definitely a struggle; I thought he simply didn't understand what it was to try to manage a home without hot water! But in retrospect, I have so much more respect for this man who is always ahead of me in wisdom, assessing situations so differently than anyone I've ever met. And his perspective has taught me so much along the way.

A little more than three weeks ago, when the water started getting particularly bad, I started warming water for my showers on the stove in a large stock pot. This trusty pot and mug set served me well for the past few weeks. I learned that it's surprisingly easy to make your body feel clean with only two gallons of water!

Last night, as I stepped into my first warm shower in over three weeks, I couldn't really believe what I was experiencing. We call hot water a modern convenience, but indeed, it is so much more than a convenience. It is indeed a luxury! And so I am happy for this minor hardship that we endured, for it taught me not to take things for granted, and to be grateful for the abundance that we possess.