Knowing Whom to Call

When you move to a new town, it takes a while to build a list of reliable service people. Nine months later, I now have the phone numbers of a great local plumber and door/lock guy. They both live and work right here in our village. It's fun to be able to use very local services. I feel like I am supporting the community, plus the small businessmen are personable and available in short order.

This handy knowledge comes from the door handle problem earlier this month, and then a water heater problem this week. There's nothing like having only cold water in which to wash one's pots and pans for making one appreciate the way things normally are.

God really turned our unexpected and unwelcome problems into blessings, as He is so proficient at doing. The door handle broke; we got a better one that no longer makes me graze my knuckles and doesn't confound every newcomer. The water heater went on the blink; not only did we get that fixed within a few hours, but our leaky kitchen sink faucet was replaced by one with a good aerator and a sprayer hose attachment, like we had in California (we were never going to get around to this repair without some more serious reason to make the call). Add to that the renewed love for hot water while doing the washing up, and it was a fabulous thing all around.

Before I made the call to the plumber, I made a call to God, asking Him to help me choose the right plumber from the phone book (in this case, it was the one who had the wonderful new faucet in stock and delivered and installed it about ten minutes after I asked for it). Thanks, Father, that you're never out of your office and You always pick up.