🌿 When the Water Came Through the Wall

 A quiet reminder that even unseen storms can be met with steady faith

Some weeks don’t go the way we expect. We wake up thinking the day will be ordinary, and then something happens that reminds us how fragile and unpredictable home life can be. That’s what happened to us with our tankless water heater. A problem quietly growing behind the wall, completely hidden, until the day it made itself known.

The tankless water heater sits on the east outside wall, right behind what used to be my office before retirement, which is now our weight room. For about a month, hot water had been leaking inside the wall without us knowing. No puddles. No dripping. No warning. Just slow, steady damage.

Billy walked in one morning to work out and felt like he was standing on a waterbed. The floor moved under his feet. That’s when he knew something was very wrong and came to wake me up at 4AM to show me.

We had to cut out sheetrock, pull off baseboards, and rip up half the wood flooring. A restoration company came in, but the cost of running their dehumidifier every day was more than we could justify. So we bought a commercial unit ourselves and have been running it nonstop for a week, drying out the framing of the house inch by inch.

The home warranty company approved a new tankless water heater; the same model we already have, but the plumber doesn’t want to install it. He says it feels “subpar,” even though it’s exactly what was installed and working fine since 2007 when the house was built. Meanwhile, half the house has been without water for three weeks. When Olivia was here this past weekend, all of us shared one bathroom. It’s been inconvenient, frustrating, and honestly exhausting.

But Monday is the day we call the plumber and tell him plainly: Install the tankless water heater. We aren’t paying for his feelings; we’re paying for a service.

Sometimes homemaking isn’t cozy candles and warm meals. Sometimes it’s sheetrock dust, loud fans, and waiting for someone to do the job they were hired to do. But even in this, God is present. Even in this, He steadies us.

🌿 Gentle Reminder

Not every storm announces itself. Some slip quietly behind the walls of our lives. But God sees what we cannot, and He walks with us through every hidden mess.

🌿 Today’s Quiet Encouragement

If you’re facing something unexpected, inconvenient, costly, or overwhelming; take a breath. God is already in the middle of it, working where you cannot see. One step at a time is enough.