Okay, January, That’s Enough

This month has been filled with inconveniences. Our entire household got sick, and collectively, it lasted almost three weeks. If it wasn’t one person, it was another. Fevers, congestion, stomach issues, and coughing. Then, I hurt my back last week while moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Can you believe it? I was finally able to walk around after one chiropractor appointment, three days of drinking nothing but water, and an ample amount of Biofreeze every night. And just as we were all getting back to normal, our water stopped working. At first, we thought our pipes froze. However, we then considered the possibility of the well going dry (it’s been a thing in our community due to a sand pit). This morning, a service company came out and let us know that the well pump was broken. The fun part? It could be that it broke because of wear and tear OR because the well is dry. We won’t know until they can come replace the pump which could take about a week.

Of course, as we were on day four with no water, I found myself irritated, annoyed, and complaining. As I sat grumbling, I had a memory pop up from a summer in Mexico when I was a teenager. We met an elderly woman who was living in a makeshift hut made out of cardboard boxes by the river. She walked with a cane, her shoes were falling apart, her dress was so thin, and she looked so fragile. She had no electricity and no running water. She relied on the kindness of the community to allow her to shower, use the bathroom, and get meals. Her adult children had all left for the United States and never looked back. She was left on her own. I sat on the bed, folding laundry, and cried. Here I was, complaining about not having water, and yet I still had so much to be thankful for. I had a home, a bed, food, and electricity. I had my family. We had access to water from a nearby relative who let us fill up bucks for the restroom. It was at that moment that I realized God was humbling me. And while I still let out an annoyed sigh when I try to turn the faucet on, out of habit, I remind myself that this is temporary. And everything will be okay. 

With just a little over a week left in January, I’ve kind of been on edge. It feels like it has been one thing after another. And these things are not small/cheap. I’ve been praying that everything will start calming down a bit. Financially, we need the break. With the weather being cold and rainy, Corey can only work so much. We’ve been able to pay down some debt, which has been great, but we are tapped out of our savings. So, we could use a month of no emergency spending and decent weather. So, if January could ease up for this last little bit, that would be great.