Article May 5, 1997 Issue

"Flood-tides of Love"

Hal H. Hoerner

Shortly after we moved into a new home, a plumber informed us that we had no water shut-off valve in or near the house. The only valve was over a hundred feet away, six feet underground, and its four-inch access pipe was packed tight with dried mud as hard as concrete. The plumber told us that the only way to get to the valve was to dig the six-foot pipe out of the ground. This seemed like a laborious and messy task, not to mention the one hundred dollars the plumber wanted to do the work.

So, I sat by the pipe for a moment praying. Over the years I have learned that all good ideas—and in fact all good—come from the one intelligent source of being, God. Solutions precede problems, and if we humbly listen for God's direction, these solutions become evident to us.

An idea occurred to me. I put a nozzle on the end of the garden hose, turned the water on full blast, and directed it into the mud-caked pipe. Within a short time, the blast of water had loosened six feet of material and floated it away, leaving perfectly clear access to the valve. No excavation was necessary. The problem was solved effortlessly!

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