Sometimes The Worst Brings The Best

Did you ever do something incredibly stupid? I did. In fact, I did it this past month. I gave you the silent treatment. It wasn’t intentional. I love communicating with you and sharing about how our legacy intersects with our faith and our family. But this month something downright revolting happened which stopped me in my tracks. 

It all started as we were planning to invite friends and family for a celebration. Like most folks, we wanted things in order. I’ll temper this with, “I don’t clean much.” In fact, we have a hand-me-down from Bryce’s grandma in our kitchen. It says, “Come in, sit down, relax, converse. Our house doesn’t always look like this. Sometimes it’s even worse.” That fits my life well. I’ve always lived this way. 

Jody’s Old Wall Plaque

But on this particular day, we were in graduation party prep mode with our last high schooler. Most of us have been there with our huge lists of things that need to be done before guests enter our home or in this case, our yard, for a party.

It was a manageable list. They usually are if nothing goes awry. The problem is, something always does, doesn’t it? 

We had all hands on deck with everyone pitching in to help. But I noticed after a while that it had been almost a half hour since I had seen my son. That seemed odd. I went exploring. 

He had been called to help in the bathroom with a toilet clog. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Not a chance. Our toilet has been acting up for awhile so I wasn’t surprised. But I flew into the bathroom to find my son with a plunger in hand, water at the edge of the toilet rim, and soaked towels on the floor from a slight spillage. He had it under control. 

Side note - Different people have different comfort levels with words about excrement - BM, poop, feces, scat - I’ve even heard good Christian farmers use the word sh** when they talk about animal bodily functions. It’s a nasty thing. I’ll stick with something less offensive for this post but you can just fill in your own word as you read. 

My son, Eli, was playing a game of chicken with the toilet. Water up, gently plunge as not to have any water erupt or splash out, water down, water up, and repeat. I don’t know about you, but I handle things differently than my son. He’s meticulous and calculated. I’m much more feisty and my patience is way shorter than his, especially for some excrement that needs to vacate the premises! 

I took the plunger. He stepped back. I plunged. Some water flew out. Trust me, this water was not clear! I sent him for towels on a different floor of our house. He was out of earshot. I glared at the toilet. And then for some inexplicable reason, I took the cover off the tank and pulled the chain. Why, oh why, did I do that? I know what happens when the chain is pulled. THE TOILET FLUSHES! Bad move!! 

Now I had a geyser instead of a toilet in my bathroom. And here it all came whether I wanted it or not. This putrid gushing mess was shooting out of the toilet. I yelled for my son who couldn’t hear me. Unless I wanted a flood on a lower floor, I had to solve this before he got backI 

My eyes fell to a little sixteen ounce plastic liquid measuring cup that we use to rinse the tub. I grabbed it. And then I made it worse. I plunged the cup and my hand into the geyser, filled it, and like a cheerleader throwing a pompom into the air I twisted my arm and tossed the excrement laced liquid into the bathroom sink over, and over, and over again. Now, instead of having the toilet contents on the floor, it was all over the entire bathroom. 

And that’s when my son came back in to save me with a handful of towels. He watched anxiously as the water finally stopped flowing out of the toilet and I plunged it rapidly until it finally receded enough to shut the lid. We had a big mess to clean up! 

So if you might be wondering what happened to my blog post from that week, well, it went right down the drain unlike the excrement in our toilet that day.  I spent the next hour sanitizing every nook and cranny of the bathroom. My family and my toilet came first. 

The weeks that followed the toilet incident have been filled with planning and preparation for an exciting transition within Red Dirt Recollective. In late September, I will be launching jodyflurie.com as a place to expand my writing about legacy, faith and family. If you have enjoyed my blog posts over the last year and a half, I urge you to subscribe to my mailing list and continue to be encouraged by Biblically based writing. 

Obviously, I can’t help you with your plumbing and toilet problems. In fact, quite clearly, I’ll only make it worse. But Red Dirt Recollective will continue to serve you and I know a problem that we can solve for you. 

If you are afraid of what life may look like in 10 years, if memories will have faded, and you will have lost your family history and stories, Red Dirt Recollective exists to help you keep those stories alive.

We’ll help you figure out which stories to record. We’ll come into your home, capture those stories on video, and create a set of beautiful videos for you to share with your family. 

It doesn’t cost a cent to start the conversation. You can do it right now with this link.   

My hope for you this week is that your life would be filled with great stories and that none of them would involve a toilet! 

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody

PS. Keep an eye on your email and the facebook page, we will have a special coupon coming next week to celebrate National Grandparents Day on September 13, 2020.