Water Leaks 101
Steve Smith, our Associate Pastor, and I have said we need to write a book about all of the courses they don't teach at seminary, but they really need to tell you about. One of those courses is Water Leaks 101. It should be a survey of all of the kinds of water leaks you will encounter as a pastor or staff member and basic knowledge of how to fix them quickly and easily. This course is pretty important because in the course of any day, you could experience a water leak, just like we did today.
There are leaky faucets, leaky toilet valves, and toilets that run. There are drain leaks, air-conditioner condensation pipe leaks, and leaks in the baptistery. Then, there are septic tanks that stop up and back up into the bathrooms and halls. That is a huge joy! These are just the easy ones.
The second semester of Water leaks 101 should get into polybutylene pipes that burst under asphalt parking lots, and the special compression fittings they take. Water pipes that break under sidewalks, so that you have to run 800 feet of PVC around the parking lot to the gym.
However, some of the worst water leaks are floods that occur when the grease trap fills up and the bathrooms flood with gunk. Floods from 2" pipe joints that pop apart and shoot out with great water pressure. Floods from rain water that finds its way into the building or a pipe that breaks in the slab. In this part of the course you need to learn to run a wet vac and to use fans to dry out the carpet.
Now, someone might ask what water leaks have to do with making disciples and seminary training. I have been a pastor for 35 years now, and I am not sure how to respond to that question. However, I know they teach you a lot of patience and how to keep your cool under extreme difficulties. They teach us to work together, too. Just like tonight, my new son-in-law, Stacy helped me fix this one. Oh yeah, they increase your prayer life, too, because we need to pray real hard that when we turn on the water in the morning, it doesn't blow apart again. So I guess water leaks are not totally nonspiritual after all.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 94-97.
There are leaky faucets, leaky toilet valves, and toilets that run. There are drain leaks, air-conditioner condensation pipe leaks, and leaks in the baptistery. Then, there are septic tanks that stop up and back up into the bathrooms and halls. That is a huge joy! These are just the easy ones.
The second semester of Water leaks 101 should get into polybutylene pipes that burst under asphalt parking lots, and the special compression fittings they take. Water pipes that break under sidewalks, so that you have to run 800 feet of PVC around the parking lot to the gym.
However, some of the worst water leaks are floods that occur when the grease trap fills up and the bathrooms flood with gunk. Floods from 2" pipe joints that pop apart and shoot out with great water pressure. Floods from rain water that finds its way into the building or a pipe that breaks in the slab. In this part of the course you need to learn to run a wet vac and to use fans to dry out the carpet.
Now, someone might ask what water leaks have to do with making disciples and seminary training. I have been a pastor for 35 years now, and I am not sure how to respond to that question. However, I know they teach you a lot of patience and how to keep your cool under extreme difficulties. They teach us to work together, too. Just like tonight, my new son-in-law, Stacy helped me fix this one. Oh yeah, they increase your prayer life, too, because we need to pray real hard that when we turn on the water in the morning, it doesn't blow apart again. So I guess water leaks are not totally nonspiritual after all.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 94-97.