Christmas 2022

Today is Christmas Eve, and I’d like to share with you exactly how my Christmas holiday is going. This is one of those stories in which one can choose to laugh or cry. I choose to laugh. It’s Christmas. I refuse to get all worked up about the truly unimportant things. Ya know, like running water. 

Let me explain. For Christmas this year, we decided to travel to our tiny house and have our immediate family over for a traditional Christmas dinner. My husband and I finished out the tiny house ourselves (a long and tedious process), and we always drain the water lines when we depart for home. 

Well, we arrived on Thursday just after the Arctic blast hit. It was already 28 degrees. My husband turned the water on briefly so that I could fill some pots full of water, and then he planned to turn it off again before nightfall. Unbeknownst to us, our wrapped pipes froze within the hour as the temperature plummeted. Too late, the hot water line froze solid. 

Today is Christmas Eve (Saturday). The temperature finally got above freezing and all you-know-what broke loose on our water lines. Lucky for us, Home Depot was open till 5:00 today, and lucky for me my hubby knows how to fix stuff. He fixed the main water line, but the ones under the house are still frozen and cannot be fixed until tomorrow—Christmas day, the day I’m having family come to Christmas dinner that I’ve been preparing for three days.

I’ve watched enough Little House on the Prairie to know how to work around the lack of plumbing, and I’ve somehow been able to cook and clean without it. It’s been a memorable, interesting week, and I’m thankful that we have electricity since we still haven’t installed our wood-burning stove. The Lord has a sense of humor and the ability to make us appreciate all the little things in life. My house is toasty warm, my husband and I are healthy and whole, and my son is coming to see us tomorrow to celebrate our lord’s birthday. What more can I possibly ask for…except for maybe a long hot shower.

So, for all you Scrooges out there, take a look around and notice the good things. Appreciate your family while you have them. Celebrate the birth of Jesus, the One who took your punishment for you. Watch an old Christmas movie and laugh and cry and just enjoy the holiday, and appreciate the little things (like in-door plumbing). Merry Christmas!