My friend and fellow campus minister, Heather, and I often joke about the things we do in our jobs that Seminary didn’t teach us. These things typically fall into the “pesky” box. We’d rather ignore them, delegate them, toss them out the window…but can’t.
Today another such thing fell into my lap. I suppose I let it fall. I really could have ignored it especially since I didn’t have a quick fix in mind and I’m not a pro.
It was a drippy shower head. It wasn’t terrible. I mean, the water bill wouldn’t have suffered.
Well, thankfully, I know a little something. No, not really about plumbing but about asking for help and trying. I learned these gems from my parents. When looking for something in a store, my Mum would often say, “Just ask someone!” and she stressed how much folks at hardware stores (in particular) love to share their knowledge. In her mind, there’s never a good reason to wear yourself out by keeping your mouth shut and pacing up and down aisles.
As for trying, I grew up seeing both parents do things they had no business doing, according to others (and sometimes according to themselves as they reviewed their past actions). But they did them and good resulted. And then there have been my Dad’s constant reminders:”You’re a Jamaican” or “You’re a Lawrence”–other ways of saying, “You can do it!” but with a load more certainty. Sure, I knew my heritage wouldn’t help me pass Hebrew but that kind of encouragement always put a smile on my face and helped me keep pushing.
Thankfully, today’s process was shortened by the presence of a church member who’d willingly stopped by to fix a different drip. He didn’t have time to tinker with the shower but he did have time to tell me what I needed to buy and the basics of how to replace the part. And one thing campus ministering has taught me (though I don’t always do it) is to quickly deduce whether or not I can realistically accomplish something.
His instructions were concise. Plus, I knew that there had to be a youtube tutorial if I got stuck. Long story short, I fixed it.
Thanks Mum & Dad!
And one more thing, if you’re an easy quitter, seriously consider adopting new family members. You don’t want people who flatter you with “You’re awesome!” or “That was so beautiful” when you obviously did a terrible job. You need people who challenge you to keep moving and help you see that it’s possible. Oh, and stop being lazy. Hard work, inconvenient work, thankless work…take work. Buck up, friend, buck up.
