Bravery and Clogged Drains

My daughters have long, naturally curly hair.  It is beautiful. It is to be envied...


It makes a mess.




We have a little running joke at home. When the bathtub drain starts to clog or drain too slowly..I know what that means. So I do what any mother would do, I look for someone else to take care of it.

Alas, that someone is me. So, I get the joy of "unclogging the drain" by pulling out the clumps of naturally curly brunette hair that has found its way into the drain. I pull it out and say to my daughters: "If you want to know what love looks like; this is it."

The first time I said that, they didn't understand. I explained to them, real love isn't always pretty, sometimes it does what's necessary. Right?

I thought I had seen the worst clog: until last week.

The sink in the bathroom was now clogged. I knew a small curler had fallen down the drain a few weeks ago, but it had never stopped water flow, until now. Then, there was the "aroma" wafting from the drain....hmmmm, something was amiss.  So, once again I grabbed my big girl boots and found a piece of wire and made a hook of sorts.

I found the curler. And then, I found the problem.
Let's just say, what came out of the drain had to be the culmination of 9 years of hairstyling and grooming by three women and both my relationship with God and my stomach were on the line at that point.

This gruesome, 2 ft. long clog was now gone and water was free to flow.
I was so tempted to wake up my girls and say; "See? This is real love!!! Who else would do this for you?" ( Please remember I have teenagers, so the whole "love" idea is consistently up for discussion.)
But, I didn't. I let them sleep and disposed of the offensive glob.

The next day, I told them about it and let me just say, my words didn't do the object justice...ugh, but one of my daughters put the moment in perspective. "Mom, you're so brave."

Okay, you may  be laughing at that, ( you didn't see this thing ) but I never thought of it like that. But, I will take it!
I feel like I have had to brave on countless occasions lately:

Brave to dispose of a dead mouse in the pantry. yuck.
Brave to go under the house to check that there were no leaking pipes. spiders.
Brave to pick up my lawnmower from a hardware/repair shop, where there were no women in sight, but enough "good ol' boys" to make the Dukes of Hazzard proud.
Brave enough to ask for help. ouch.

Single parenthood is not for the faint of heart.  It often means "cleaning drains," and "cleaning pride" from your surroundings.  I am convinced that God is getting me to a point where absolutely nothing will keep me from asking for assistance. Whether it is for Christmas help, for prayer or even for a gallon of milk, I've had to be brave.

There are those times when it feels like I just can't do it. We all have those moments when we want to crawl in bed with a pound of chocolate and wish everything away. but I have to remember on those days that: It is indeed God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. ( II Samuel 22:33 )

Even when I'm weary.
Even when I've had enough.
Even when at times it seems like my life is an endless scenario of " what real love looks like." ( see above for details ) 
He says, He'll give me the strength. After all, when I think of how He loves? Well, that isn't always pretty is it?  My mistakes and shortcomings have seen to that.


So, moving forward. No matter what. Just like a clogged drain will eventually stop working unless it's emptied, I'll never be everything He wants until I'm emptied of myself.  And, I can assure you....it's much more toxic than anything I'll find in our bathroom.