There are people who make $150 per hour.

In fact, we could probably name many professions that make far above that.

However, I certainly don't earn that kind of money, nor does anyone in my immediate family.

So, when our pipes quit piping, and our shower, sinks, and unmentionables wouldn't drain Saturday, we called a local plumber. One of the "little guys". Trying to save a buck as well as support the smaller company. He worked, complained a lot, worked more, whined a little more, until he finally gave up and said he couldn't fix it. We paid a "come out and stare at the problem and complain" fee, and sent him on his way.

We moved on to the bigger company. The one we knew would have the equipment and knowledge to fix this very inconvenient problem.

They charge $75 for each 30 minutes they are there working. (Do they think that sounds better than $150 per hour?)

They discovered great problems stemming back to the original building of the house. Between that, and some tree roots, we had a very pricey problem on our hands.

The guy looked at my son and said he could dig the hole for $150 an hour, or we could and he would come back tomorrow. We opted for strong son to dig.

Sweet, Willing, Capable, Very Strong Son dug for about 3 hours and finally, hit pipe! Whoo - Hoo! We put reflectors, caution tape, dirt piles all around the massive hole and called it a night.

Sunday morning, plumber shows up, works with son (who stayed home from church to save us more money!) and fixes the problem. Plumber assures us he knows we're "good people" and he will give us a bill that reflects that. He will "do his best to take care of us".

Total? $1227.50

Wow! I'm still in shock...what if son hadn't worked so hard? What if we hadn't been "good folk"? Really wanted to look him straight in the eye and just sweetly say..."are you high? have you hit your head? you're kidding me, right?" But, I didn't.

Wrote out the check and felt sorry for myself.

Daughter called later that night and after whining to her she finally said..."momma, you're sounding pitiful. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. In two weeks, I'm coming home and we'll all be together. Isn't that what matters at Christmas? It's a stupid pipe. Get over it."

Hmmm...somebody raised her well.

So, thank you, Mr. Plumber, for not only satisfying the immediate problem, but actually fixing it properly.

Thank you, sweet son, for working very hard all weekend to help our family save hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Thank you sweet daughter, for reminding me that it's just a stupid pipe.

The most valuable thing in my life isn't a "thing" at all. It's those deep, beautiful, eternal relationships that God has provided through His love...

Blessings.