On Rough Waters and Smooth

We had an interesting fall!
Shortly after I wrote last in September, we had a leak in the roof that caused part of my bedroom ceiling to collapse! It turned out that a seal on a pipe leading from the house to the swamp cooler had broken off, causing it to leak. Unfortunately, the insurance company was far less than helpful, and, in fact, added to the stress and frustration.... They said they wouldn't repair the roof because it was caused by wear and tear not covered in the policy. And they were only willing to do a patch job on the ceiling, insisting that they would not remove the old "popcorn" ceiling and that it could be an asbestos problem. In the end it wasn't a problem, but they left me hanging for 3 long days not knowing if we were breathing in poison or not. I told them to close the claim. So not impressed!

We were in the middle of that crisis when we discovered leaking pipes in the kitchen, which meant that we needed to re-pipe the house! The pipes were cast iron and original to the house built in 1955. They definitely needed replacing.
All this happened while I was dealing with the aftermath of a minor concussion caused when I slipped off a stepladder while camping at the end of August!

We were in the middle of getting new pipes in the house (and figuring out how to pay for them) when Katie got married the first weekend of October, and Brittany and her family moved into a beautiful new house.

We took a trip to the Grand Canyon in October for some much needed R&R. It was beautiful and restoring to the soul.

Montezuma Castle, Arizona.

At Snow Canyon, Utah. A graphic reminder that we can grow in adversity

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Shortly after our trip to the Grand Canyon I came down with an ear (and sinus) infection that caused my eardrum to rupture. That was a new exercise in pain... It turned out the infections were caused by the drug-resistant MRSA bacteria. I'm on the mend, but my hearing is still a little off and probably will be for some time.
Through it all, David was calm and supportive while I fell apart. I used to wonder how he would do if  I were to be incapacitated. The answer: He came through it all with flying colors. I am so grateful!
Can we say we had a stressful season?!
Not all stress is bad. In fact, we need some in our lives. Stress and trials are what can help us grow, learn important lessons, and develop into better people.

One of my favorite quotes on the topic came from President Spencer W. Kimball who knew a lot about trials.

I came across the talk, "Tragedy or Destiny" when I was a young, largely untried college student. It made such an impression on me that I often thought about it during the various struggles of my adult life.
Said he: "If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the pre-mortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.

"Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified?
"If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.
"If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.
"Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood."

There's a great deal of wisdom there! The Apostle Paul who was also well acquainted with trials taught: "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worth for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (KJV 2 Corinthians 4:15–18).

It helps to remember, during times of stress, that trials don't last forever, even when it may seem like it.
When I complained to my older brother about my old house blues, he reminded me that we all have troubles that are a part of life for us to learn from. He compared it to river rafting: sometimes the water is calm and smooth, and sometimes there are rough water and rapids. When we come to the rapids, it helps to know that the calm water is just around the bend.

Rafting on the Salmon River. Notice the rapids!

This particular rapid felt like a class 5, but it reality it was probably more like a class 3 rapid. The trick is to hang on and ride it out! (I can say that now that the crisis has passed...!)
I saw this on Facebook when we were dealing with a leaking roof, a broken ceiling, and the insurance company that was far less than wonderful to deal with:

Don't forget that you're human.It's okay to have a melt down.

Just don't unpack and live there.

Cry it out and then refocus on where you are headed.

And this gem, also found on Facebook that same week, helped keep it all in perspective:

Life is Amazing   and then it's awful.  

And then it's amazing again. 

And in between the amazing and the awful, It's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breath in the amazing 

Hold on through the awful and 

Relax and exhale during the ordinary. 

That's just living. Heart breaking, soul-healing, amazing, ordinary life.

And so it is! Finally, after 4 months of looking at a hole in my ceiling, the leak in the roof is finally fixed (it only took 5 tries, including 3 from a roofing contractor). And soon I will have a new ceiling and refinished wood floor. Cannot wait! :)

The lovely hole in my ceiling, soon to be just a memory

Life is looking better!