From Irritation to Blessing
Our John is really good at finding accommodations and is always willing to help in that way. When he, our grandson, and Ray and I prepared for our trip to Mayo Clinic, John found an Airbnb for us close to the clinic complex. Frankly, it was acceptable—not great, except for the couple in the other half of the duplex who were delightful neighbors and here for similar reasons. Our half was really larger than we needed with two bedrooms on the main level and two in the finished basement, but the price was excellent and the location was great.
We became quite creative with the sparsely supplied kitchen, feeling a need to wash everything before we used it. Things worked out okay until the seventh night, when water of a color I had rather not describe started coming up in the basement bathroom. Soon clear water was oozing onto the floor beyond the bathroom.
I hurriedly got the clothes I was washing in the basement laundry room upstairs and hung them to dry on hangers in a closet. John and our grandson had been occupying the basement, so they brought all of their things upstairs. Calls to Airbnb got a promise to refund part of our money. Calls to the owner got a vague answer about a plumber possibly coming that night. No one ever showed up. That night they slept in the extra bedroom, and not very well on the couch in the living room.
The next day John stayed at the Airbnb instead of going with us to Ray’s appointment, as he had every other time, in order to talk to the plumber and the person who was to come and clean up the mess. John saw the cleaner, but did not see the plumber who supposedly came while John was indisposed for a few minutes. We had our doubts about that, especially when water of the same color as the previous night began rising again in the basement bathtub and clear water began following its same route onto the basement floor.
This time a distinctly foul sewage smell permeated the whole apartment, and we began to be concerned about the healthfulness of that for all of us, but especially for Ray. At about 8:00 p.m., Ray went to the car to stay safe from the fumes while the rest of us began loading our belongings into the car.
Simultaneously, John was calling the owner and searching on Airbnb for another place. I went over to our neighbors to tell them what was going on. Their side also had a basement, but they didn’t go to there all the time. She went downstairs and discovered that, sure enough, their side was flooding, too. A plumber arrived just as our family was ready to pull out of the driveway.
It was fun to look for plumber photos on the Library of Congress photo website. In the first photo, plumbers work in the basement of a house in Ohio in 1937.
Photo by Russell Lee,
courtesy Library of Congress
In this photo from April 1943, an Italian-American woman working in a defense plant during World War II powders her nose. The plant had only recently begun hiring women, so the women’s locker room was not finished. A plumber was installing a sink behind her.
Photo by Marjory Collins,
courtesy Library of Congress
We found the small house John reserved for us; but when we went inside, we discovered a musty basement below the nice upstairs. It was back to the drawing board with Airbnb.
Later that night, we moved into an Airbnb called Cozy Hope House, an adorable little house on a quiet residential street. The owners operate it especially for patients at Mayo Clinic and their families. The price was similar to the first place we stayed, but the difference was striking. It has pretty and cheerful decor with a well-stocked kitchen, bathrooms, laundry area, and even a booster seat, baby bathtub, outlet covers, pack n’ play, and play area for families with children. And everything was clean!
John is the first one who called Ray and me magnets for adventure. That was after a different accommodation challenge. Sometimes, God turns what seems pretty terrible at the time into something so much better.
It is especially hard to watch our children endure difficult situations, but these are part of being human. They teach us patience and endurance and courage and how to be joyful in spite of what is going on around us. Sometimes they show us that what is ahead is better than what we could imagine.
Now to Him who is able to do
far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us,
to Him be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21