Things are not always what they seem.
At first glance, upon entering, or after an introduction, assumptions are made. Is this thing, this place, or this person what I’m thinking now, or might there be something more, or at least, a great explanation for what is?
Moving into our house at the end of April and settling in throughout the summer, the revelations of what we’ve moved into continue to unfurl: exciting bonuses (our kids are sleeping so much better in their own rooms than in one room all together!) and some disheartening setbacks (ugh- a small piece of tape is pulling off ceiling paint and drywall in the living room…seems some of the paint might not be sealed properly).
We are getting to know the house and how we work within it’s walls. Squeaks are sounding familiar, the smell is more our own, and space is being used for food, family, fun, or work with more efficiency. We love it here.
One of the early quirks we encountered after move-in day was that our backyard hose spigot did not work. The handle would turn and turn but no water would come out. We spent the first few weeks watering the garden from 20 yards away- straining the front yard hose to reach as far as it possibly could.
It was discouraging and we had no idea who to call or what to do about a broken spigot. This was no ordinary spigot either; it’s handle was a bird. Despite the character it added, it seemed even more to complicate what we couldn’t figure out…where was the water?! 
My friend Sara came to hang out one morning and help with some small projects. She comes from an extremely handy family, grew up on an almost-farm in Savannah, MO, and did a lot with FFA in high school. Give this girl a hammer, or ask her to identify a quality pig at an ag show, and she’ll excel! Sara came that day with her two small kiddos as a blessing to me and as my friend. We enjoyed catching up and got some work done around my house: hung some shelves and played “That’s a weed…That’s a plant” around the back yard.
On our backyard walk, I showed Sara the hose problem. She said, “It might be turned off from the inside.” In fact, one other person had suggested this but then, and even now with Sara, I didn’t know what that really meant or how to take action. Sara knew.
We went to the basement and she found a small cut-out in the ceiling down there. Peeking up, she found the answer. There was a knob, that looked like a spigot knob, right up there in the basement ceiling! I reached through spider webs and with wonder, turned it 5 times- lefty-loosey.
Back to the backyard, we turned the bird…and out sprayed water! What I had thought was a major problem, was actually an easy fix. The water was just shut off to protect pipes and hose. Someone had taken care to prepare the hose for proper use, not to derail my summer gardening plans after all! Daily, the bird shares her bounty and the effect is production of sustenance. The garden is indeed bearing fruit!
Our haul from today!
I wonder how many other times I’ve looked at the surface of something, or even someone, and drawn errant conclusions? Maybe our first impressions, our immediate assumptions, are not to be given much credence. Instead, digging deeper, asking questions, seeking to understand or getting to the root- being open to transformation in our own minds, will make us a better person in the world and help us get the best results in what we seek.
