God Makes Ice

After having the new refrigerator installed and the Home Depot man telling us that the 25 year old spigot behind the new refrigerator had never been turned on, I spent a morning calling handyman friends to offer them the small plumbing job. No one was home, and in the meantime, our icemaker was off, as the Home Depot man had warned.

For you blog followers, you know the day the fridge was delivered was also the day of my broken toe, another book rejection, and clogged garbage disposal. I think the ruined screen from Lucky using the window as a door was the next day.

"Should we put on the icemaker just to be certain the water is off?" I asked.
"Can't hurt," agreed Arvo, and he turned it on. We stood there a moment waiting for ice to plop out, but it was still and quiet in the icemaking zone. Closing our new refrigerator door, we packed up for an afternoon of kayaking. I taped my broken toe to two buddy toes instead of just one, and walked pain free.

We discovered a new creek off of the Catawba river and kayaked for an hour upstream. I felt like Lewis and Clark. After gliding by a park, the deep wide creek was silent and devoid of people. Thick forests lined the banks and huge bolders speckled the edges. My toes were propped on the bow of my kayak where I could gaze at them and thank God for 9 unbroken toes, and for the kindness of the strong toes to brace and cover for the little broken one.

When we got home, I reminded Arvo it would be wise to turn off the icemaker as the literature said if you don't have water connected, be sure the icemaker is off. There was even a return call on the phone from a friend who knew how to do this plumbing task for us. (BTW- it is not just turning on the spigot apparently... there is something in the deep dark scary crawl space below the house that needs attention.... something that might involve slithering on your belly with the snakes that assuredly are down there.)

I was busily unpacking our detritus from the day, when I heard Arvo shout, "Ice!"
I came running over to see and we both stood rapturously before our ice maker which had churned out actual lovely cubes of perfectly formed ice.

"I guess the water was on ," I said, but after 25 years of no use, it had fooled the Home Depot man into thinking it was no longer usable. Or.... was God sending me another little piece of comfort in a small miracle?

Maybe neglect, even 25 years of it, can be healed. Maybe water can gush in the desert. Maybe a broken toe can be supported and cared for by her co-workers. Maybe the storm can be stilled, the blind see, the lame walk, and the unbelieving believe. Maybe a tall refreshing glass of water with ice cubes clinking in it can be a song of angels.

Deuteronomy 8:14-16 (New International Version)

¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.