Clogged Sinks

First of all, let me apologize if you have food anywhere near you at the moment. Really, I am so sorry to surprise you with the nasty on the left. But it serves a purpose, I promise.

Have you ever had a clogged sink? For us it happens pretty regularly. We have curly hair in this house, and a couple of us have pretty long, curly hair. Not a good combo with narrow sink drains.

And although we try really hard NOT to get hair in the sink, it is inevitable. I use product in my hair, and after a shower, my hair comes out of my head when I put said product in it. I rinse my hands in the sink, and try my best to keep the hair on my fingertips to put in the garbage, but I know some of those slippery guys make their way down the sink. My husband also shaves his face sometimes (he looks so good with facial hair though), and I really believe the combo of tiny hairs and soap residue must also turn into cement down the drain.

Just for the record, the picture accompanying this post is NOT from my house, haha. I have no idea what they put down their sink, but they must also have a problem with their toilet. Ahem.

How do you deal with a clog? If you’re anything like me, you just use a different sink. You brush your teeth elsewhere, because who can stand to see all that stuff swirling around? Excuse me while I go vomit. Seriously. I just can’t.

What’s your MO? Do you try Drano? CLR? Other chemicals that promise to break up debris and whatever is plugging up the drain? Baking soda and vinegar? If you’re anything like my husband, you violently wiggle the little stick that makes the sink stopper go up and down, hoping it will dislodge whatever the problem is. (But it never actually does.)

Did you know they make tools to pull hair and other gunk out of the drain? Yeah, we have one. Where is it? No idea. I don’t like using it. Pulling out whatever fell in and got covered by whatever went down there, is not for my eyes to see. I literally cannot do it without throwing up. I’ve tried. I don’t understand all the images on Google that show plumbers working without gloves or protective gear, and having the audacity to smile at the same time. If I were going to unclog someone else’s drain, you better believe I’d be suited up in full PPE. There’s no way ANY of that is getting anywhere near my person. Let alone my open, smiling MOUTH. Just no.

The other day when I briefly used (and then ran away from) the clogged sink in our upstairs bathroom, the Lord spoke to me. Clogs are a sign of a problem. You running away from it leaves the mess for someone else to clean up. Ignoring that there’s a problem doesn’t mean it does not exist. It just leaves time for it to get worse before it’s dealt with.

Ouch.

Now not only is a clogged sink dirty and gross, it’s also painful. Thanks, Lord. I get it.

Do you run away when things get messy? Do you avoid the mess, pretending it doesn’t exist? I sometimes run away. Or I operate in what I like to call “knowledgable ignorance”. I know something is wrong, but I am afraid to investigate, and dig down the pipe to find out what’s really going on. Many times I prefer to keep on keepin’ on, and ignore the sink in the bathroom that keeps filling up with water.

And I will go to great lengths to avoid using that sink. I moved my toothbrush downstairs. My makeup bag (such as it is) also followed suit. Then my deodorant. Now in the morning I am running up and down the stairs multiple times to accomplish what used to be a simple bathroom routine.

If the bathtub is next I don’t know what I’ll do. Ask a nearby hotel if I can begin to shower there, I guess. But that’s gonna add up quickly. Maybe a friend will let me shower at their house. That can’t go on indefinitely though- they’ll tire of me doing that. Shower outside? Um, not in upstate NY in November. Nope.

Do you see how much harder I have to work physically and mentally to avoid that clog? How exhausting it becomes? How much more of my time is consumed by avoiding that sink?

Hmmm…perhaps I should just deal with the clog.

I come to the sink every day, and then choose to ignore the problem. But eventually it’s going to be more than a clogged sink that drains slowly. Eventually nothing will drain at all. Then it will become a vat of smelly, dirty water. And if I keep using it, that gunk will overflow and ruin the floor, and get all over me. At some point it will leak through to the first floor, drip from the ceiling, and get into other people’s hair. And food. *gag*

Perhaps in your spiritual life you’ve got a clogged sink. Maybe it’s with your kids. Maybe it’s in your marriage. Maybe it’s stuff hanging on from a past you’re not fond of. Maybe you have issues with your siblings, or your boss, or your neighbors. Or maybe you just can’t get out of your own head.

Many times we see a clogged sink as a burden. Just one more thing to put on the ‘to-do’ list (at the very bottom of course) to take care of ‘when we get the time’. Something nasty to be avoided at all costs. But it’s not just a problem for us- it is an inconvenience to others as well. The clog affects everyone who has to interact with the sink.

Perhaps we should change our perspective of the clog. Instead of seeing it as something to be avoided, perhaps we ought to see it as a blessing. A gift, even.

What?!? But it’s nasty!!

Clogs are a sort of grace, if you think about it. They get to the point where I can’t possibly ignore them a minute longer. I have to deal with them, even though I think I might just prefer to pack up, sell the house, and move away rather than face the clogged sink. There goes that avoidance mentality again. Stop it.

My friends, that clogged sink is an opportunity to clean up some stuff so water can flow through unhindered.

If we look at that spiritually, when we clean up the clogs in our lives, the Living Water can flow through unhindered. We can more easily hear and obey the voice of God. The Word can permeate our hearts and minds more readily when clogs aren’t taking up space. And all the junk that goes down the sink will actually make it’s way out of the house instead of piling up.

Take a minute and think of a clog in your life.

Are you wearing yourself out by avoiding it? Who else is affected? How would your life improve by cleaning out that clog?

God will certainly give us the strength and grace to face the clogs in our lives. He wants the Living Water to flow unhindered through us. I’m determined to clear out that bathroom sink. Today.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 4:20-21
(20) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Romans 4:17-19
(17) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (18) For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. (19) Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Psalm 36:5-9
(5) Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. (6) Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. (7) How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. (8) They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (9) For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.