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The Day I Faced My Greatest Fear
Do you remember that I asked the question of what each of my team member’s fear as we step into this new season in our lives? Do you remember my answer?
My answer was somewhat funny, but it was definitely honest…
My fear has been that I would have to use a squatty potty.
Just in case you are not sure what that is…
In many Asian countries, instead of having a toilet, there is a urinal in the ground that you aim your waste towards. If you are lucky to be in a modern location, this urinal in the floor actually has the function to flush. If you are not in a modern location, you will have a hole in the floor and terrible smells and probably have to stand in places where people have missed the hole.
So my fear was not just that I would have to use a squatty potty, but also that it would be the least modern version… And that as I attempted to squat over this potty, that my legs would not be conditioned to squatting for a long enough period of time and that as I struggle raise my bottom out of this deep squat that I would loose my balance and topple over falling in the hole in the floor that is filled with waste. I cringe at the thought that my recent waste, but also any other waste, that touched my bottom during the fall would need to be cleaned off my body.
Here at our ministry site, Lighthouse Battambang, we have been blessed to have a flushing western toilet! It has been so awesome to not worry about the squatty potty. But there is a caveat…
For eastern countries where this is an actual toilet, no paper products can be flushed down the toilet. Yes, that includes toilet paper. Why? Because the septic tanks here can’t handle the use of those products. Flushing ANY paper products down the toilet will stop up the plumbing.
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Last week, one of my teammates tell us that the toilet is stopped up. So we think to ourselves…
“OK cool. The house parents are prepared for this so we will wait or use one of the other bathrooms until the next morning when they awake”.
We get up in the morning and the toilet is still stopped up. We do our 5 am morning workouts and the toilet is still stopped up. We have quiet time, eat breakfast, and start to work on our morning building project for ministry and the toilet is still stopped up.
This particular morning we split up to do a couple projects around the house. Most of the team was assisting Sokha in continuing to build the shelter for the stage. Sokha asked me to fix the broken floor tiles in the doorway from the hallway to the kitchen. As I working on that project, Somaly, our ministry host’s wife, asks me…
“Will you get someone on your team to unclog the toilets? We have a toilet snake.”
I’m sure you just made a face as you read that question. It probably honestly conveys how I felt in that moment. My heart dropped as I replied “sure”! I already knew that no one on my team wanted to unclog this toilet. To be honest, I didn’t want to unclog the toilet, but I had made up my mind…
I walk out to my team and ask…
“Does anyone know how to snake a toilet?”
Silence.
Andy says “I know how to snake a sink” with a cringe on his face.
I reply “I’ll work on snaking the toilet if someone finishes the floor tile job for me”.
Kat immediately speaks up “I’ll finish the tile work!”
I walk her back in the house to give her direction and leave her to that job as I head up stairs.
I love Nike for a lot of reasons, but my favorite is for their motto “Just Do It”.
That was my posture as I walked into my room to change into clothes I didn’t mind destroying.
“Just Do It”
With my XL tshirt and slip shorts I head back to the bathroom with phone and speaker in hand.
“Lord, you know this hits close to home for me. As far as I am concerned, right now I am choosing to face my worst fear. I am choosing to put myself in a situation where this toilet may explode and I could be covered in poo. Lord, hold that thought… let me go put my shower cap on so at least there won’t be poop in my dread locks…. Ok, I’m ready. I really don’t want to do this, but I said yes to this race. I said yes to being uncomfortable, I said yes to serving this ministry, and I said yes to serving my team. So I will do this…”
I put on worship music and continued to pray as I picked up the snake and attempted to push it into the poo filled toilet. Somaly came to see who got the job of unclogging the toilet and was surprised to see it was me. She saw me trying to use the snake and tried to help me.
We got nowhere. The toilet was still clogged and the snake wasn’t even remotely working. I asked “Do you have a plunger?” Somaly looked at me confusedly at first, but I was able to explain to her what it was. She said “I will call Sokha to get one while they are at the market”. So I rinsed off the snake and began waiting for Sokha to return.
Waiting was the worst part!
As I waited, all I could imagine was that they didn’t have plungers in Cambodia and I would have to put my hand in the waste filled toilet to unclog it. Let me just be honest… I started crying…
“Lord, please let there be a plunger. I know that you are faithful. I know that you will not take this burden from me and that this toilet will not automagically be unclog as I pray, but I know that you love me and will show your faithfulness by giving me your strength to get through this task”.
I sang, prayed, and worshipped while I waited.
Then I heard the front gate open and a vehicle arrive at a stop in the front courtyard. I walked to balcony to see Sokha holding a plunger!!! I’ve never been so happy to see a plunger!!!!!
God is faithful!
I walk down downstairs to get the plunger, back in my “Just Do It” posture, ready to conquer the task. I wrestled the clean plunger from the house parents’ 2 year old son and head back upstairs. I stand in front of the toilet, take a deep breath, flush the toilet, and put the plunger down into the toilet bowl. I plunge about 4 times and raise the plunger to see if it was working. As I watch, the water in toilet along with the waste and urine vanish down the drain and the biggest smile crosses my face. I gleefully turn to Somaly and almost shout “It worked!”
God is faithful!
She smiles through her own surprise and asks me to flush a couple more times to make sure. And it does, in fact, work. The toilet is finally unclogged!
I was so happy I didn’t have to put my hand down the toilet that I asked for cleaning supplies and cleaned the bathroom! As I finished, Somaly asks “would you unclog the other toilet too?”
“Um, ok” I say. I guess I’m on a roll now. “Lord, please be on a roll too!”
I dread the task as I walked downstairs to the other toilet because I had never seen it. It had been clogged since before we arrived, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I opened the bathroom door and the bathroom itself was spotless. Evidently, the students continued to clean it even though it was out of order.
I got my trusty plunger and attacked the toilet with confidence as if it could not thwart me. Oh, but it could thwart me… and it did….
The plunger didn’t work!
I turned to Somaly … “I think something is in there”. This toilet, unlike the first toilet, was really clean, but continued to flood. I ask Somaly “should I put my hand in there and see what happens?” “NO!” She replies as she laughs and heads into the yard. She pulls a long sturdy branch off a tree and removes its leaves. She brings the stick the me and I proceed to stick it down the toilet. It doesn’t seem like much is happening, so when I get done attempting to look like I’m doing something, I pull the stick out and plunge the toilet again. I stand there and watch as the water flushes down the drain.
God is faithful!
Again, I turn with surprise and glee to Somaly and say “IT WORKED!” She again says “flush a couple times to make sure”. I do and the toilet continues to work.
All I can do is smile as I thank God for his faithfulness!
I didn’t have to put my hand down a bile filled toilet, I didn’t get poop in my hair, and we now had 3 working toilets in the house for 30ish people rather 1.
GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!!
What you are facing that you are dreading, are ready to give it to God and trust that He is faithful?
