Filling Bathtubs

I was working a night shift on December 31, 1999, on a nephrology ward at a hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.  I remember clearly talking to my manager as I got off of work at 11pm.  She asked me to keep my phone on in case life as we knew it fell apart when that computer turned over to the year 2000.  Y2K.

Driving home I wondered what would happen in the next 30 minutes.  Uncertainty.  Fear?   My dear hubby was waiting up for me at home – we hadn’t made any plans for that New Year’s, partly because of me working but a lot of people hadn’t made big plans because of the millennial year and the fear of Y2K.

Half an hour left until the apple drops.  What should we do?  Carl and I had not done any stockpiling, planning, or preparing for disaster. We had heard of people who had stored 3 months of groceries and water in their basements, and were waiting in bomb shelters. 🙂  As the moments passed and midnight became closer, Carl and I started wondering if we had been irresponsible not to plan for an impending crisis.  But what could we do now at the late hour?

Let’s fill the bathtub.

I can’t remember if that was Carl or my idea, but we decided that at least if the world fell apart, we would be able to bucket flush our toilet for awhile if we had water in our bathtub.  🙂  So we filled it.  Filled a few pitchers and jars with drinking water and then parked ourselves on the couch and waited for the clock to turn over.

And now 14+ years later, we know what happened.  Nothing!  The computers didn’t freeze, explode or blow up.  The year 2000 began without fuss or furore.  Y2K was a bit anticlimactic.  As far as I know, nothing happened.

We weren’t prepared for disaster, and thankfully disaster didn’t happen.

I have been thinking lately about my approach to life.  I am an optimist.  I like to think everything works out well.  I don’t expect disaster.  I expect all things to work out!  I have lived a very privileged life.  Not with a lot of money, but things I needed were always provided to me by my parents and then by my husband and myself.  I recognise that I am in a minority.  Most people on this planet I call home are not as privileged.  Life is not easy for the majority of the 7 billion people who populate this earth.

If you read my previous blog entry, you know we have recently experienced our own little version of a disaster.  We have tried to fill our bathtub in order to flush this misery down the toilet, but to no avail.

We are reminded however, that “all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28.  So what feels like a disaster to us is not a disaster to Him.  And we have friends that in the past 2 weeks have had much more serious disasters in their lives – one woman lost her 28 year old husband to unexpected death and she is 8 months pregnant with her 3rd child.  My heart is broken for her.  How is God going to turn this into good?  Another friend just found out that his 16 year old daughter had a brain tumour that is most likely malignant.  How is that going to be turned to good?  I honestly don’t know, but for me, it puts my little disaster into perspective.  God has this earth in His hands.  He knows the end from the beginning and I do choose to trust Him.  I pray for my friends who are going through harder experiences than I am…  for countries that have been ravaged by war, for children sold into sex slavery, for drug addicts, for everyone who experiences pain in this world, I pray.

What Y2K taught me?  Not everything is a disaster.  Even when we expect our worlds to be turned upside down, God can turn them to good.

*Picture is of Carl and I at a New Year’s Eve party our first year of marriage, I think. 🙂

4 Responses to Filling Bathtubs
  1. Dawn Reply

    What a beautiful post on perspective. What blessings we have. Still hope to see you soon.

    • Michelle Reply

      We surely hope to see you soon, too, Dawn!

  2. Shauna Thompson Reply

    Hi Michelle,
    you are such a beautiful soul. You are understanding that it is okay to be disappointed, during your small disaster. It is hurtful now, but will not leave long term scars, because it is just temporary. God may be keeping you there, to protect you from something only he can see. Trust him. I remember the Millennium scare very well, and having last minute doubts about whether I should have worried, and planned, just in case. I did not. I chose to trust. The very most amazing thing happened just 5 months, into the millennium, a little boy named Blayne, came into this world, via his birth mom. 05/05/2000. The millennium, gave us the best, greatest, gift, that we would not receive until late in 2001. I am grateful for the feared turn of the century.
    Be disappointed, be grateful, be encouraged, and watch to see what God has next !! He loves you with all of his heart.

    Blessings,
    love from Shauna T.

    • Michelle Reply

      Hi Shauna, Thanks for your sweet encouragement! And what a blessing that millennium brought you – in Blayne! Awesome!!!

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