The Mommy-For-A-Month Chronicles #4

Missionary Mama

How many of you wonder if you will have hot water when you go to take a shower tonight? Or tomorrow morning?

I know. It probably doesn't even cross your mind.

It never used to cross mine; at least not when I lived in the United States.

But in Ukraine and Peru, it was always a possibility that there might not be hot water.

And in Haiti, it was a definite fact that there would not be any whatsoever. (But that was okay since I was so incredibly hot and sweaty every moment of every day, the cold water felt refreshing.)

Here in Bolivia, there's certainly no guarantee that one's shower will be hot. Or that there will be running water at all.

But I've learned to accept this trait of my current home-away-from-home and live with it. To go with the flow...even if there is no flow (of water that is). :)

When I lived at House 2, getting a hot shower in the winter months was a very rare occurrence, even though we had an electric-flip object that was supposed to heat the water. It just didn't work too well. So I learned to boil a big pot of water on the stove every time I needed to bathe. Combined with the cold running water in the bathtub, I could at least take a decently warm bath. Once summer arrived, all of a sudden, we had warm-ish or even hot showers again. Maybe because the hot sun was heating the pipes?

Here at House 3, I was so very blessed to learn that hot water is the norm. Showers, sinks, you name it. Where there is water, it can be hot!

If there is gas, that is.

When the Mitchells were going over instructions and household nuances with me before leaving for the States, they warned me that eventually I would run out of gas in the containers used for heating water, operating the stove/oven, and running the dryer. But all I had to do was simply go to the corner store and buy another container. Simple enough.

The other night, I discovered that our kitchen gas tank was empty, meaning I couldn't cook. Thankfully, the director of Casa de Amor was expected for a quick visit so I enlisted her help to switch out the gas container from the dryer to the kitchen. She also ran to the corner store for me to inquire about purchasing more gas. They were out. Okay. No problem. We'll just get more gas on a different day. At least I could cook for the time being!

Last night, when it was time for the children's baths, I discovered that there was no hot water upstairs. A second gas tank out!

Thankfully, because I was used to not having hot water at House 2, I knew what to do! It's called a pot on the stove and it works wonderfully. A little more time and effort involved, but certainly no hill for a stepper, as my mom would say. As I was down in the kitchen getting set up for operation-bath-water, I saw a bottle of baby shampoo sitting next to the kitchen sink and I was reminded of the fact that little tiny girlies could be bathed in the sink! If there was hot water in the sink, I could abandon the pots and pans.

Alas, there was not. I guess the kitchen water is heated by the same gas source as the upstairs bathtub. Back to operation-bath-water boiled on the stove. But at least with the kitchen sink idea firmly planted in my mind, I would not have to lug heavy pots up the stairs to the bathtub. Not until it was my turn for a bath later that night, that is. And the boys' turn the following morning.

I have to admit, I had a delightful time giving baths to the three little girls in the kitchen sink. They had a ball too! Little A even allowed for water in her face without crying which is a huge milestone! It was so fun to spend this one-on-one time with my tiny tots washing them and drying them off and getting them ready for bed. We practiced sounds and words and sang songs and made time for snuggles. Yes, it took three times as long as usual to get them ready for bed, but precious memories were made in the process.

While I'm certainly looking forward to re-stocking our gas supply tomorrow, hopefully, and returning to the luxury of having hot, running water again, there is something to be said for the old fashioned way of giving baths.

Gotta love the mission field. You just never know what challenge will crop up next!

Thankfully, God's grace is sufficient for every trial, His creativity plenteous for every challenge.