Over the past several months I have been slowly chipping away at finishing the basement of our townhome in my spare time. Several friends have come along side of me to help guide me in areas where I was lacking experience or knowledge. November finally revealed the combined fruits of all of the labor as the whole project took shape and started to actually look like something. Now, to be quite clear, I cannot take credit for any of the plumbing work. Plumbing is my Achilles heel, my nemesis of DIY home improvement. Plumbing is the thing that sends me to the local hardware store eight times in one hour. It can have me begging for mercy, nearly willing to exchange all I own to just stop leaking or to just have the correct fitting.
This past November as I stood in my nearly finished basement I knew of that dreaded thing I had been putting off: finishing the plumbing in the bathroom. I established the plan. I would start early in the morning. I could trim out the shower, install the toilet, and plumb the vanity and be done before lunch.
By 5pm I was still on the shower. No toilet. No vanity. Frustrated with fittings. Irritated with sewage pumps. I had called my two friends to offer expertise. My own suggestions involved hammers of large stature. Demoralized by the things I knew just a little bit about, I had literally made seven separate trips to the hardware store that day. I was defeated and at my wits end. Later that night, I finally realized what the problems were and, as you might guess, it was a fairly straightforward solution once I understood what was going on.
I reflected on the day and how it just would have been worth it to pay a plumber to do the job. (As a plug for plumbers across the world: you are worth every penny you charge us.) In reality, a plumber could have quickly and easily accomplished the expectations I had for the day. In a matter of hours they would have finished the shower, toilet and vanity because they would have understood immediately and would have known where to start. They would have known how to navigate the various issues of PVC, Copper, and PEX, and all the associated fittings they require.
My plumbing fail helped me see things from the other perspective. Sometimes other people see the technical support we offer and assume it’s quick and easy.
In that moment, the thought came to my mind, “This must be how some people feel when it comes to A/V technology.” There are some people who are technologically challenged in the same way that plumbing challenges me. At one level, there are some people whom we all serve in our churches that can't seem to operate a DVD player or turn on a microphone. Many of our tech volunteers aren't able to troubleshoot what to us is a very basic problem.
Then God reminded me of these words in Philippians 4:
“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” Other versions render, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
This time of year, our technical teams are often stretched more than other seasons. We may receive requests to support additional Christmas and New Years events at various technical levels. Our phones may ring while we are with our families. We answer and hear, “Your projector isn't working in Conference Room A.” After some troubleshooting we realize that a laptop isn't plugged in. These last minute requests for technical support clearly indicate poor planning.
How do we respond to these things?
My plumbing fail helped me see things from the other perspective. Sometimes, like in my plumbing story, we just don't understand what it takes. Sometimes people see the technical support we offer and assume it's quick and easy…and that they can do it just as easily as we seem to. (Just like I did with assuming I could do what a plumber does in the same amount of time.)
Through this Holiday season, through all the stress and schedules, troubleshooting and serving, let's consider where others may be coming from and let us be reasonable and gentle in how we respond. We can say no in a reasonable and gentle way. We can say yes in a reasonable and gentle way. May we live in such a way that our reasonableness and gentleness as technical professionals is known to all, even those who need a little extra technical love.
