A rather unexpected thing happened yesterday in the town in which I live. We woke up to a “water emergency.” In case you haven’t ever had that happen in your sweet little town, let me explain.

The water main which supplies our town with water had burst during the night. It provides our ONLY source of water. Note the emphasis on ONLY. Yes, you did read that right. Therefore, broken water main equals only available water is what is in reserve. And in case you are unaware, I live in the South. We’ve been in a drought for nearly a year now. We recently came out of it…sort of, but reserves of water are in short supply.

Town officials immediately went to work to re-establish two existing connections which had been stopped, but even with those connections, the supply only amounted to about 1/3 of daily demand.

While I did not wake up yesterday morning and have nothing happen when I turned on the water, we were told that until further notice, we were not to use water for anything other than drinking and cooking. Note the absence of the word “bathing” in that last sentence. It was Father’s Day, People! Not that I only bathe on Father’s Day, mind you, but come on!

Now before you think I’m being all whiny and showing a lack of understanding about the issues here, believe me, I’m very clear about the issues. I get it. I got it, and in case you’re wondering, I did NOT bathe yesterday. Does that count as TMI? If so, I do apologize, and you can just pretend you didn’t read it. That way, we can go back to being friends who think only the best of one another, ‘k?

Just so you know, I start EVERY DAY with a shower. It’s what I do as soon as I get out of bed. It’s how I wake up. Some people start with coffee. Me? I start with a nice, warm shower, so yesterday was off to a less than stellar beginning. But it was Father’s Day after all, so I made the best of it and commenced making a special breakfast for my husband, assisted by my daughter, of course.

I continually checked the town’s website throughout the day to see if the water main had been repaired and the restrictions lifted, but to no avail. Then, about 4:00pm yesterday, a new notice was posted that the restrictions would stay in place until further notice, and the water main would most likely not be repaired until sometime this afternoon or possibly even tomorrow! Say what? Please note there was still no mention of bathing. You will be happy to know, though, they did include flushing in the allowable uses! I won’t elaborate on that one any further. You get the idea.

So, here’s my question. If it were you, would you shower, perhaps turning the water off while you lather up, or do you continue not to bathe until the restrictions are lifted? I really would like to hear from some of you on this. A rather vocal debate has ensued since this began in my immediate family, and I’m curious to hear your position on it.

BTW, you’ll be happy to know the indoor restrictions were lifted about 11:45 today.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I share how God used this to show me a spiritual application.