When I got home after work at 3:00, he had already started hauling out the broken up rock and concrete we jack hammered on Friday. You remember what that looked like, right...
The process went something like this...
First, we shoveled the debris into 5 gallon buckets.
Then we carried the buckets up the stairs...
... to the Dump Truck. Our family enjoys watching the "World's Strongest Man" competition on ESPN (Phil Pfister is our favorite!) One of their events, the Power Stairs, involves lifting a 245 lb keg up 20 stairs, one step at a time. It looks punishing! I know these buckets of rocks didn't weigh that much (maybe 50 lbs each), but after putting 30-50 of those in the back of the truck, I felt this desk jockey got as close as he ever would to that kind of event.
Jen was waiting for us in the back of the truck, and she emptied the buckets, and sent us back downstairs for more!
Three hours after we started, the clean up was done!
Our task for the day was not done, however. The next part involved digging a three foot hole in the trench to set the new sump pump crock in place. This is where living in Claymont (mount of clay) becomes an issue. Seth and I spent the next two hours digging, prying, chopping, doing anything we could to get this whole in place. We hit three very big rocks, one of which is still there. The biggest challenge we had was that the whole kept filling with water, obstrucing our view of what we were doing. I got the brilliant idea to move the current pump into the new hole and use it to pump out the water. Unfortunately, I didn't take the time to disconnect it, put a longer pipe on it, then plug it in. Halfway through the pumpout, the connection hose let go and I got whole face full of sludge, to which Seth laughed! PUNK! (it was really funny, and I am sure if I wasn't the one eating dirt, I would have laughed whole-heartedly!)
We eventually got it done, and with a great sigh of relief, we called it a night. (after a shower, we were filthy!)
O.k, maybe there is a spiritual reflection coming out of the events of yesterday. One of my favorite books in the bible is Ecclesiastes. It is a book written by the wisest of men (Solomon, or another teacher in Israel) who was struggling mightily to make sense of the world around him that doesn't make sense. One of those conclusions resonated with me today.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
Though the work was tough, and part of me wasn't looking forward to it, I felt very good in my soul at the end of the day. (in my soul, not necessarily in my body! That just hurt and tasted and smelled bad.) Thank you, God, for this time of toil that has refreshed my soul.
I was also reminded of how thankful I was for my brother Seth, and Ecclesiastes has something to say about that as well.
Ecclesiates 4:9-10 9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
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