Dripping Pride

Drip. Drip. Drip. That was the sound that came from two of our bathroom faucets in our house. Last Wednesday, I went to the hardware store to purchase seats and springs to fix the issue. I am not the most handy guy on the planet, but I can typically do stuff like this (I have done this about 5-6 times in the past). Because of my "experience" with this issue, I figured this job would take about 15-20 minutes to fix both faucets.

When I arrived home, I put in the parts and found they were the wrong size. So...trip #2 to the hardware store.

After returning, I put in the new parts and they fit great. I then reattached the faucet, turned the water on, and...nothing. Not even a drip. So, I was very successful at stopping the drip, because now nothing came out of the faucet!

I took it apart and reassembled it...now just a slight trickle. Took it apart, put it back together, now, nothing. I repeated this countless times with no positive results.

So I gave up on that faucet and went to the other one. Same exact results.

Then my wife and 13 year-old son, Robbie, come home from a pool party our church youth group held. After explaining the situation, Robbie says to me, "What about that thingy?" He was pointing at the aerator on the end of the faucet. I said, "No, that couldn't be it since water was coming out fine before." After all, how could a 13 year-old have the answer to this "complex" problem?

After a few more tries, I became totally frustrated and gave up for the night. Because I was busy, I didn't get back to it until Saturday.

Saturday morning, I took the entire faucet apart and went to the hardware store for the third time. I asked their plumbing expert what I was doing wrong and he told me everything I was doing seemed right to him. He wished me well and sent me on my way.

So, back home I went to try it again. After a few more tries with the same result, I found myself grasping at straws. I thought I might as well take the aerator off to see if Robbie was right, as I had no other options.

Sure enough, it was totally clogged by some sediment I must have stirred up while working on it. I cleaned both aerators out and the faucets work fine now! Had I listened to Robbie from the get-go, I would have saved myself several hours of frustration.

I wondered to myself how many other instances I ignore words of advice because it is coming from someone whom I don't feel could possibly have any wisdom to share.

Bill Hybels has said several times during the Willow Creek Leadership Summit that he looks to learn from all sort of people. As a result, they have had some speakers at the Summit, who would probably surprise you...not people you would typically see at a Christian event. Hybels knows we can all learn from anyone, even if we don't agree with them about everything.

Hybels is right. We can learn from anyone...if our pride doesn't get in the way!