Last Saturday, I attempted to change my tap for the first time.
My tap has been leaking for quite awhile and the initial plan was to get someone in to change it for us but then I decided to give it a try to see if I can save a bit of cost.
So off I went to Alexandra to choose a tap which cost me $28 and on the advice of salesgirl also got a roll of white peat tape. (“You will need it, if not sure lou shui” she told me.. so I bought a roll)
When I reached home, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. First I removed my old tap and to my horror, water started gushing out of the pipe !!!! man, I was so helpless then and tried all means to cover the pipe to no avail. Even suffering a few cuts in the ensuing struggle. It created a wet messy ponding on my kitchen floor which I later have to mop it up… throughout the whole ordeal, I was praying God help me and after a couple of minutes of immense struggle, was able to somehow turn my old tap back it to stop the self created fountain… phew! Man , how much water I have wasted…
After recovering from my shock, I gathered that I have to first turn off the main water supply before attempting such stunts so I went out to locate my unit’s water tap and turn it off. I then went back in and removed the old tap gingerly and put in the new one.
Initially the new tap doesn’t fit in well, so this is the part where the white tape was put to use and I just apply it until my new tap fits snugly unto the pipe. Finally, it was mission accomplished. A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction began to envelope me.
I know that to many men, changing of tap and DIY household maintenance is child’s play and chicken feed to them but I have never been a good handyman so this is a small victory for me.
A few lessons learnt here
1. Being no good in something doesn’t mean that I should avoid it completely. ( something similar was shared during last Friday’s leaders’ meeting by pastor Jeff, our attitude in ministry must be “I am not strong in this but I want to believe that God can work through me/ Either I am gifted or not gifted, there are some things (like outreach) which are our role, so we still have to do it/ We may have inclinations towards certain things which we are strong/passionate about but there are also areas which are important for us to undertake even if we are not gifted.
2. Be willing to roll up my sleeve and get dirty/messy. Many times, I do not take actions because I may be afraid of the mess I will get myself into. But again, like what Pastor Jeff shared, in ministry things will get messy. Mess is a sign of life so if we want to do things for God, we must be unafraid of mess.
3. Be observant and remember how the “experts” do things. Over the years, I have seen Mr. Zeng perform many repair works at our house. If only I were to observe carefully how they do things and remember it well, I would have known better than to leave my main water supply on while removing my old tap.
4. Be humble to listen to advice. When the salesgirl ask me to get the white tape, I followed instruction. Even basic ones.
Moving forward , I do hope to be a better handyman for my home as much as for the Kingdom of God.
My tap has been leaking for quite awhile and the initial plan was to get someone in to change it for us but then I decided to give it a try to see if I can save a bit of cost.
So off I went to Alexandra to choose a tap which cost me $28 and on the advice of salesgirl also got a roll of white peat tape. (“You will need it, if not sure lou shui” she told me.. so I bought a roll)
When I reached home, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. First I removed my old tap and to my horror, water started gushing out of the pipe !!!! man, I was so helpless then and tried all means to cover the pipe to no avail. Even suffering a few cuts in the ensuing struggle. It created a wet messy ponding on my kitchen floor which I later have to mop it up… throughout the whole ordeal, I was praying God help me and after a couple of minutes of immense struggle, was able to somehow turn my old tap back it to stop the self created fountain… phew! Man , how much water I have wasted…
After recovering from my shock, I gathered that I have to first turn off the main water supply before attempting such stunts so I went out to locate my unit’s water tap and turn it off. I then went back in and removed the old tap gingerly and put in the new one.
Initially the new tap doesn’t fit in well, so this is the part where the white tape was put to use and I just apply it until my new tap fits snugly unto the pipe. Finally, it was mission accomplished. A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction began to envelope me.
I know that to many men, changing of tap and DIY household maintenance is child’s play and chicken feed to them but I have never been a good handyman so this is a small victory for me.
A few lessons learnt here
1. Being no good in something doesn’t mean that I should avoid it completely. ( something similar was shared during last Friday’s leaders’ meeting by pastor Jeff, our attitude in ministry must be “I am not strong in this but I want to believe that God can work through me/ Either I am gifted or not gifted, there are some things (like outreach) which are our role, so we still have to do it/ We may have inclinations towards certain things which we are strong/passionate about but there are also areas which are important for us to undertake even if we are not gifted.
2. Be willing to roll up my sleeve and get dirty/messy. Many times, I do not take actions because I may be afraid of the mess I will get myself into. But again, like what Pastor Jeff shared, in ministry things will get messy. Mess is a sign of life so if we want to do things for God, we must be unafraid of mess.
3. Be observant and remember how the “experts” do things. Over the years, I have seen Mr. Zeng perform many repair works at our house. If only I were to observe carefully how they do things and remember it well, I would have known better than to leave my main water supply on while removing my old tap.
4. Be humble to listen to advice. When the salesgirl ask me to get the white tape, I followed instruction. Even basic ones.
Moving forward , I do hope to be a better handyman for my home as much as for the Kingdom of God.
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