Equipped For Disaster

Equipped for Disaster

Trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:5

Two salesmen greeted us at our front door. Our typical no-thank-you response was reversed when they promised to clean our carpet if we would watch their Kirby demonstration.

“Sure, come in,” we responded, smiling.

With three toddlers running around, our carpet was perfectly staged to showcase their amazing product. We would not be tempted to bust our budget because we had a reconditioned model in the closet. Maybe we could even learn how to use our attachments.

As the salesmen demonstrated their vacuum cleaner and presented their sales pitch, my husband, Randy, and I could barely contain our delight—the carpet would be clean for the upcoming holidays. The gentlemen graciously identified our odd-looking set of attachments, too, and explained how to use each one. We did not spend a penny, but those salesmen seemed to enjoy equipping us to use our own Kirby more effectively.

A couple of months passed. Our holiday guests were settled in for the night, and the children were asleep. In the kitchen, Randy and I scurried about preparing food for the next day’s feast. Tired but nearly finished, my husband turned on the garbage disposal and discovered our vegetable peelings had clogged the drain.

“No problem,” he said as he reminded me of our nifty Kirby attachment.

We set the machine to blow out instead of suck in, and Randy held the dome-shaped circular attachment firmly over the drain.

I watched closely; then our powerful machine spewed veggie-stained liquid over both of us and splattered the ceiling and cabinets. We were laughing so hard that we could not even stand up.

The next morning Randy was up early. Because stores were closed for the holiday, Randy, like our friendly Kirby salesmen, went door to door on our street. Finally, he came home with what we really needed—a plunger!

—Sue Ferguson

Father, help me to trust you more than I trust friendly advisers and clever gadgets. Your power is perfect. Amen.