Clogged at the constriction

Recently we discovered a puddle of water on the floor of the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink. We dried the cupboard and caulked the suspicious border between the sink and the backsplash. A few days later we noticed more water in the cupboard. I
went into action, tying a thin strip of paper towel on either side of each joint in the plumbing beneath the sink. It did not take long for one of the strips near the hot water shut off value to become saturated. Tightening the valve did not stop the leak, so I called the plumber. A few hours and many dollars later, the 50-year-old hot water
valves were replaced, the drip eliminated and the plumber off to his next job.

Ah, all was well – sigh, not so much. When we turned on the faucet, we found virtually
no water pressure from either the hot or cold setting. A quick check of other household
sinks revealed normal water pressure necessitating another call to the plumber. He returned and focused his attention on the faucet assembly. He dismantled the nozzle to remove and clean the filters at either end. To his dismay, this did not fix the problem. Under the sink he discovered a joint in the hose that permitted the retractable sprayer
nozzle to be extended around the sink. When he opened the joint, it was obvious shavings from cutting off the old valve assembly had collected at the joint preventing the hose from fulfilling its most important task – delivering water to the sink. After a few minutes of extracting the shavings from the hose, the plumber reconnected the joint,
and the hose delivered water to the sink at the appropriate pressure.

Often, for me, the Christmas season is like a constricted hose joint. All the seasonal
activities (Gatherings, cookie baking, gift wrapping, special worship services, etc.) get jammed into my schedule along with any household emergencies, such as leaky pipes, disrupting my daily routines, and I am distracted from the most important task of
the Christmas Season – worshiping the God who sent His son, Jesus, to earth to save wayward and willful people 2000 years ago, and to save wayward and willful people, like me right now.

Thank God for his most wonderful gift: salvation through his son, Jesus, whose birth we
celebrate at Christmas!
Merry Christmas!