Our Bathtub

Building my own dream house was so much fun! For years I'd drawn plans and made models of the house, but it was amazing to actually walk through the rooms I'd designed and see how they really looked.

Mind you, there was a lot of work involved, too. Picking out cupboards, counter tops, light fixtures, flooring, windows, sinks, and tons of other stuff was fun, but I wasn't sure I was choosing the right stuff, and it was hard to figure out what was best. Should I buy the more expensive, higher quality items, or the cheaper brands that might be just as good?

One of the most perplexing decisions was the bath tub.

For years, I had dreamed of having a big, soaking tub that I could relax in during the winter, while reading a book. I designed our bathroom with that kind of tub in mind, but when it came to picking one out I ran into trouble. Our plumber suggested we buy the tub from his distributors, but the models they had which were big enough were also way out of my price range. I looked and looked, but for months couldn't find anything that fit.

I had a friend who had also just built a new house. She showed me the huge tub she bought for the extra bathroom they intended to finish some day, attached to a guest room they were building. The tub was huge, and exactly like what I wanted, but when I asked where she got it she didn't know. Their plumber had picked it out for them.

The thought came to me the following week that I ought to ask her if she'd like to sell us that tub, but I decided that was silly. Just because they weren't using it yet, some day they would finish that room and put it in.

I looked and looked for a tub that would fit our bathroom, and finally found one that was sort of OK, so I ordered it. Something went wrong with the order, though, and it never came. It took forever to get the problem straightened out, and then even longer for the tub to be delivered. I was so excited when it finally arrived, but when we opened the box, guess what? There was a big hole in the front! Apparently they had shipped us a broken tub, because the outside of the box was fine.

I was devastated. Now what were we going to do?

Finally, out of desperation, I got on the phone and called my friend.

“Do you by any chance want to sell your bathtub?” I asked her, feeling like a fool.

“You know what, I actually think we might want to,” she told me. “It is so big I don't think it's going to fit in our guest bathroom after all. Why don't you bring Moe over this afternoon and take a look at it?”

I was so excited. We measured the tub that afternoon, and it was exactly the right size for our bathroom. They had never even taken it out of it's wrapping, so we bought it right then and there.

My bathroom turned out beautiful! I tiled around it, and painted a mural of the ocean behind it, and it makes me so happy! The Lord really was good to us. He helped me find the perfect tub, he helped our builder find beautiful outside doors for the same price as the plain ones I'd thought I would have to settle for, and all kinds of other things too. Maybe I had waited a long time to build our dream house, but believe me, it was worth it!