Barb said she thought she smelled burning rubber around the dishwasher that was running. I got down on the floor and sniffed around the front lower area of the machine. I didn’t smell anything but I noticed a tiny glisten of what appeared to be a drop of water at the base of the front plate. Further investigation revealed water all across the bottom of the plate. Removal of the plate revealed water spewing from the drain line, pooling under the machine, and running into the floor. The slight slant of the floor caused the water to not run out into the kitchen floor. The insulating foam behind the front plate caught and channeled the water to a hole going down into the floor. It had been going on for some time, totally undetected, and would not have been detected except for this “happenstance” investigation. Barb’s nephew, Jeff, was over here Sunday afternoon and learned of the leak, so we pulled the dishwasher to see what was going on. The rat had chewed the drain line so it was leaking, and he chewed different parts of the soft plastic box of the machine. He had chewed through the lower corner of the box of the machine so the box itself was also leaking onto the floor. My next door neighbor had just pulled and replaced his machine and the old machine was sitting in front of his house to be hauled to the dump. With permission, we took his machine and used that drain hose by Jeff rigging a fit of that hose to our machine. He cut some plastic off the flanges of our machine and with a propane torch “welded” the plastic onto and into the hole in the corner of the plastic box of the machine. Repaired and tested, we put it back into place in the cabinet and we are still using it. We also did a thorough inspection on the outside of the house to determine where they were getting in. That hole has been stopped, but I am watching carefully for any other route of intrusion.
When we allow rats to get into the house, damage is done. When we allow sin in our “house”, into our life, damage is done. You might not see it or feel it right away. It might not be detected by you or others, but the damage is being done. When we allow the Holy Spirit to investigate and open our heart with all honesty, so the light shines in our heart, then we can get to the real source of the problem and repair the damage. We must call sin, sin, as defined by the Word of God, and turn from it. We must stop the way sin has gotten into our life. The good news is that Jesus paid the price to kill the rat of sin, and has the ability to fix things if they are fixable. Allow the Savior to fix your leaking life.