The 1/64″ Scratch

Mike’s text message read: “I needed to know so I gutted the valve. Found the problem. 1/64” scratch in brass seal inside valve. To big for the new plungers to work.”

My breath stopped in one of those you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me moments.

His message continued: “We were hopeful that the less expensive fix would have worked.”

Yes, Mike, so did I. About $950 worth.

The backflow device for our church in Walnut had been leaking for a while, and it was growing worse to the point of continuous flow. I had replaced all the inside parts myself a couple of years earlier, and it had worked fine all that time. So why was it leaking now? The backflow guy said, “Just flush the thing out.” So I flushed out every valve, twice. Still leaked. Mike flushed it. Still leaked. He said, “The seals probably went bad.” So we replaced all the seals and rings. But the old ones weren’t worn, and the backflow still leaked. Finally Mike’s worker replaced the whole thing and brought it back for Mike to see.

A piece of grit had gotten in—a common problem when the city does work on a water system—and it apparently got lodged and ground a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy scratch: 1/64 of an inch. That was enough to cost us about $950, at a discount. Why didn’t we just leave it? Because the water bill would eventually have become more than the repair cost.

A lot of little things in life stay little and make no difference. But beware the seemingly little things that cause big problems: worn tires, leaky pipes, junk food, accounting errors, bad behavior, not paying attention, disrespecting others, or couples not talking. Or much bigger problems because of ignoring God, or assuming eternity can wait, or because one is “a good person,” they’ll be fine. Little things can sometimes become expensive. Or disastrous. They can cost a life. They can even cost an eternity.

Is there anything in your life, or in the life of someone you love, that’s like that 1/64” scratch? Something that, if ignored, could cause great trouble? Or your eternity? Or that of your loved one?

Get fixing!