I had a task. Install all of the plumbing and electrical for a basement bathroom. In a day and a half.

Aside from the numerous inevitable trips to the hardware store for missed or forgotten or inexplicably incorrect parts, it was a daunting, yet doable task. Dad had already framed in the walls with pine 2x4’s. After we carried in 40 sheets of drywall, I got to work.

The first thing to do was to drill holes. Holes for pvc drain lines, holes for pex water lines, and holes for the electrical wires. To do so, I needed to map out what fixtures and boxes would need to go where, snap chalk lines and make sure it would all work.

The holes for the 1.5” plastic pipes were the toughest. They had to be perfectly lined up for the rigid pipe to fit through all the way. Using the hole saw on my drill always presents the risk of a sprained wrist as the torque can rip the drill sideways while still in your hand, if the bit catches. And then the donut hole of wood gets stuck in the bit and you have to spend more time prying with a screw driver, trying to get the hunk out, than it took to drill the hole in the first place.

The holes for the flexible plastic water lines and electrical wire were much easier, and faster. In the last decade the drill bit industry figured out that putting a screw end onto auger drill bits would cut holes easier, faster, and cleaner than a traditional paddle bit.

Regardless, when it was all said and done, I spent at least 25% of my time drilling holes.

The same is true with many things in life.

Before the “real work” of glueing together pvc, or crimping together PEX water lines and fittings, or pulling electrical wires into outlet boxes and switches, holes must be drilled. Sometimes tedious. Sometimes difficult and frustrating. Sometimes it even hurts. And no one will ever see them. But this is the work that has to be done that will allow for the good stuff to happen.

Often I find myself stuck, or even tired of drilling down into my own story. Exploring the connections between who I am, who God is, and my own experience of the fall can be exhausting. But without that deep work, breakthroughs can’t happen. The power and water can’t flow in, and the waste can’t flow out.

It doesn’t usually go perfectly. As I routed the plumbing and electrical circuits, I discovered a few mistakes that had to be fixed. One of my holes needed to be chiseled out to make it a bit larger, as the placement was off. We changed a plan, which meant that a few holes that I’d drilled hadn’t needed to be drilled. At one point we realized we forgot to add an outlet in a particular location, and had to drill more holes.

Sometimes the deep work of drilling holes that preceeds the outward functionality in our lives requires the space to re-drill, or even drill in new places that we had forgotten about.

But by the afternoon of day 2, the job was complete. Because of the drilled holes, we now had live electrical and functional plumbing.

Where are you stuck, and needing to drill down into your soul so that work can be done? Where do you need water, and power, and where do you need waste removed in your own life?

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Cody Buriff, Chief of Resources and Experiences