The next day, I was pleased to see him working-he was scared of me and thought I might kill him in his sleep if it was put off one more day he told me later. A hole was chiseled into the back of our wall as the pipes were so old they were no longer being made and as they were leaking down into the wood needed replacing. My dear dear husband labored on the hottest day of the year thus far-91 degrees, making a total of 3 trips to hardware stores looking for the right replacements. As any plumbing goes, our water had to be shut off during the intensive endeavor and this is when the a-ha moment humbled me to pieces.
Throughout this hot hot day, my mouth longed for a drink of water. Sure, I had been smart and made lemonade before the water was shut off for the kids to drink, there was also plenty supply of milk, orange juice and apple juice. But I had not thought about storing up a pitcher of good old-regular water. And now that was all I wanted. Every time I changed a diaper, I instinctively went to a faucet and cannot tell you how many times I got irritated when remembering there was no water. My potty training kiddo was quickly confused when his mommy was telling him NOT to flush. My plants started drooping and I could not water them. I was thirsty, the world around me was THIRSTY FOR WATER! around 5:30, we had been without water for close to 6 hours. I felt grimy, sweaty, and I even caught my kids drinking from the puppy bowl, and that is when it hit me-we Americans are SOOOOOO spoiled!
Kids all over the world go without baths, drink water filled with parasites, women walk miles a day to supply their families with dirty water and here I was without water for a measly 6 hours and I thought I had a right to complain?
About 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered. Oceans contain 96.5 percent of all Earth's water, salt water. That means that less than 4% of the earth's water supply is Fresh water, but that does not mean drinkable water. As far as people are concerned, almost all of Earth's water is not usable in everyday life, IN fact, when you subtract glaciers and ice caps, water vapor, inaccessible water, contaminated water, and polluted water then less than .001% of the Earth's water is drinkable. This drinkable water is not evenly distributed among the peoples of the nations.
My mothering instincts kick into gear with this thought. Any mother in her right mind loves her child-no matter their country or economic status. Water, you would think, should be a foundational right to mankind, but it is not. It is a right to the wealthy. I am lucky enough to be born into a wealthy country, but mother's who were not born into that right watch their children drink dirty water if they are lucky enough to locate it, and watch their children die from dehydration if they are not.
As an American it is too easy to consume our self with ourselves. We become our own idols in ways that we don't even realize it. I know water is a valuable commodity-another reason I wanted my pipes repaired, to conserve water being wasted (and save a penny or two on my next water bill) but honestly I had forgotten how much I take the accessibility of it for granted. I forgot that Brandon and I had to backpack our own water and iodine tablets into Rongtado with us when we stayed with the Indian village. I had forgotten that we couldn't drink the water from the faucets on our mission trips to Mexico and Costa Rica. I had forgotten how fortunate we are with something so easily forgotten.
And so I was humbled by my God yet again. And had committed to donating money financially to a ministry a friend of ours is involved in: Living waters. This ministry goes into third world countries to dig wells and provide whole communities with a water source so that mother's don't have to give their children dirty or contaminated water. When talking with JC today he told me two stories that further humbled me in conviction. On one trip to Haiti, they were in an area that does not often see "white" people and there was a lady walking on the road past a group of white volunteers. He could tell that she wanted to ask them something but as they passed her, she kept moving. She then paused a distance from them, turned around and walked back toward their direction. "Is it true" she asked when she approached them, "that Americans flush toilets full of drinking water?" As they answered affirmatively, and embarrassed she shook her head in disbelief and walked away. Another time, after building a well, a 70 yer old man in the community asked one of the members to take his picture next to the well. Normally they don't take pictures as there would be too many people who would want their picture taken and no way of getting it back to them. But the 70 year old man insisted, he told the volunteer that he had prayed for the well to be built for 50 years, and he wanted the volunteer to take a picture as evidence that his GOD answered his prayers. Little more to say, other then- the man got his picture taken.
As an American these stories dropped scales from my eyes. We are all human. We all feel, think and suffer the same. But God is universal. In America, I am rich in monetary gain, but my faith, it is so poor. I have trouble praying for things over the span of a year before I think the Lord has answered no. But I need to be diligent in my faith and prayer life. I have donated and plan to continue to donate to a ministry that not only provides the basic need of water, to quench the temporary thirst of communities, but also commits to provide education and evangelize with a water that will quench the eternal thirst for their souls.
Thank you God for yet another lesson in your blessings and faithfulness. I pray that others will be humbled through the stories of your children from around the world and commit in ways that can help further your kingdom as well!
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