A choice

“I can imagine my own life without many of the so-called necessities that I have. You can take away my car and I would find a way to compensate by using public transportation and carpooling with a friend. You could take away my computer and my Internet access, my television, stereo and radio, and I could still have a full and prosperous life. You could reduce the size of my house and my income in half, and even take away my education and I could survive and perhaps thrive. But if you take away water and sanitation, you take away my health and that of my children. If you take away my health, you have taken away my energy and my industry. If you take away my energy and my ability to support my family, you have taken away my dignity; and if you take away my dignity, you have taken away hope—for the future, for my children, for a better life. This is the harsh reality of more than one billion people in the world who live without access to clean, safe water.”
(Richard Stearns)--taken from jody's blog.



We are still here. We are still working over at Water for Christmas. We have no plans of walking away from this project and I think a reminder is needed at this point.

A reminder that we have so so much. It's so obvious to me these days as we search for a new home and we have all these criteria we want it to fit into. And that criteria isn't just "a roof over our heads"...which would simply be a step up for many in this world.


As I go through my days, I have to remind myself constantly not to get in a tizzy over our house not selling. Or our bank account not growing. Or not buying that real great pair of shoes I want. Or not going out to a great restaurant. And I feel a little sick when I think that I would actually get in a tizzy over that when more than a billion people in this world don't have access to clean water. When 4500 children will die today because of the lack of clean water. When I don't have to walk, literally hours every day to get a bucket or two of dirty water for my family. I have to remind myself several times a day.


This is a real issue. But unless we allow ourselves to absorb the enormity of it all and open our eyes to that part of the world, we will continue to step over the thirsty to get to our sink. It's easy to trick ourselves into believing it's not true and even if it is, we can't help, when these thirsty, sick, dying human beings are not in our backyard. We have to choose to see it and to care about it.


And as much as I wish I had no idea that this was happening in our world, I am so thankful that I do. Because I can see the change that is being made by a few people who have chosen care about water. Thousands of dollars being raised. THOUSANDS.


There is a lot going on over at http://www.water4christmas.com/. You should go check it out. Allow yourself to step into the shoes of one of those women who walks hours everyday to give her childen what could potentially kill them. Or one of those men who feels helpless because they cannot provide that essential water to keep their family alive. Stop a minute and think about the loss of hope you would feel. Would you feel like Jesus loved you? We are the plan. WE are HIS plan. We were put her to do His work. So show His love to a nation living in darkness with no hope. But it's a choice. A choice we need to make everyday.


So there you have it. Once in a while you're going to get a post like this from me. Because I think about it everyday. I want to post about it every day. But I will limit myself! :) Right now, we have a few new things to offer. We have decals for your cars and they are available for $10. I have one on my car and it has already sparked some conversations and also made my car very easy to find in a crowded parking lot!



Also, we opened a new Water for Christmas etsy shop! There are lots of fun things to be purchased there. And around Christmas time we are hoping it will fill up with items crafted by people all over. So if you craft, be thinking about how you could contribute to this. Go check it out!

So go. Think about it. Consider joining us in our effort to provide water. We have the funds. We have a way to get them where they need to be. We just need people to make that choice. The choice to bring hope to a thirsty nation.