Why Water

It begins as a simple whimper and builds in volume. At its peak, it’s a heartbreaking mixture of longing, discomfort and anger mingled with uncertainty, fear and frustration. This is the cry of a child; it is the cry of my newborn child. It’s a cry that every parent learns to recognize and satisfy. That is the beauty of my child’s cry, not the cry itself but that I have been given the knowledge and provision to sooth my child’s cry. In a small village, halfway around the world, there is another child crying and another parent who recognizes the hunger and need for sustenance within that cry. My child’s cry begins to quiet and her eyes begin to close, there are a few remaining little sniffles but even these soon are gone. She snuggles herself into my arms and against my chest and soon I recognize the sound of her breathing as she falls asleep, comforted and safe, her hunger satisfied. Half way around the world another child’s cry begins to diminish, this sound is not as pleasant to the ear as the peace that my child experiences. This cry is fading due to weakness, disease and unfulfilled hunger that little lungs are no longer strong enough to express. This child’s eyes close not because they are satisfied, comforted or safe, but these eyes close because the end is near. My child sleeps quietly, safe and secure, her belly full and her emotional needs met. Half way around the world, the end has come but there is a different cry to be heard. It is a cry, filled with pain and anguish as a mother or father morn the loss of their child.

Is this child now with Jesus? My faith and hope says that this is the case but I find nothing solid in the scriptures to support this theory. My faith tells me that a loving God, a God that loved so much he sent his only son to die for all, could never take such a small and innocent life without the offer of an eternal Heaven. At the same time my flesh screams that a loving God would never take such a life in the first place. While these two sides, flesh and spirit, are locked in battle, I know that eventually, the spirit will win and Faith will prevail. My faith will dictate that I cannot possibly begin to understand God completely and that if I could then he’s not worthy of being God. My prayers tonight will ask for wisdom and understanding and forgiveness for my weakness and praise for my faith, of which he is the faithful provider.

At the same time I struggle, I wonder about the heart of the father or mother left behind. Do they know the Jesus that I have come to lean so heavily on in my times of struggle and despair or have their hearts been hardened a little further to a Jesus who called for love and sacrifice for the sake of others but whose so called followers sacrifice little and love even less. Have they heard or read about the Christ who gave his own life so that they may have victory or have they only seen and read about the Christ who lives in huge brick or multi-colored Glass houses filled with gold representations of that which was really ugly, broken and bloody. Maybe the only Jesus they’ve heard about or experienced is the one that rides on bumpers or as fish symbols on trunks of cars and goes everywhere yet does nothing that resembles the true Savior.
God has created something beautiful and disturbing. While knowing Jesus brings comfort and peace his love will not allow us to be comfortable with the suffering of others. He has given me a beautiful gift and blessing of having a gorgeous little girl and I would be a selfish fool to not want to share that feeling with the rest of the world. To think that I could make a difference so that halfway around the world that child closes it eyes in the same peaceful sleep as my child instead of the alternative gives me no choice but to take action.
Even if you don’t believe in God or know Jesus Christ, there has to be something deep within your moral humanity that would cry out that there is something wrong with the way things are!

Why water... because 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. 42,000 people die each week, 4,500 children will die today because they lack clean drinking water. $20 dollars can give a person water for 20 years.
Why water... because I will make a difference.
Why water... because you can make a difference.
Why water...... because somewhere halfway around the world a child has begun to whimper…


to make a difference, go to www.mycharitywater.org/Living_water