Here in our new home, we have had a heat wave. Well, we need to put ‘heat wave’ into perspective. It was still over 20 degrees cooler than the heat waves in our old home. Still, I’m a creature of comfort -- much to my chagrin and despite my efforts to the contrary -- and I quickly forget my many blessings. As we walked to a friend’s house the other day, I started to say to Chris, “Wow, it sure is hot today!” and then I stopped myself. I laughed with him as we remembered going out of the house in 118 degree temps. Or trying to get anything done when the power was out and the AC quit -- and then the fans -- and then we learned what a great thing being covered in sweat actually was, because then if there was the slightest breeze, it might cool us just a bit.
So, we’ve had a heat wave. But today, it rained. Beautiful, cooling, refreshing rain. Not just a quick downpour, but all night and most of the morning. And now we’re wearing long sleeves in the house. What a gift! That also didn’t usually happen in our old home. When rains came, it would just make things stickier. Yeah, it might be 10 degrees cooler, but with the humidity, it would feel hotter still. Yuck! So, I’m incredibly thankful today.
Besides all this, over the last few days, we’ve been running out of water. Now, we live in a pretty affluent part of town and in other parts, they have been running out of water all summer -- or since spring even. That means that you turn on your tap or the spigot outside your house and nothing comes out. The water supply has ran down the hill and gotten used up by all those higher up than you. We live towards the top of the hill and very close to the water supply, so we didn’t experience this until much later. So, when I turn on my tap and nothing comes out, I get kind of peeved. I mean, aren’t I entitled to some water in my fancy house? The answer -- NO!
In the U.S., pretty much every tap in every house runs clean, drinkable water. It might not taste exactly as you like and it might have a few pollutants in it, but you can’t get parasites or typhoid from it. We even flush our toilets and water our lawns and wash our clothes with this water. If you live in a place where you can drink from the tap without going to the hospital, stop, thank God, and ponder.
Most places in the world are not like this. Most people in the world do not have this. Some have plentiful water, but they must filter it before it’s safe for them. If they drink it or brush their teeth with it or wash their veggies in it or rinse their dishes with it, it can make them sick -- sometimes dangerously so. We take a lot of measures to try to keep our family healthy. Maybe some aren’t completely necessary, but we would rather err on the no parasite side of the spectrum. Here are some of the things we do: There is a water filter in our kitchen. It looks like it came from NASA. It has 4 different filters. We drink from this filter. We use this filter for cooking and making tea and coffee -- in case the water doesn’t boil long enough to kill everything. We use this water as a final rinse for our dishes -- just in case they don’t dry completely and some little bad bugs are hanging on. We bring this water in bottles to the bathroom to brush our teeth. When Lu was younger, we used it to give her a bath -- since she might swallow some. We use this water, along with vinegar, to wash all our fruits and veggies as we bring them home from the markets. Some even soak their produce in this solution. If I’m going to use my counter space for cooking -- like rolling out dough, etc. -- I wash the area with this water. I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but you get the idea.
Besides this, there are times when the electricity goes out or the water supply goes out and the filter can’t run or doesn’t fill with water. In these times, we use our stash of clean water that we put in the pantry for just those occasions. Also, if the water supply is low or gone, we can’t wash clothes, flush toilets, or, well, you know, anything. A few months ago, some guys from the water company came around to each home in our neighborhood. They came through our gate and started looking around our home for water hoses -- that we’d use to water the garden. We heard that if they found them, they cut them up. Also, if we had a pump to bring water more quickly and effectively into our home, they would have taken that away. The idea was that if people further up the hill were using more than their share of the water, people further down wouldn’t have the water they need.
To top it all off, several times this year, something (no one has reported what) happened to contaminate the water in the water plant. This resulted in the plant dumping millions of gallons of water down the mountain side, flooding our streets, making holes in the roads and driveways. Whatever happened, all that water was wasted. Probably a lot more than what anyone could use to water a garden. But, of course, these small issues of garden hoses were tackled while the bigger issues of mismanagement of the plant were ignored. Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent. Back the the point.
We’re actually very blessed where we are. Yes, sometimes the water won’t come through the tap and yes, if we drank it, we’d get sick. But, we have water. In other parts of the world, there’s none. People have to walk miles to bring water to their homes. Or, water companies harvest all the water from rivers and streams that used to serve whole villages only to leave those villages in drought. Or some, because of their status, are not allowed at the village wells. Look into it, if you’re so inclined.
Thank you, God, for the water that came from the sky today. It quenches my thirst and provides for my community. Jesus said, “I am living water. Whoever drinks from me will never be thirsty.” May those of us who love Him bring water where there is none. Maybe through the earthly water, they could see the heart of Him who is Living Water . . .
So, we’ve had a heat wave. But today, it rained. Beautiful, cooling, refreshing rain. Not just a quick downpour, but all night and most of the morning. And now we’re wearing long sleeves in the house. What a gift! That also didn’t usually happen in our old home. When rains came, it would just make things stickier. Yeah, it might be 10 degrees cooler, but with the humidity, it would feel hotter still. Yuck! So, I’m incredibly thankful today.
Besides all this, over the last few days, we’ve been running out of water. Now, we live in a pretty affluent part of town and in other parts, they have been running out of water all summer -- or since spring even. That means that you turn on your tap or the spigot outside your house and nothing comes out. The water supply has ran down the hill and gotten used up by all those higher up than you. We live towards the top of the hill and very close to the water supply, so we didn’t experience this until much later. So, when I turn on my tap and nothing comes out, I get kind of peeved. I mean, aren’t I entitled to some water in my fancy house? The answer -- NO!
In the U.S., pretty much every tap in every house runs clean, drinkable water. It might not taste exactly as you like and it might have a few pollutants in it, but you can’t get parasites or typhoid from it. We even flush our toilets and water our lawns and wash our clothes with this water. If you live in a place where you can drink from the tap without going to the hospital, stop, thank God, and ponder.
Most places in the world are not like this. Most people in the world do not have this. Some have plentiful water, but they must filter it before it’s safe for them. If they drink it or brush their teeth with it or wash their veggies in it or rinse their dishes with it, it can make them sick -- sometimes dangerously so. We take a lot of measures to try to keep our family healthy. Maybe some aren’t completely necessary, but we would rather err on the no parasite side of the spectrum. Here are some of the things we do: There is a water filter in our kitchen. It looks like it came from NASA. It has 4 different filters. We drink from this filter. We use this filter for cooking and making tea and coffee -- in case the water doesn’t boil long enough to kill everything. We use this water as a final rinse for our dishes -- just in case they don’t dry completely and some little bad bugs are hanging on. We bring this water in bottles to the bathroom to brush our teeth. When Lu was younger, we used it to give her a bath -- since she might swallow some. We use this water, along with vinegar, to wash all our fruits and veggies as we bring them home from the markets. Some even soak their produce in this solution. If I’m going to use my counter space for cooking -- like rolling out dough, etc. -- I wash the area with this water. I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but you get the idea.
Besides this, there are times when the electricity goes out or the water supply goes out and the filter can’t run or doesn’t fill with water. In these times, we use our stash of clean water that we put in the pantry for just those occasions. Also, if the water supply is low or gone, we can’t wash clothes, flush toilets, or, well, you know, anything. A few months ago, some guys from the water company came around to each home in our neighborhood. They came through our gate and started looking around our home for water hoses -- that we’d use to water the garden. We heard that if they found them, they cut them up. Also, if we had a pump to bring water more quickly and effectively into our home, they would have taken that away. The idea was that if people further up the hill were using more than their share of the water, people further down wouldn’t have the water they need.
To top it all off, several times this year, something (no one has reported what) happened to contaminate the water in the water plant. This resulted in the plant dumping millions of gallons of water down the mountain side, flooding our streets, making holes in the roads and driveways. Whatever happened, all that water was wasted. Probably a lot more than what anyone could use to water a garden. But, of course, these small issues of garden hoses were tackled while the bigger issues of mismanagement of the plant were ignored. Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent. Back the the point.
We’re actually very blessed where we are. Yes, sometimes the water won’t come through the tap and yes, if we drank it, we’d get sick. But, we have water. In other parts of the world, there’s none. People have to walk miles to bring water to their homes. Or, water companies harvest all the water from rivers and streams that used to serve whole villages only to leave those villages in drought. Or some, because of their status, are not allowed at the village wells. Look into it, if you’re so inclined.
Thank you, God, for the water that came from the sky today. It quenches my thirst and provides for my community. Jesus said, “I am living water. Whoever drinks from me will never be thirsty.” May those of us who love Him bring water where there is none. Maybe through the earthly water, they could see the heart of Him who is Living Water . . .
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