30 Days of Thankfulness- Water

When I'm thirsty, I find a glass and fill it up at my kitchen sink. When I brush my teeth, I rinse my brush under the bathroom faucet, fill up my little paper Dixie cup and rinse. I can wash my hair, take a bath or a shower whenever I want for as long as I want. When I want to wash dishes, I turn on the dish washer, at any time of day or night. Same with the laundry (though that goes in an entirely different kind of washing machine.) I can even go to the store and buy a jug of water to put up for emergencies, and it will just cost me pennies.

Water is available to me whenever I need it. I don't have to walk to water, hauling the heavy, all-important liquid miles to my home. Women around the world dedicated 200 million hours a day just to carrying water. When I'm a mom, I won't have to keep my children home from school so they can spend their day carrying water, just so we can do laundry. At least for now, water is available where I need it, when I need it.

Water has never made me sick. We recently bought the least expensive water filtration pitcher available at our grocery store, but I don't think we really need it. Our water isn't flammable, like the stuff flowing from the sinks of people who live near fracking locations. Our water isn't brown or yellow, like the Appalachian residents whose ecosystem and health are being destroyed by irresponsible, greedy coal-mining companies. Diseases borne from unclean water kill over 3 MILLION people every year. Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness. Children are dying from diarrhea they developed from drinking water. We get it from Taco Bell, crack a joke on facebook, pop an immodium, and go back the next week.

I am thankful for water. Abundant, clean, life-giving water. I take it for granted. We all do. Would you consider making a difference today and sharing some of your comparative wealth to help bring clean water to everyone?


Blood:Water Mission - Make a donation

Charity: Water - Make a donation

Samaritan's Purse - Shop the gift catalog. Purchase a family water filter for $100, sponsor a well for $400 or share the cost for $40. Make a donation to emergency water relief. Or just make a donation, even if it's small, earmarked for water projects.

Compassion International - Purchase a water filter for a family for $79. Ensure that children have access to safe and sanitary bathrooms for $30. Help build a reservoir for families in Ethiopia. Just $23 will build one reservoir.

WorldVision - Donate to the clean water fund. Help purchase water purification tablets and water filters for children and families. Share the cost of a foot-powered freshwater pump.  Help build a well.

UNICEF's Tap Project - Help fund UNICEF's water and sanitation programs.