It’s just before one o’clock and there is a sixteen pound baby nursing in my one arm. The other arm has, until this very moment, been helping me hold up a book that I’ve been reading swiftly. It’s good and it’s non-fiction but not in a self-help kind of way.
There are two children in the blue room (which is what we call it now instead of Gideon’s room because Piper sleeps there too and she takes offense) who are playing nicely with the door closed. Their muffled voices sweep through every level of the house, save the basement, where the air conditioner is working it’s magical self ragged. It’s new, in terms of air conditioners, so it doesn’t sound alarmingly loud, but still, it drowns out all else in the basement when it’s working. I am sure that the relative niceness in which the children are currently playing can end at any moment, perhaps this one, so I will tip toe about hoping to prolong their pleasantries.
I’ve just ended a phone call with my husband who usually calls at least once a day to check in and see how his people are getting on. We are getting on well. He has news of a client and we talk the details to death. Then he needs to go and we remind each other of our love and hang up.
Prior to these moments, the children and I had been watching Charity: Water videos. I’ll never get over the Time Bomb Luxury Lab one. It’s how I first learned that the solvable issue in Africa isn’t civil war and isn’t how to help age long rivalries find civility – it is water. Water changes everything and you will never convince me otherwise. Water and Living Water are the two key issues everywhere, it’s just that most of the rest of us don’t have to give one thought to either of those issues in order to wake up tomorrow. You’ll just do normal things and get normal results. It’s luxury at it’s finest to be able to loose sight of the basics.
But here is the video that drew us in today. If you are on twitter, no doubt you’ve seen it already. If not, I think you should watch it. It made me cry, but not the kids. They’re far too practical for that. “Where is she buried?” asked one of them. “Why are they so happy?” asked another. “How many cars were involved? How long will the people have the clean water? How many people don’t have to drink dirty stuff now?” Good, practical, smart questions that I bet another little girl would’ve asked too.
Rachel Beckwith’s Mom Visits Ethiopia. from charity: water on Vimeo.
I’m off to hug my babies and get a drink of water and thank the Lord for all these things.
Truman and I watched the video too – thank you for sharing. I had to hold back my tears (if my emotional little man sees me cry he loses it), some of pain just of the horrific situation, and some of downright elation seeing that water come out of the ground. I am just struck by the power of water. My heart has been ripped open a little more, and burdened a little more lately for the needs of so many half way around the world. I’ve been moved in the past, but lately it’s more along this though, “another mama half-way around the world is wondering what she’ll feed her child today, or how to keep him from dying – my biggest concern today? getting my kids to share and not talk-back.” It’s been sobering and breath-taking. I can’t get some images out of my head, (from this and other images/videos), and I’m thinking that’s a good thing. Praying of how God might stir my heart to continued action and prayer.