The Day the Water Ran Dry

The Pinch of Poverty, 1891
Thomas Benjamin Kennington

I awake to a trickle of running water and my world falls apart. It feels so desperate, not flushing toilets, not taking off my bathrobe to enjoy my shower ritual. Within ninety minutes, feeling dirty, looking disheveled, I'm holding back frustrated tears.

Checking the Internet, I insert our zip code and find that a water main broke at 2 AM and should be fixed by 9:00 AM. The clock says 9:45 AM...and still just a trickle.

I wander the house aimlessly, thinking of the things I can't do. Laundry, dishes, flushing, showering, mopping, making lemonade.

The children? They can't go outside until I get my shower, but otherwise they're unaffected and probably not understanding their Mama's angst.

For four hours we go without water and I try to count blessings. We can wash our hands with a trickle. I think of that bright fact but nothing else comes to my spoiled mind.

Shame fills me as I realize how my Compassion children wake up every day. How long do they go without being immersed in water to clean their whole bodies? Can they ever shower or bathe, or is it just sponge baths or contaminated river baths? And their mothers, how do they stay clean after childbirth and what do they do with the stench of their own bodies?

The thoughts haunt me, until I remember Jesus. He's all they have and He is more than enough. Every person who goes on Compassion trips mentions the hope in Jesus in these impoverished but saved families. The joy evident in the children.

Who needs rescuing really? Me from my plenty...or them from their lack? If Jesus is enough for them, but I need Jesus plus running water and a daily shower and three meals a day plus snacks, who is richer? What does blessed even mean?

The ache of love for them overwhelms me and I need to see them. I pray again that we can meet them someday. Then I copy drawing lesson pages for Raphael, Divya, and Nelson and prepare letters to mail out, while I wait for the water.

In this work I find peace. Vertical love from God, turned into horizontal love for these children, it heals my self-centered heart. Love heals.

People ask...why does God allow such poverty? What do some go hungry and look like bones, while others get fat on steak, salad, and baked potatoes with butter and sour cream?

And on this day, I know the answer. He allows it so we can rescue each other. For when poor and rich love each other, it's earthly love perfected...as good as it gets here on earth. It's the heart of God, realized. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

80% of people live in poverty. 20% live in plenty. The 20% can never get enough. There's always something bigger, better, newer. New idols form so easily, even as we read our Bibles and go to church and pray.

The 80%, with nothing, can't get enough of Him. He's there for both sides, but they feel him more. They love him more. They worship him more.

They need us to help fill their bellies. We need them to help fill our souls.

Won't you sponsor a child today and take advantage of a relationship God deeply wants for you? A relationship you desperately need?

At 11:40 AM I get my shower, desperately taken in a heavy trickle of water pressure. To be squeaky clean again? It felt glorious, but by then I knew the truth.

Love washes us clean.

Water? It's just an outward sign of an inner change.

Painting found here