Sometimes you take part in a movement that changes you. For me, this is one of those times.
For forty days, I committed to drinking only water. It wasn’t because I was on a diet. It wasn’t because of my traditional Catholic Lenten sacrifice, though admittedly, it did coincide beautifully. I can’t claim I didn’t have any moments of slipping up, but my efforts were valiant. I started my day with ice water. I kept a bottle at my side. I ended the day with a glass nearby.
My reasoning for this commitment was this: in the country of Uganda, the thing I take most for granted – the gift of water – is something they lack desperately. I turn on the shower and water flows. I head to the fridge, I pour water for my small people, I make ice, I fill pots for boiling….all without a second thought.
In Uganda - they walk for miles for what flows freely from my faucet. That hurts my heart.
34.5 million people live in the country. 33% of them live without access to safe water.
Working with Blood Water Mission, I joined hundreds of people in this 40 day journey. And it made a difference.
You see…. for every traditional drink I skipped – wine… coffee… ice tea…..I donated the money I would have spent to this amazing organization. Blood Water Mission has made a commitment to overcoming the water and HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa…with the help of people like me. And you.
For every drink skipped, for every dollar donated, it is estimated gift of water can be given to one child in Uganda for an entire year. I skip coffee for ONE MORNING- the equivalent of $2 – and TWO children can have water for ANN ENTIRE YEAR. The pure power in that is extraordinary.
Looking at the totals now… I am both amazed and overwhelmed.
In the 40 days I participated in this mission, I gave up 107 drinks for $293.
I am proud and humbled by those numbers.
But even more so, but what can be accomplished when people work together for something so beautiful like this.
So far…. LOOK:
That’s nearly 11-thousand drinks given up. And more than $21 thousand dollars raised.
Water. The gift of so much beautiful, amazing life-giving, clean water – for people who deserve something SO VERY BASIC.
To everyone who participated…. I’m grateful.
To everyone who is just now learning about the magic that is Blood Water Mission… take some time, look around – the work they do does not stop with 40 Days. There is so much work still to be done….
You know I’m having fun with the hair tutorials, right? My husband has always encouraged me to wear my hair up – has always liked it when I have worn my hair in a ponytail and the like, but I have always hesitated. Some silly insecurity. Wearing my hair down has always been easy – it has always felt like ‘me’, but doing these tutorials and experimenting – learning new options has been fun.
My small girl plays on two basketball teams. She does it because she loves it. She doesn’t get her athleticism from me. She gets that and her love of the game from her Daddy. She also gets her stamina from him. Which is a good thing since her most recent tournament required she play 4 games in one day. Add that to the one game from her second team and she played basketball at 10am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. If her team had won that 7pm game, they would have played AGAIN. It always amazes me to watch these girls play their hearts out.
We moved in to our house six years ago next month. I can hardly believe it has been that long. But what I really can’t believe it that I spent the better part of that time – more than 5 of those years, in fact, sharing an office with my husband. It is a wonder we are both still standing. Remarkably, from the time we were moving in, we planned to share an office. We thought it was a brilliant idea. But it wasn’t.
