This year I turn 40-years-old. While people say that age is only a number, 40 means a lot to me. It means 40 years of blessings, 40 years with a family that loves me, 40 years of friendships, 40 years with a healthy body, 40 years with plenty of food, water and shelter, and the list goes on and on. I feel so blessed by God, and yet I feel so unworthy as well. I did nothing to deserve any of this. All of these things are gifts He chose to freely give me. As I sit and contemplate, “Why me? Why have you allowed me to be so blessed,” I am convicted with a sense that He blessed me so I could bless others. If God freely gives to me, then I need to give freely to others. So this year in honor of 40 years of blessings, I choose, and by saying “choose” I mean I am making a conscious choice, to go out into my world each day and make a difference in the lives of others this year. I can think of no better way to start than by helping others live to see 40 years of blessings.
In our day and age, it seems unfathomable that people across the globe are suffering or dying because they do not have easy access to clean drinking water. 4,400 children under the age of five die each day because of illness related to unclean water. I have children, and as mother it breaks my heart to think of how these children suffer, and how the mothers must suffer after they lose a child this way. To know that you tried your hardest to provide the best you could, but it wasn’t enough. To cry out to a God, that maybe you don’t know, and ask the same question I asked, “Why?”
Or maybe the women and children cry out “Why?” as they walk for hours every day just to get a small amount of water to keep their families alive. Over 40-billion hours are lost each year collecting water. Those hours take time away from work, school, and family. It keeps families in poverty. Those long treks for water also mean increased risk of rape, violence, and long-term wear and tear on their bodies. It doesn’t have to be this way!!!
I cannot sit by and enjoy my “40-years of blessings” and not try to do what I can to give others a chance at the same. So thanks to my friend, Brant Porter, who drew my attention to “charity: water”, I have decided to “Pledge my Birthday” in order to raise money to install a clean water well in a community in need. Please help me to give the blessing of life to 250 people that may not have that opportunity otherwise. 100% of your donation directly funds this clean water project. If everyone pitches in what they can, we can make a difference. We can share the love of Jesus with people who need water so desperately. We can make a difference that will change lives for generations to come. Please go to my campaign at www.mycharitywater.org/blessings-from-many, and donate now! Thank you.