Introspection: I Want Clean Water for My Birthday

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

I Want Clean Water for My Birthday

I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink.

Matthew 25:35 (NRSV)

All who are thirsty

All who are weak

Come to the fountain

Dip your heart in the stream of life

From "All Who Are Thirsty" by Brenton Brown

I am about to face a great ordeal that I've been dreading for a couple of years now.  Two weeks from now, I will cease to have a 2 at at the front of my age, and I will instead have a 3.  That's right, I'm about to turn thirty years old.  I don't think it's merely the fact that I'm getting older that has me distressed; I think it's rather the fact that I will be turning thirty having crossed significantly fewer milestones on life's journey than other people I know who are roughly my age.

That said, to face getting older and to hopefully get my mind off of my issues, I've decided to do something worthwhile to celebrate my "dirty thirty."

First, I have a question for you, the reader.

How many sources of water do you have in your house?  If you don't know the number off the top of your head, go and count them.

Where I live, there is a faucet in the kitchen and two faucets in the bathroom, including the one in the bathtub.  There is also a spigot outside.  Needless to say, it's pretty easy for me to obtain water, and, though I don't particularly like the taste of tap water, it is drinkable.  I live in a relatively small house, so you might have more faucets in your house than I have.

Now imagine for a moment that you have to walk for miles to fetch water for the day.  Your source of water is not a well, but rather a muddy hole in the ground.  The trek itself is very dangerous, and the water you draw just might make you and your children deathly ill.

It's hard to imagine for those of us who have four or five faucets in our houses, but this is a reality for many people the world.

Organizations like charity: water seek to put a stop to this problem by providing wells, water filters, rain collection devices, and other solutions so that people in developing nations might have water that's actually drinkable,¹

a necessity of life that you and I take for granted every day.

I have started a charity: water campaign, and I'm inviting you, the reader, to celebrate my 30^th birthday with me by helping to provide clean drinking water for people in need.²  My campaign can be found at the link below, along with an informative video about the water crisis around the world.

Clean Water for Tony's Dirty Thirty

Please consider contributing to this effort.  Because I will be turning thirty years old soon, I am requesting donations of $30.00; however, if you cannot spare that much at the moment, any donation would be appreciated.  Also, I ask you to please share this blog post with anyone you think might be interested.

Grace and peace be with you.


Notes:

1. Learn more at http://www.charitywater.org/.
2. In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, I learned about this organization from my friend Emily who did a charity: water campaign for her birthday not too long ago.

The photograph featured in this introspection is was taken by Matthew Bowden.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.