Today, I am grateful for clean, plentiful water.

I have always been a water person. I love to swim, walk in the rain, go to the beach, and I have my white noise machines set to play the sound of waves, rain, or fountains. Sometimes I boil water while I cook just to hear water moving. I have been accused of regularly spending hours in a jetted tub with a good book (which I won’t bother denying).

In that tub, I usually have a tall class of sweet tea. I love fresh iced tea. (My favorite is made with water from the crystal clear, pure water found in Black, Missouri.) Since iced tea is made fresh daily with local water, the better the water, the better the tea. Water makes all the difference. If you are ever in a place where the water smells like sulfur, forgo the fresh tea and get something bottled.

In many areas of the world there is very little clean water. They don’t have the option to have tea or bathe regularly. Their water is muddy, carries disease, or is located miles away from where people live. Millions of women, men, and children walk miles every day to bring a container of water back to their homes. According to statistics, more than 780 million people in the world do not have access to clean water. And here I sit in about sixty gallons of fresh water listening to an audiobook drinking sweet tea made from fresh, clean water. I feel like I need to give more money to clean water ministries! I want to share this amazing gift.

I met with a ministry several years ago that financed trips to dig wells that provided clean drinking water to people in remote South American villages. I loved the mission of the ministry and the hearts and the genuine compassion displayed by the men on the board. During the first meeting I called the ministry Aqua Viva. Continually. It is in fact Agua Viva. Life water not blue water. And they never corrected me. (We won’t go into how I messed up my words when I met with Fuzzy Duck Media.) My mix up did not damage our working relationship. It really was a honor to work with that ministry. It made me appreciate water even more.

There are many excellent ministries dedicated to bringing fresh water to people in need, to building wells, refining water, or researching ways to help people find and store fresh water. Look them up when you have time and donate if you have the funds. Or think about going on a missions trip to help dig wells for people who need them. Water is precious.

The ministry I worked with and many others go beyond digging wells to introduce villagers to the Living Water—Jesus Christ. Water for the body, water for the soul. Maybe that is why I like water so much, it is a physical symbol of my dependence on God. He quenches my spiritual thirst and washes me clean. I was baptized in creek full of crystal clear water in Black, Missouri. Where the tea is excellent.

Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
John 4:14 NLT