Taken for granted

It's hot out today. Are you thirsty? Go to the kitchen faucet and get a nice drink of cold water. Feel like a nice hot shower? Go into the bathroom and shower 'til your heart's content. Got some dirty clothes in need of laundering? Go to your washing machine and throw in a load. Potty break? Just flush when you're finished. Oh, and of course you'll wash your hands, right? How about a cup of coffee tomorrow morning? Nothing like a hot cup of joe to get your motor going in the morning. Dishes piling up? No worries... just rinse them off and toss them in the automatic dishwasher.

Sounds like pretty mundane stuff, doesn't it? Laundry, dishes, showers and such? All these things seem fairly insignificant until you find yourself without one key component... WATER! That's exactly the predicament my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren find themselves in. We didn't know it until yesterday, but Jessi and Barry's house is built on a well. No municipal water source for them. The proverbial well has run dry... literally. With the complete lack of rain in recent weeks, the well beneath their house has not been replenished. With no water in the house, all those things I mentioned before... all those things we take for granted because we have an unlimited supply of water, are suddenly impossible for Jessi and Barry. Think for a minute how your life is turned upside down when your water is off for a few hours or even a whole day. Now consider the Mortons have been without water for days and there is no hope of getting it back until there is a significant and sustained rainfall. Looking at the extended forecast, they may be waiting a while. Poor kids!

The kids will get their water back. It will take some time, but it WILL rain again. All this talk about water (and lack thereof) got me thinking. What about those people who live in places where water is never a given certainty? Their search for clean drinking water is an ongoing struggle. There are people living like this... every day. There are more of them than we dare think about. Now consider the blessing you receive from God every day. The blessing you take for granted and never think about until you don't have it. The blessing of limitless, free flowing, fresh, clean drinking water. There are so many blessings like this. Blessings we either don't acknowledge or blessings we don't even recognize as blessings. Thank you Lord for clean water every day. For providing plenty of food every day. For a safe and free country to live in every day. For religious freedom where I am free to read my Bible and attend worship services anytime I wish. Thank you Lord for blessings beyond all measure.