the value of a bottle of water

Yesterday, before leaving for the airport, I stuffed 3 unopened bottles of water in my purse thinking I would just drink them on the plane. I had totally forgotten about the new "no liquid law" which states that you can't take water past security. Before passing thru security, we stopped to down atleast 1 of them. The other 2, I just figured I would offer to a couple of security guards close by. They quickly said, "We can't accept those. You have to dispose of them." "Whaaat?" I muttered to Cody.



My heart dropped and I could feel tears burning my eyes. A thought instantly came into my mind, "there are millions of people dying of thirst all over Africa, all over the world and I have to throw away 2 perfectly good bottles of water because of a law that doesn't make sense anyway!" As I pitched the bottles into the waiting trash container, I peered in and sure enough. It was about half full of bottles. Some unopened, others half full. My heart was so heavy.

Then my mind trailed off to life in the west and how God has blessed us, yet we take so much for granted. To most, it's "just" a bottle of water. But to a thirsty child in the Congo, it could mean the difference between life and death. Ponder that for a few minutes.

I'm just journaling out of the conviction in my own heart. My intentions are not to make anyone feel bad.

Here are just a few statistics that I found on Zao's website. Zao is a non-profit organization commited to providing clean water sources for people in developing countries.

• Every 15 seconds a person dies from a water related disease


• One in every 6 people on the planet lives without access to safe drinking water


• Over one third of the world's population lacks access to proper sanitation

How much do you value a bottle of water? Or even a glass of fresh water straight from your faucet? Millions of people all over the world don't have the luxury of either.

Sometimes I think God will hold us accountable in the west because we have so much, but have given so little away.

I don't know how to end this really. All I know is that I will be more conscious of my wasteful habits from here on out.