If you are an American or Canadian, there is no doubt that you have several, if not many, places in your home where you can turn on a spigot and get fresh water. Good enough to drink. Any time you want. At least I did. I really don't ever remember not having plenty of water growing up. I do remember meeting a girl when we moved to KS who hadn't had indoor plumbing in their home until she was in 8th grade...but still. She lived in rural KS, so while different, wasn't that far fetched.
When we moved to Mexico, water was a different issue. Although the homes had water pipes going to them, the water wasn't always "delivered" though the pipes. While many of the locals might have been without water for periods of time, it really didn't affect us, so we didn't really think about it much. Most of the gringos had large tinacos or storage tanks installed so as to keep us from running out. Every now and then, we still did, but you could still call a water truck and for a price, they'd bring a truck load of water and run a big 3" hose to your tank and fill it.
Inconvenient? Sometimes. Impossible? No.
Panama is different. It kinda makes no sense to me because we have a lot of rain here...you'd think there'd never be a lack of water. And I don't know about living in the city (that's what we locals call Panama City , or we just call it Panama), but here in El Valle, there is definitely a water problem...at least during this time of year. I think it's due to a number of factors. Dry season...doesn't rain nearly as much as it does the rest of the year. Which leads to #2... "Summer vacation"...I'll never get accustomed to calling it that, but the kids are out of school December through February, and families flock to El Valle ...tourism is at a high during those months- more people = less water. And number 3...farmers are watering their crops.
We've had days of low water pressure, hours and days of no water at all, dishes piling up...need for a shower...all the things we take for granted in more advanced countries and that we need water for...well, we have to do without, or just wait until it's on again.
This week, I've been getting tired of it. It's been wearing on me. I wanted a shower, not a spit bath. I wanted to wash my hair, do laundry, wash dishes. The culture was really getting to me. So much so, that I actually got up at 3 am today to get a shower ( normally, there is water and pressure during the night), but no luck. Not enough pressure to have hot water, and I'm just not ready for a cold shower yet. When we got up, however, we did have plenty of water, so we went to work. Finally! I thought it would feel so good...but it didn't.
You see, just a couple of days ago, I started reading this book called Kisses from Katie. It's about a young high school senior who decides to go and serve in Africa and help at an orphanage for a year. She comes from a well to do family, is an only child, has new clothes, nice car, and all the things that come with being a teenager in the USA. However, it doesn't take long until her heart is won over and she ends up staying to live there. Before she was in her 20's, she'd already adopted several of the young girls.
What really wrenched her heart...and mine...was watching a mother feed her children cakes made of mud and salt because they had no food. It was seeing young children who had lost their parents to AIDS and a 9 year old was caring for younger siblings. It was children who didn't know about bathing because they never had. I remember seeing pictures on another website that drills wells in Africa for the people there because they have no water to drink, and what there is, is in the dirty muddy rivers and is used for laundry, bathrooms and even has dead animals floating in it sometimes...but that's the only water they have, so they drink it.
And then my mind was brought right back home. We live in a beautiful, new 2 bedroom apartment with windows all around, nice new appliances, a lovely patio, comfortable furniture and really, everything I would ever need. We have a gorgeous home in Mexico that we are renting out. But I have been in some of the homes here. They graciously welcome us in and share their homes with us. Raw cinder blocks..perhaps with a bit of paint on them, no windows...or if they have them, they are just holes in the wall...a little wooden door with a hasp on it. A small stove in the corner. No countertops. No fridge. A sink outside. Really? If they have any bedrooms at all (many don't) they might have 1 or 2 bedrooms divided by a partial wall, no doors on those. Additional family members sharing that space besides just the immediate family. I've seen 8 or 9 people living in a one room place that would be a small studio in our mind.
So I don't have water all the time. They don't either. But they have to get their entire family ready for school or work, every day. Many are single moms, trying to do it all. Most of us have never gone hungry
Why should we have so much when others have so little?
Why should I be worried about a little lack of water when I know there are so many others who have none?
Maybe it's all about gratefulness.
Maybe it's all about perspective.
Everyone I've ever met, living in these houses with little or none of the conveniences that we take for granted, has been happy...proud to have a place to call home.
Philippians 4 says this: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
If I look around, I can always find someone who has more money than I do. And it's extremely easy to find those who have less. But there it is....the secret.
Let's vow to be grateful for whatever we have. Let's vow to have hearts willing to share from our abundance, no matter how much we have.
Because I can guarantee you….
There's always someone with less.
It's all about perspective.
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