Showers of Blessings
courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
I looked up from my computer and realized I had been sitting for three hours without a break. My water bottle was empty, and my tea was down to the last drop. I walked into the kitchen and pushed a button on the refrigerator door. Clear, cold water gushed into my glass. How easy it was to satisfy my thirst.
As I walked back to my desk I thought about my Kurdish friend Amina who stood in line for hours in freezing temperatures in a refugee camp in Turkey waiting for a small ration of water each day for her family of six. And I remember my daughter telling me about the women she met in Zaire, Africa, who walked each day to the river to fill their jars.
As for baths and showers, they’re rare among millions of people around the globe. Yet I can take two a day in hot weather if I wish to. I can swim at the local pool, water my lawn, play tag in the sprinklers with my grandkids, and freeze water into cubes to cool a drink.
Such showers of blessings! Blessings I often take for granted because I’ve never been without them. With such abundance can come complacency. How easy to overlook what God provides so conveniently—even to overlook the Lord Himself in my rush to get back to business.
Like the woman at the well, we may have our eyes on water to quench today’s thirst or to refresh our bodies so we can return to our chores or our playtime. But Jesus says that if we ask Him for a drink, He will satisfy us forever with living water, with Himself. How foolish we would be to pass up such an invitation!
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, EVERYONE, WHERE SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS ARE OURS HERE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE! May we never take our freedom for granted.
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If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10).
We sure take a lot for granted in the USA.
I agree. Thanks for commenting.
You are so right, Karen! The other thing I often thank God for is indoor plumbing! I still remember Grandma’s outhouse in the dead of winter up north, and how excited she was at the age of 65 to get indoor plumbing. That bathroom always just shone! Yes, we take a lot granted – we have so much to be thankful for!
I enjoyed your story about your grandmother and indoor plumbing. One of my uncles had the same predicament early on.
Amen! And a happy 4th. to you, Karen.
Thank you, Marie.
Karen, such a great reminder of our many blessings we forget to appreciate because we have never been without—something as simple as water. So glad you brought up Jesus’ living water. Now, THAT’S something I never want to be without! Having been to several third world countries, I can appreciate all that we have at our fingertips here in this country. God bless America this 4th and always. love, Heidi
Thanks, Heidi. Yes, the living water is all we really need!
Dear Karen,
I agree that it is so easy to forget all the blessings we have, individually and corporately, by living in the United States. I was recently reminded of this same thing from author John Piper when he said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in our lives- and on a good day we might be aware of 3 of them!” Such is the kind of gentle conviction that I often find myself experiencing when I take time out of my busy day to just sit quietly and meditate on all my blessings. God’s love, mercy and grace continue to astound me to the point where sometimes words seem inadequate to express or fathom the depth of my gratitude. Sending love, hugs and blessings across the miles to you and yours today! Glenda
Thanks, Glenda. I love the quote you shared from John Piper. So convicting.
Dear Karen,
Thank you for your clear picture of how we are to be grateful for all of GOD’s Gifts.
In HIS NAME.
Jay
Thanks for reading and commenting, Jay. May you and Linda be blessed with a lovely summer.
Karen, I count it as a blessing to have you in my liife. Your friendship is a treasure.
Victor
Thank you, Victor. You are a dear friend to me, as well.
Hi Karen. Thanks for the reminder of what we so often take for granted in this nation of plenty. I have thought about how blessed we are to have what we have in America, but not as often as I should. Your blog is a blessing to me. I am buried in my writing projects so I do not get a chance to comment on many of your wonderful blogs. However, I DO read them. God bless you Karen, real good.
Jim, how good to hear from you. It’s been an age since we connected. I’m so happy to hear you are writing. I am too–another book for Harvest House. Take care and thanks for reading my blogs.
Ah,what memories and how we take for granted “water”! I was eleven years old when we had our first indoor plumbing. One place where we lived did not have a well nor any means to get water, so we had to get it from a neighbor who had a deep well. Dad made a trailer to pull behind the car,had one or two large barrels and he would drive to the neighbors, fill the barrels, one bucket at a time. Mom would go to the barrels with a bucket, or get one of the three boys that were still at home to go, to have water for cooking and for all of us to drink and YES take baths!! We had a bucket of water with a dipper in it on a table in the kitchen where we got a drink of water. YES, we drank from the same dipper unless we had a cold and if we had more in the dipper than we drank we would pour it in the small wash pan beside the bucket. We washed our hands in that water. You may wonder what we did with the ‘dirty water’? We probably had a large bucket on the floor to pour it in and when it got full one of the ‘boys’ would take it outside and pour it in the yard. I really do not remember that for sure but I was eleven when we moved from that place. Funny thing, we rarely got sick! I am sure if one of us should have a cold Mom would get us a glass to drink out of. SORRY for the history! I am glad I have had to do without and really know how to appreciate “water”. it still just “kills me” (ha) to see people let the water flow full stream when it is not necessary-like when brushing our teeth! God’s living water is the most precious and I hope and pray I can keep receiving it day by day! I just have to ask for it and be willing to receive it! Thanks, Dear, for the reminder of how fortunate we are! Love, Margaret
Margaret, what a sweet and tender story from your childhood. I can see why you are so grateful for the water that flows freely from our faucets. As a California resident who has lived through our four-plus year drought, I have learned to appreciate and use carefully the water we now have. Thank God for the blessing of rain we had this year.
What a great reminder for many of us. Water has so many properties and uses. The Scriptures talk of it so often, yet we take it for granted. Thanks for another of you precious messages.
Thanks for another of your thoughtful responses, Etta Mae.
Karen during the ice storm in 2009. I almost froze without heat. I sure am thankful for heat and water!!
We are sll so grateful for things we often take for granted until we are without them.