water for mama

This year one of my resolutions is to get a handle on what part I play in “justice” in terms of the kingdom. I have to do this, because right now, when I hear or see issues that need a big dose of kingdom justice, I just shut down. Get overwhelmed. Feel completely bewildered. “What in the world can I do? I’m just one…”  But I’m really not just one, am I? I’m part of a huge group of people who love Jesus, who want to see justice done in His name. Who want to see LOVE fleshed out. 

Now there are SO many issues that need addressing…but I’m just going to tell you one that hits close to home for me. In magazine recently I saw a picture of a mama holding a baby that looked like a skeleton, and I know that she loves her sweet baby like I love mine… and I can’t even begin to imagine her pain. Baby’s pain. And then when I think about the fact that 4000 littles die each day because they don’t have clean water, it just makes me achy.  

They need water. Every summer, I dump perfectly drinkable water on my grass to keep it green. She has to walk how many miles just for SKETCHY water. I want to do something to help her get water, to help her keep her baby healthy.

I know mother’s day is fraught with difficulty for a lot of us. It’s supposed to be about honoring our moms, but instead it’s become this big day that reminds anyone who’d like to be a mom that they just aren’t, and I want to try to remedy that. What if we try to help the mama who needs water for her baby? What if I (and maybe you) write my mama a letter, and tell her what I appreciate about her, and what part she’s played in who I am now (which, honestly, is all she wants to hear, that she didn’t completely screw me up – that’s better than flowers that will die in a few days any day), and take that money that I would've spent on flowers or more stuff, and use it to help that mama get water? And maybe, if we’re hurting on mother’s day, we get together with some like-minded folks, and eat some good food that we’ve all prepared, and collect some money for these mamas? It’s just an idea. But I can’t get it out of my head, so it’s here, germinating.

That’s just one idea. I want to hear from you as I struggle with this issue: how do you get a handle on justice, on love, in the name of Jesus, in the midst of a society that just says GET MORE STUFF?