Run For Your Life

There are a lot of things that we can't change in this world.  We can't avoid natural disasters. We can't heal all of the sick.  We can't rescue all of the oppressed.  We can't feed all of the hungry.  We can't give water to all of the thirsty.

But we can help some of them.

It's so easy for me to go about my business in my day-to-day life, worrying about whether I am going to get any quiet time that day, whether my show recorded on the DVR, whether I have any of my favorite snack food left.  I have no real problems.  I sure think I do when things get chaotic and it feels like I am trying to do 1,000 things all at once.  But I am not worried that my children will not eat, and I am not worried that my children will be poisoned by the only drinking water I can give them.

But there are mothers who are.

Over the last year and a half, I have come to appreciate how my body operates.  I can feel it respond to the food I give it, feel it absorb the water I can pull from my tap whenever I please.  Bodies need this nutrition, they need this water.  They literally cannot live without it.  So people will go to any length to be sure that they and their loved ones have it.

For me, that's turning on my sink.  But for some in Africa, it's a hike that is miles long to an unsanitary water source.  It's a hike that has to happen, making things like school impossible.  It's a hike that brings with it, not the promise of life-giving water, but a russian roulette, a chance that this glass of water may be the one to kill you, but without which you would die anyway.

I've joined the people of Team World Vision in their fight against this solvable problem.  $50 is all it takes to provide one person with clean water for the rest of their life.  $50.  For Christmas this year, I bought my daughter two games for her handheld gaming system.  Each was worth $25.  Fifty Dollars.  I recently bought my son Toy Story birthday party supplies, which totaled around $50.  FIFTY. DOLLARS.  WATER FOR LIFE.  It's astounding, and awesome, and totally doable. 

We cannot change much in this world as individuals.  But if five people give $10, a child that you will probably never meet, probably won't think of again after a few months, that child will have water.  Clean water.  And I assure you that he will think of you for the rest of his life.  This is life-changing stuff!  Life-saving!

If you want to help, you can.  On October 14, I will be running the Perkins Great Eastern Half Marathon Run in Peterborough, UK.  It's going to be ugly on my part, I assure you, but the discomfort I am sure to feel is not even comparable to the discomfort that some feel every moment of their sometimes very short lives.  Click here and either choose to run with me and help raise money and awareness, or make a donation or pledge.  No amount is too little.  Even encouraging words are appreciated!

This life of ours is meant to be lived big.  We cannot do that if we live only for ourselves.  Our communities are everything, and that includes those that we have the ability to help even if we may never meet.