Thursday, August 11, 2005
THE WATER
THE WATER
Author Unknown
Aug 11, 2005
It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain
in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk.
The creeks and streams were long gone back into the earth. It was a dry
season that would bankrupt several farmers before it was through. Every
day, my husband and his brothers would go about the arduous process of
trying to get water to the fields. Lately this process had involved
taking a truck to the local water rendering plant and filling it up
with water. But severe rationing had cut everyone off. If we didn't see
some rain soon...we would lose everything. It was on this day that I
learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I
have seen with my own eyes. I was in the kitchen making lunch for my
husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking
toward the woods. He wasn't walking with the usual carefree abandon of
a youth but with a serious purpose. I could only see his back. He was
obviously walking with a great effort...trying to be as still as
possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running
out again, toward the house. I went back to making sandwiches; thinking
that whatever task he had been doing was completed. Moments later,
however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful stride
toward the woods.
This activity went on for an hour: walk carefully to the woods, run
back to the house. Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I crept
out of the house and followed him on his journey (being very careful
not to be seen...as he was obviously doing important work and didn't
need his Mommy checking up on him). He was cupping both hands in front
of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held
in them...maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I
sneaked close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped
his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much higher
purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.
Several large deer loomed in front of him. Billy walked right up to
them. I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate
antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did not threaten him...he
didn't even move as Billy knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn laying on
the ground, obviously suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion,
lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my
beautiful boy's hand.
When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house and I
hid behind a tree. I followed him back to the house; to a spigot that
we had shut off the water to. Billy opened it all the way up and a
small trickle began to creep out. He knelt there, letting the drip,
drip slowly fill up his makeshift "cup," as the sun beat down on his
little back. And it came clear to me. The trouble he had gotten into
for playing with the hose the week before. The lecture he had received
about the importance of not wasting water. The reason he didn't ask me
to help him.
It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to fill his hands. When he
stood up and began the trek back, I was there in front of him. His
little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting," was all he said.
As he began his walk, I joined him...with a small pot of water from the
kitchen. I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It was his job. I
stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have
ever known working so hard to save another life. As the tears that
rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined
by other drops...and more drops...and more. I looked up at the sky. It
was as if God, himself, was weeping with pride. Some will probably say
that this was all just a huge coincidence. That miracles don't really
exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I can't argue with
that...I'm not going to try. All I can say is that the rain that came
that day saved our farm...just like that actions of one little boy
saved another.
--From EmailMinistry
PRAYER
"Lord, in love you have called me to live for your praise and glory.
May I always find joy in your presence and trust in your wise and
loving plan for my life."
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