• Army Life
  • Family Life
  • Homeschooling
  • Deployment

The Army Chap's Wife

Real Snippets of the Life, Faith, and Homeschool of an Army Chaplain's Family

  • Home
  • Real Me
  • Real Purpose
  • Real Homeschool
  • Real Connection
  • Real Love of Words
  • Real Disclosure

World Water Day 2015

March 16, 2015

World Water Day 2015

At a recent Chaplain Spouse Coffee, we played a game where we were to write down 3 facts about ourselves and then others would have to try and guess who we were based on those facts. We learned some fun and interesting things about one another, I must say!

One of the facts I wrote down about myself is that I am a water snob. It’s sad, but true. I am super-picky about the “taste” of the water I drink. My husband makes fun of me for it, since he really doesn’t think water has any taste anyway. Seriously though, I drink bottled water even at home because I can’t stand the taste of our tap water. I always get lemon in my water at restaurants because I usually hate the taste of their water. I am a water snob.

Until just this week, I really didn’t think much about that fact. I don’t mind buying bottled water—I have access to it at Walmart whenever I run out and I have the available funds to purchase it. I was convicted of my snobbery when I read this:

783 million people do not have access to clean drinking water.

Notice it doesn’t say “access to good-tasting water.” It says clean water. That means water which is safe to drink and doesn’t cause illness or disease or death. Oh my.

World Water Day 2015

Samaritan's Purse World Water Day 2015

Today is World Water Day 2015, and one of my favorite organizations, Samaritan’s Purse (the ministry that also runs Operation Heal Our Patriots) is dedicated to raising awareness for and making a dent in the world’s water crisis. They have a wonderful site that explains more facts and what they are doing. In case you don’t have time to go look right now, here’s just one of the multiple ways they are helping around the world right now.

Freshwater Wells and Boreholes

Samaritan’s Purse works with communities to install and rehabilitate hand-dug wells and boreholes. After a project is completed, we offer maintenance training to community members who will assume responsibility for upkeep.

One of the ways Samaritan’s Purse is seeking to raise awareness and highlight World Water Day 2015 is by having an Instagram Challenge!

World Water Day 2015 Instagram Challenge

The challenge starts today and runs for 5 days. We’d love to have you play along! Be sure to tag your photos with #WorldWaterDay and #SamaritansPurse. And if you want to support Samaritan’s Purse efforts to provide clean and safe water around the world, please visit their Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene page to learn more.

The next time I’m thirsty and reach for my clean, fresh-tasting, and completely safe bottle of water (because, truthfully, I’m probably not going to suddenly be ok with my tap water) I will remember those who do not have safe water to drink and I will be motivated to pray for and act to support organizations like Samaritan’s Purse that are seeking to make a difference.

If you have an extra 4 minutes or so, here is a great video describing the impact clean water projects have on families all over the world:

2 Comments Filed Under: Christian Life Tagged With: Samaritan's Purse

2015 “Projects”

January 2, 2015

2015 “Projects”

2015 Projects

No, that doesn’t mean there will be 2,015 projects I will be working on. It means there are a few things I’m getting involved in during 2015.

In years past I’ve tried resolutions, goals, and “One Word” and I’m terrible about following through with what I start. These “projects” I’ve chosen this year have built-in accountability, which I need.

31 Days to Pray for Your Spouse Challenge

Ashley Pichea has written a book by the same name and she’s hosting a challenge this month to read through the book and pray for your spouse based on each day’s focus. She sends out an encouraging reminder email each day, which is very helpful.

Praying The Scriptures in a New Year

This is a new one for me, and I’m really excited about it. There’s a lovely printable that goes along with it, and an Instagram theme (hashtag) as well.

Reading through the Bible in a year

I try to do this every year, and last year I used YouVersion’s chronological reading plan and really enjoyed it. The app is on my phone and iPad, and kept me on track for the year. I’m using YouVersion again this year but chose a different plan–one that incorporates both Old and New Testament each day.

As the year progresses, I’ll add other involvements, but these 3 are the exciting first-of-the-year ones I’m excited about.

Do you have any new year “projects?”

2 Comments Filed Under: Christian Life

Scary Words

August 27, 2014

Scary Words

scary words
 

Words have great power.

They have the power to evoke emotions in their hearers and readers.

Some words bring lovely thoughts and feelings–words such as wedding, birth, graduation, coming home, promotion. Other words can fill us with fear and foreboding: deployment, separation, illness, test. I’m sure you can come up with other words which have cropped up in your own life and caused any number of emotions to swirl through your heart.

I have to face a word today. It’s one of the scary ones–biopsy. And that means facing the scarier word implied by it–cancer.

When my nurse-practioner discovered I had anemia, she ordered other tests as well. One of those was a mammogram. I had never had one before, so there was some trepidation over that, and then they actually found something. Not what I was hoping for. Not something anyone ever hopes for!

So what do we do when scary words enter our lives? If we’re believers in Jesus, our options basically boil down to two:

Trust or don’t trust in the goodness and plan of God.

Neither one is necessarily easy, but only one brings peace. And I don’t believe trusting means denying the feelings of fear that might come; I believe trusting means being honest about the fear, admitting it to the Lord, and looking to him for help working through it. Trusting means choosing to acknowledge that he knows what is best for us.

Our circumstances are never a surprise to him. Even if we might be knocked off kilter by something unforeseen, he never is. Not only that, we are also promised an otherworldly calm directly from him.

I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27 (NLT)

Now, have I totally come to a point of being at peace about this test? Not completely, but I’m getting there. I am grateful for the family and friends who have told me they are praying. I am grateful for a husband who reminds me not to focus on the what-ifs. I am grateful for a God who knows me and loves me beyond anything I could imagine.

 

 

6 Comments Filed Under: Christian Life

Next Page »

Welcome!


I'm so glad you chose to visit today.

Just a little about me:
*I am the wife of an Army Chaplain
*I am the homeschooling mom of two teen girls
*I am an editor
* I overindulge in dark chocolate

[Read More …]

Subscribe By Email!

Follow Along!

Follow on Bloglovin

Looking For Something?

Make a Difference!

Sponsor a Child in Jesus Name with Compassion
Save Children

Homeschool Encouragement

hst-blog-ad

Categories

31 Days of the Military Spouse Army Life Blogging Christian Life Deployment Family Life Homeschooling Life lessons Marriage Monday Meditation Reviews Thankful Thursday

Welcome


I'm so glad you chose to visit today.

Just a little about me:
*I am the wife of an Army Chaplain
*I am the homeschooling mom of two teen girls
*I am an editor
* I overindulge in dark chocolate Read More…

Visit Lisa Walters's profile on Pinterest.

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Follow on Bloglovin

Copyright © 2018 · Graceful theme by Restored 316