When Your Well Runs Dry

No, really.  We have a well.  And it’s dry.

Again.

This has been a particularly dry year for us and while having a well seems almost… romantic.

Almost.

I can assure you that running out of water doesn’t come close to making the “Top Ten Ways to Romance Your Wife”.

Wishing my husband would “woo” me with water was never something I considered…

Until now.

Before you think this is a rant, I just want to say that if you’ve never had your water shut off for an extended period of time, you should.

It teaches you a few things:

• Water is a precious commodity–one that those of us who live in a first world country take for granted.  We take long showers, leave water running unnecessarily, and we forget that our supply is not unlimited.
• Being able to flush a toilet inside your home is a gift–not a basic necessity.  You may categorize it that way if you wish, but  believe it or not, many in our world still have never experienced the luxury.  It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that the chain-pull indoor toilet was introduced in America–but only in the homes of the wealthy and in hotels.
• Hot water flowing out of a tap makes life so much easier–and cleaner!  Be grateful.  The next time you wash your hands under hot running water, thank the good Lord for it.  The next time you complain about washing dishes (with a dishwasher, nonetheless!), stop whining and start praying.  Ask the Lord to forgive you for your ungratefulness and thank Him for the countless things we have in our lives that exist merely for convenience.

Water is a basic life-giving necessity.  Even more so for those living in the desert:

Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her,  for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.

 ^“How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”  John 4:6-10

I love my well.  I love that it flows naturally and that it supplies our home with fresh, clean water.  I especially love that it reminds me of stories like this one–that there is within all of us, a thirst that can only be satisfied with living water.

“The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”  John 7:38

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