Day 7: Making Every Drop Count

My typical morning routine usually starts with a glass of water.  These days I reach for it automatically, only to catch myself.  A friend posted on Facebook how Ramadan makes us appreciate the simple every day things that we most take for granted.   Like an ice cold glass of water.   How incredible it tastes at 8:28pm.And how easily we disregard it the rest of the year – long showers, leaving the tap on for brushing or washing dishes, knowing that we’ll always have ready access and unlimited supply.Sixteen hours without water is long. But days without water is many people’s reality. Three times the number of people that live in the US lack access to safe water – almost one billion people.  Imagine that at 8:28 pm.I recently came across an inspiring story. Nine-year old Rachel Beckwith wanted to do something to help some of these billion people. She asked family and friends to donate $9 for her 9^th birthday to Charity: Water.  Her goal was to raise $300; she raised $220 and told her mom she’d try harder next year. A month later she died in a tragic car accident.  Thousands of people all around the world started donating to her fundraising page.  In a month, Charity: Water had raised over $1.2 million in Rachel’s honor. That money is now providing 60,000 people access to clean water in an Ethiopian village.I’m grateful for my glass of cold water and the fridge and sink and store that make it easy for me to indulge at any time, and I’m grateful for children like Rachel who know far better than me how to make every drop count.Day 7; Gratitude 7:  Water