A Tribute to a Legacy Leaver

What legacy are you going to leave? Several months back I asked that question on this blog, and I hope it was something you honestly wrestled with. Now I would like to share with you the story of the legacy of my dearest friend.

About five years ago, I was living in an apartment in Myrtle Beach. One day I was taking the water dog for a walk, and we met some new neighbors who had moved into the apartment below ours. Darcy thought Piper, their dog, was friendly, and I was impressed that Mary knew immediately who my male dog was named after. A few nights later, I went completely against my character and decided to take a risk on this potential friendship. I walked down to their apartment, knocked on the door, and asked if they'd like to hang out. From that moment on, Mary and I became practically inseparable. We only grew closer after Mary and her family moved to Savannah and then Alabama. I have had many great friends during my life but Mary was an especially precious gift. I can't remember a single fight we ever had. She always accepted me for who I am. She never hurt me. She taught me so much and helped me become more like who God wants me to be. And, I have never laughed as hard or been as happy as I was in her presence. Plus, I got her amazing and big hearted husband, Corey, and Darcy got his two best friends in the world, Piper and Bogie.

If you've followed this blog at all, you know Mary's name. Mary was the one sitting next to me at Catalyst when I heard God tell me to raise money for a well, fast for a month, and write this blog. When I turned to her and told her this, she immediately told me she believed in me and how could she help. I'd like to say that I would have gone forward with this project even if she had not been supportive but I know that would be a lie.

Mary didn't just support me in this project; she actively worked for its success. Every client she saw at her salon during those three months heard about the water project and the water situation in our world. She wore the charity:water bracelet every day and told whoever noticed it what it meant. She celebrated with me when donations were coming in, and she cried with me when they weren't. She encouraged me when people weren't supportive and questioned what I was doing. She listened to rough drafts of blog posts over the phone, and she let me talk out ideas I had with her. At the end of the campaign when it didn't look like the money was going to come in, she supported me in my big leap of faith and reminded me that she believed in me and in this project. My joy was her joy, my anger her anger, my tears her tears, and in the end, any success I can claim was also hers. I can honestly and without a doubt say that I could not have done what I did without her.

This past Sunday Mary was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 28. In one worlds destroying moment, Corey lost his beloved wife, a family lost their precious daughter, and I lost the Jonathan to my David. The last few days have been ones of deep pain and heart crushing brokenness.

I thought it only fitting that the well Mary worked so hard with me to build be built in her honor. So, yesterday I called charity:water and asked if this would be possible. And now, when our well is finished, there will be a plaque on it that reads "In Honor of Mary Whitfield."

Someday children will dance in the water of that well, the same children who are healthy and in school because of that clean water. Women will be safe from the dangers of walking miles to and from clean water sources. And, the economic situation of a community has the increased potential of improving because of access to clean water. I can think of no better tribute to one of the best people I ever known and one of the most precious people to my heart.

I won't see Mary again until she greets me at Heaven's gates but I find joy amidst all this pain in knowing that her legacy is continuing and the world is just that much better because of her. I see her smiling, joyful face in my mind and know that if I do nothing else in my life, I have done something to honor the best and truest friend I have ever had.

If you would like to contribute to Mary's growing legacy, please consider donating to charity:water at http://www.charitywater.org/donate/ or an anti-drunk driving organization of your choice.

Soli Deo Gloria

After two months of fasting, praying, listening, talking, writing, wrestling, crying, rejoicing, informing, and dreaming:

$5342 raised
70 donations
1 well funded


But, most importantly, 267 people now have clean water!


Forget the former things;
     do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
     and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
     the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
     and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
     the people I formed for myself
     that they may proclaim my praise.
     - Isaiah 43:18-21

One Last Leap

These past few months have been all about me taking steps of faith. Among the many, a few were:

• That I could survive one month of eating only rice and beans
• That, yes, God really did want to use me and that I could trust Him to help me with this project
• That if I made myself vulnerable in my writings on this blog, those words would be of service to God and this cause. And, others would listen to them.

Well, now I am facing one last faith challenge. But this time I'm not taking a step - I'm leaping. 

Since the beginning of this project, I've planned on making my donation on the last day for whatever amount was needed to reach the $5000 goal. I set $500 as the highest amount I could possibly give. 

As I write this, $1122 still needs to be donated. That is obviously higher than what I had planned on giving, but my tax refund and some sacrificial giving could cover it. 

I've decided to take one great, final leap of faith instead. I'm going to donate the $500 I had planned on, and I'm going to do it right now with one full day left in the campaign. To do otherwise, would mean I took matters into my own hands instead of allowing God to demonstrate His power and receive the glory due Him.

I believe that God will cause the remaining $622 to be donated. And, if it isn't, I will know that it wasn't because of a lack of faith or obedience on my part. It was because not everyone who was supposed to listen listened and not everyone who was called to take a step or perhaps leap of faith took it.

God wants this well built and wells will be built, but He is leaving this one in our hands. 

We wait in hope for the Lord;

     he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

     for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,

     even as we put our hope in you.

     - Psalm 33: 20-22

To donate, please go to http://mycharitywater.org/waters-rising

Listen (Love) Act

Last week at a Bible study I attend, the lecturer was talking about how listening (to God) leads to action (for God). In my notes, I wrote down:

listen ----> action
Something goes wrong in the middle.

This simple diagram of mine has been bothering me all week. Specifically, what is it that is going wrong or lacking which causes the movement from listening to action from ever happening?

This evening as I was praying about whether God wanted me to write another post, I remembered a sermon I'd heard at church back in February which I had meant to write about. I dug through the papers and books on my coffee table and found the sermon notes. As I read them over, it all came together.

Love is what is missing. Love has to be where the arrow is drawn in my diagram.

Think of it this way: My dad asks me to do something. Maybe it doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe I have a to do list a mile long already. But, I go ahead and do what he's asked. Why? Because I love him. Love is why I act. Not because of what the action is but because of who asked.

We are prompted to action by love.

So, while listening to God, He tells me or leads me to some action. What causes me to make the jump from passive listening to active movement? Love of God. And, usually, when God tells or leads me to some action, it is for the benefit of someone else. So, not only am I acting because I love God but also because my love of God leads to a love of others. There is no love of God without love for others.

It all leads to a beautiful chain of action:
              I love God.
              Therefore, I want to glorify God.
              I glorify God by loving other people.
              Loving other people reminds of me of their Creator.
              My love for Creator God deepens.
The chain continues and grows.

I've done a lot of talking and writing in the past few months. And, a lot of people have listened to and read what I've presented. I'm hoping now for a movement to action. If all you get out of the past few months is knowledge of a significant problem in our world, that's good. I've on one level succeeded. But, I believe the purpose God had for this project is much bigger than that. I believe in a bigger God and a bigger you.

Will you allow yourself to experience a love which prompts action?



Gratitude for this post goes to an interesting assortment of sources which have been bouncing around in my head for a while now but have only just come together: Mica Pruitt's lecture at BSF. Chris Ward's sermon at Seacoast Vineyard. Francis Chan's talk at Passion.

Eavesdropping.

Hey, Puck!

Yeah, Darcy?

Had any good water today?

Yep. From the Brita!

Really? Wow. I get it from the faucet.

...

Mommy said I should be grateful. She said 1 in 8 people don't have clean water to drink!

I wonder how many dogs don't have clean water.

Me too! Mommy didn't know. And, I didn't learn math in school.

You didn't learn anything in obedience school. 

Hey!

We believe in clean water for all dogs. And, people too.

But, we're dogs and we have no money.

Will you help the dogs for us? Oh, and the people too?

Thanks!

On the Ground

I've learned, and there are studies which prove, that it is hard to reach people's hearts unless you can make a problem personal. Perhaps that is part of the reason why waking up people living in the U.S. to clean water issues is so difficult - we have very little understanding of what life without clean water would be like because it is so far from the reality we know and live.

In his book, The Big Thirst: A Tour of the Bitter Fights, Breathtaking Beauty, Relentless Innovation, and Big Business Driving the New Era of High-Stakes Water, Charles Fishman succinctly sums up this problem in regard to Americans: "Our very success with water has allowed us to become water illiterate."

I would like to share an email that my mom received from her precious friend Claire about a trip she recently took to Chad to work on literacy issues:

I witnessed with my own eyes how much people need more wells. There are villages that are further back off the main roads those people might have to walk a ways to get water. And in the big cities like Sahr, in the South of Chad, they installed running water but they used rusty pipes to save on money. People can't drink the water and if they can't afford to install a filter then they have to go and get water at a well and fill up plastic containers with water. I often though of Claire and what she did to help people. 
The kids were bringing home one jug of water that contained about 1 gallon. I am assuming someone else goes later in the day to get more water. They will use this water for the whole house hold, to drink, wash, wash clothes, dishes..... That is why I was so happy when I saw a well right in a village. It improves peoples lives so much.  Like in the capital where there is running water, I saw men who would have a bowl of water in front of them in their shop or at the market and they would poor water on their arms, legs to stay cool in the afternoon. 
There were signs up saying that World Vision had build a well for the children or other Christian organization have build wells.  And it helps reduce sickness. If people can wash their clothes, their food, their dishes, themselves it reduces germs.... People get parasites from drinking dirty water. With the heat then they really feel miserable. Clean water can extend the life expectancy of these people. 
I can say I saw what a difference it makes for so many people. If I wasn't involved in literacy I would focus on clean water but I will tell other people in the States how we need to help those in countries that don't have enough wells. 


Claire has caught the vision and is doing what she can to inform others about the water problem in our world. She has opened up her heart to the problem, allowed it to become personal, and is becoming part of the solution.

Will you dare to allow the problem of clean water to become personal to you? Will you have the courage to care?

Embrace the Interruptions

This past Saturday, I had five minutes before I needed to leave the house to meet Belinda and Amy for a day trip to Charleston. I was putting on my earrings when God reminded me of a blog post that I had sort of been working on a few weeks ago. I thought, "Thanks for the reminder, God!" and was ready to move on. But, I kept feeling God telling me to write it and knew I wouldn't get any peace until I did. So, now with only about four minutes left, I wrote and published the post.

As I dropped the water dog off at his grandparents' house for the day and laughingly mentioned this to Mom, she said, "Well, Claire, God has been teaching you about interruptions lately."

The more I thought about it, the more I realized the wisdom of Mom's words.

On the most basic level, God was constantly interrupting my daily routine during January. For almost all of my blog posts, He told me what to write as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep each night. At first, I tried to handle this by writing down the general idea He had given me and putting the writing of the post off until morning but doing so gave my mind no peace or the ability to fall asleep. It wasn't until I finished writing the whole post that I could rest. By the end of the month, whenever God gave me a blog post to write, I got up immediately to do so.

On a slightly deeper level, God interrupted the plan I had for my life at the start of 2011. I never planned on January being devoted to fasting and raising money to build a well. If anything, January is usually a month of very little planning due to the busyness of December. Instead, God gave me a clear and particular purpose during the month, interrupting my plans all the way from what I are, to how I spent my time, to what I brought up in conversation.

But, most importantly, God has irrevocably interrupted my life. I'd never noticed before a deep passion within me for universal clean water but now my heart breaks over its issues and multitudes of victims. I have been changed from someone who sits back to someone who acts. I've become willing to ask people for money for this cause whereas I used to be uncomfortable asking anyone to do anything for me. I've handed over my life to Someone with a plan much bigger than anything I can dream up.

I used to laugh in January about God's nightly interruptions but now I feel a great gratitude for His invasion into my life and the detour He's pushed it to off the routine path I was walking along. I have learned to embrace interruptions as a chance to see and experience God at work.