Epiphany in the Bath...

Sadie absolutely loves to take a "baff".  Each day she starts asking for one when she wakes up and is continually told, "when daddy comes home, after supper."  Her love for baths makes taking one very difficult, she either tries to jump in with me or plays in the water until half of it is on the bathroom floor.  As a result, I've started to take a bath in the evening so I can be alone and enjoy them.  The only bad part about it, is the quiet, it allows me to focus on everything that is ahead for Hope and my heart breaks for her.

Tonight as I lay in the bath I was overwhelmed by the thought that I was sitting in a massive amount of clean drinking water.  All over the world there are people dying for clean drinking water, and multiple times a week, I sit in mass amounts of it to relax.  I was suddenly struck by how blessed we are, how truly lucky we are to live in North America.  I realized that it doesn't make sense to feel sorry for Hope.  Yes, she will have a difficult life at times and will experience pain that some of us never will.  Yet, she still has it so much better than most of the world.

Hope will be born in a hospital, that is not even an option for so many other babies.  Babies are dying all around the world each day because of poor birthing conditions and the lack of prenatal care for the mothers.  (www.savethemothers.org) Hope is going to receive the best medical care available, for free!  She will be vaccinated against numerous deadly diseases and will receive proper nutrition and clean water from the beginning.  Even in the womb she is blessed, I never go hungry, I'm taking vitamins and receiving prenatal care.  It's so easy to forget that we are the minority, we live in most peoples dream world.  Most importantly, Hope is being born into a safe and healthy home that loves God.  She will have the opportunity, from the start, to hear how much God loves her and wants her to love him too.

We want to raise our daughters with the awareness of how blessed they are.  We want our girls to get involved in things and support the efforts that are being made to make changes.  I sat in the tub and was overwhelmed with thankfulness for all the missionaries and humanitarian groups that are out in the world making a difference and bridging the gap.  I was challenged once again to focus on all the gifts that God has given us and not to allow the difficult things to get all the attention.

Just thought I would remind you all today, you are so blessed, be thankful!