Sunday morning a 10 year old girl from our church hosted a lemonade stand. Not just to earn money, or because it would be a fun thing to do, but because at 10 years old this little girl already has a heart for God's people.
Riley's Lemonade was being sold to help her earn money to buy water filters for people around the world through Compassion International. Through her one lemonade stand, 30 minutes of her time on a Sunday morning, and a heart big enough to care, she managed to earn enough money to buy 6 water filters.
On Monday, I happened to discover a vlog about this very same ministry posted a few weeks back on Like a Warm Cup of Coffee and watching this cute video really helped me to realize what a significance Riley made for 6 families by providing a filter to purify the water they drink for a lifetime.
I only watched the video because I knew it was the same cause Riley was supporting. Sweet Riley, made me think about two very shocking, filthy and disgusting things about myself.
The first thing I realized is that I take my water for granted. I hardly ever drink it though it's at the ready, clean, waiting on the other end of the faucet. Dirty drinking water? I could not imagine getting drinking water out of a river and giving it to my child. The pain that stirs up just at the thought of it. I guess I'd not thought about how blessed we are to live in a country where water is standard, not a luxury. I count my blessings regularly, and of recent I feel like most of my blog posts have been about blessings and answered prayers, but not once have I ever mentioned clean drinking water, or even running water, toilet water, bath water.
The second thing that I realized is that this little girl is standing up for people everywhere. She is being brave and stepping out of her comfort zone to fight for a cause that the Lord put on her heart. This is a quote from her mother's facebook page announcing the fundraiser page for Riley:
When is the last time that I stepped out of my comfort zone in obedience to a burden the Lord has laid on my heart? Fought for a cause or the Lord's people? Not just donated money but raised money for something important?
On Sunday I managed to dump my change purse in and weaseled all the cash my husband had, not because I didn't want to do more, but because at the time my head was in a hundred different places and I didn't have more cash on me to give. So seeing her fundraising page today made me smile, because not only can I buy a filter for a family in need, but I can encourage a little girl by helping out her cause specifically. A little girl who encouraged me this week.
Please check out Riley's Lemonade Page to watch another video about the importance of this ministry, share this with your friends whom you think might be interested in helping, and/or feel free to leave a comment of encouragement to Riley here (I'll make sure her mom sees it)!
God bless you Riley and your passion for this ministry, may the Lord use you mightily in this cause and many others throughout the days of your life.
I'm going to donate tomorrow :) I recently saw a piece about this and I'm glad it landed back on my radar!! Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I think taking the border off the tabs did help ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing she is! I too take my water for granted! Thanks for sharing this!
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