LOOKING AT TODAY'S BLIP.....

….. you may well be wondering if I have completely lost it!  This morning when I woke up, Mr. HCB was up, as usual, but no sooner had I gone into the bathroom than he was shouting to me that I wouldn’t be able to have a shower because we had no water.

Fortunately, I had put the mat from our shower into the bath yesterday to soak and it was still there - I had been busy all day gardening and baking, so hadn’t had time to clean it off, so there was lots of soapy water still in the bath.  Out with the jug, in with the water and very soon there was enough water and soap suds in the cistern to at least give it a flush - and it looks as if it needs a good clean anyway!  Of course, we do still have hot water in the tank, but it wouldn’t be safe to have a shower when the water could be scalding hot with no cold water to cool it down.

I went online but couldn’t see anything on the Thames Water Live update website, so rang and was told via a recorded message that there was a problem in our area, but their engineers were working on it.

This made me stop and think of all those in the world who have days like this EVERY day - and for us, it’s not the end of the world - we still have hot water, for a while anyway, and if we need drinking water, we can just pop over to the shop and buy a few bottles to get us through this.  But what about those who don’t have enough money to do that?  Or those who have no shops, no standpipe, no rivers, no access to clean water of any kind - what about them?

1.8 billion people still lack access to a fresh water supply
2.5 billion need improved sanitation.
Over 5,000 children die each day due to dirty water or poor hygiene
Half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering water borne diseases
Water-related diseases kill one child every 15 seconds

I have managed to wash, so won’t be going to church dirty and smelly but even if I did, would God mind?  I doubt it.  Verses from Psalm 51 came to mind:

Be merciful to me, O God,
    because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy
    wipe away my sins!
Wash away all my evil
    and make me clean from my sin!
Remove my sin, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Create a pure heart in me, O God,
    and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
Psalm 51 : 1,2, 7 & 10
Good News Bible