40 Days of Water

Okay, so I'm not Catholic, but occasionally I do observe Lent.  Lent is a period of self-denial, reflection, prayer and remembrance that lasts 40 days, starting Ash Wednesday, which was yesterday, and ending on Easter.  The 40 days represent the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert fasting, praying and being tempted by the devil.  It's is a time of sacrifice and a time to remember all that Jesus went through to become the Ultimate Sacrifice, to die in our place, so that we may live eternally.

So, this year as I was thinking about different things I could give up for Lent, I remembered something I heard about last year.  It's called "40 Days of Water" and it's through an organization called Blood: Water Mission.  This is an organization that provides clean drinking water for people in Africa by building wells and water tanks.  Each year at Lent, they have one simple mission.  They ask people to drink nothing but water for those 40 days and keep track of what would have been spent on soda, coffee, etc... and donate that money for more clean water efforts in Africa at the end of the 40 days.

So, this has become my mission for the next 40 days.  Drinking only water will keep me aware of the sacrifice I'm making (giving up coffee isn't going to be easy!) and thus will help me to remember all that the Lord sacrificed for me.  And donating the money I would have spent anyway will be a small way to help someone in a country without clean drinking water live a longer, healthier life.