Why Water?

I was asked last Thursday why I chose water when there were so many good causes to support in this world. It's simple, really.

I remember that day in Ethiopia, meeting Tariku's someone special, so very vividly. I remember holding a hand and silently promising God and that person that I would do everything I possibly could to never make this situation have to happen again. I was so excited to start our lives with Tariku and am still so humbled to be blessed by him but I knew I wasn't "best case scenario" in his life. And so I made a promise. A promise that I would try to keep the "best case scenarios" of other little kids.

The roots of my passion for water certainly stem from my belief in God. The belief that my heart should be broken by the things that break the heart of God. But I also believe humans in general and adoptive parents specifically should be doing more to help the humanity around us. That we should be motivated to act by tears being shed regardless if we ever actually see them drop.

So I chose water because I know Tariku's story. I know his story and I have no problem reading between the lines and seeing how a lack of clean water led to me, to us being a family. And though I'm grateful for him, I've heard his stories. I know his heart breaks again and again at night. I know he remembers things. He's felt things I've never felt and at least some of that is because of water.

So that's why water. Because it either takes a life or gives a life. I'm going to try as hard as I can to be on the latter side of that equation. To give another child the family it deserves. To give a mom a lifetime of "I love yous" and to spare more heartache than I can possibly imagine.

It's simple, it's fairly easy and it's certainly the least I can do as a way of saying "thanks" for this gift that was given to me. As a way of making up for all of my faults as a mom and for acknowledging that there was certainly someone who could've done it better than me.