"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:4-5
This past Saturday, I went on a girl's retreat with my youth group. The theme was water. I just wanted to share three major points from that day that I think are important.
1. Water = Life
Water is absolutely necessary for survival. Some people, however, don't have easy access to this basic need. In some third world countries, women will walk for three hours to the nearest place with accessible water. Even then, that water might be contaminated and undrinkable. On the retreat, we took a walk to a nearby creek with some buckets to go get water and carry it back so that we could understand what the women in third world countries go through. The funny thing is, we actually met this man who was from Ethiopia whose family back home has to deal with the very issues we were talking about. He talked to us about it a little bit, and then taught us how to carry the water on our head. I just think it's so cool how God put that man there that very day to help us learn about this crisis. Turns out, it's actually a real pain in the butt to have to walk to go get water and then carry it all back without spilling it. There were a lot of times on the way back that I just wanted to dump out all the water from my bucket, but I pushed through and eventually made it back. For me, it took the experience of actually having to go get water and carry it all back to really feel compassionate for people suffering from this water crisis and want to make a difference. If you want to help end the water crisis, go to the website at the end of this video and donate. Or, if you're broke like me, prayers are always good. :)
2. The Holy Spirit is the "water" for our souls
The Holy Spirit gives life to our souls in the same way that water gives life to our bodies. Our spiritual life begins in Baptism by the Holy Spirit's outpouring into our souls. We continue to receive the Holy Spirit as we receive the rest of the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit is truly dwelling in us. This doesn't mean much, however, if we don't invite the Holy Spirit to change us and work through us for the glory of God. We need to allow the "water" that is the Holy Spirit to flow out of us so that the rest of the world can have this life-giving water as well. (Ha, well, get it? like water comes from a well?)
3. Water doesn't stop moving
In nature, water never stops moving. The waves in the ocean move, the current of the river moves, and even the still pond water moves because of the water cycle. Likewise, the Holy Spirit doesn't stop moving in us, forming us to be the children of God that we were created to be, and achieving God's purpose for us. But sometimes, we don't notice this. Sometimes it feels like we're far away from God or that the Holy Spirit has abandoned us. It's hard to pray because we can't tell that God is really listening. I know that it felt like that to me for a while this year. It was just so hard to pray that I started to fall out of the habit of praying daily and didn't spend nearly as much time with God as I should have. I kept trying to find that close relationship with God, but I couldn't help but feel like there was a big wall between God and me, and I didn't know how to knock it down. Finally, during worship at the retreat I just started sobbing and crying, but not out of frustration or sadness. I received the gift of tears. God gave me the gift of tears to show me that the Holy Spirit was still working in my life, I just didn't know how. I just needed to trust. Through my flood of tears, the Holy Spirit knocked the wall between God and me down and freed me to live joyfully, finding life in the Living Water.
3. Water doesn't stop moving
In nature, water never stops moving. The waves in the ocean move, the current of the river moves, and even the still pond water moves because of the water cycle. Likewise, the Holy Spirit doesn't stop moving in us, forming us to be the children of God that we were created to be, and achieving God's purpose for us. But sometimes, we don't notice this. Sometimes it feels like we're far away from God or that the Holy Spirit has abandoned us. It's hard to pray because we can't tell that God is really listening. I know that it felt like that to me for a while this year. It was just so hard to pray that I started to fall out of the habit of praying daily and didn't spend nearly as much time with God as I should have. I kept trying to find that close relationship with God, but I couldn't help but feel like there was a big wall between God and me, and I didn't know how to knock it down. Finally, during worship at the retreat I just started sobbing and crying, but not out of frustration or sadness. I received the gift of tears. God gave me the gift of tears to show me that the Holy Spirit was still working in my life, I just didn't know how. I just needed to trust. Through my flood of tears, the Holy Spirit knocked the wall between God and me down and freed me to live joyfully, finding life in the Living Water.
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