Oh, The Places I'll Go

A month ago, some amazing friends and my husband went with me to Guatemala to drill a clean water well with Living Water International. I know y'all have heard me talk about this organization, and how passionate I am - my whole family, actually - about the amazing things they are doing through the generosity of people like you and I and by following the guidance of our loving Heavenly Father. I can't say enough good things about the life change I constantly witness thanks to this organization! And I knew I wasn't alone in my thinking - plenty of people have had wonderful things to say about LWI. However, I didn't exactly expect for my 8-year-old son, Wes, to be so vocal.

While we were gone on our mission, Wes's class wrote essays about their goals as they proceed on through school. Their teachers all sent these essays home during that last week of school, and this is what he wrote (I took the liberty of correcting his spelling):

"Oh the Places I'll Go"


My goal is to go to a country called Guatemala to drill wells for water that is clean. I want to be like my parents. I have to be 14 to drill. So I will give them clean water. My parents are there now! Guatemala is very poor and very hot. The people are adults are only as tall as me! They call what we call football soccer. The water there is very dirty with bugs and dirt. So that is my goal in life to get clean water for who doesn't have any.

Admittedly, this brought tears to my eyes pretty quickly. What parent wouldn't want to hear their kids say something like "I want to be like my parents"? The trouble is, I believe, that his heart is so much cleaner, purer, and more set on Jesus than mine is. So, in all honesty, I pray that he isn't a thing like me. But I pray that he carries a passion in his heart to serve people - the people of Guatemala and the world - in a way that brings joy to his heart and the heart of God.

I know each of my children is a special blessing, and each is born to be a blessing in their own way. But Wes is a little different from Abby and Marshall. He genuinely, deeply cares for people. He loves people in a way that I could only hope to. He loves people regardless of their circumstances, and that's something I admire about him. I pray that in 5 or 6 more years, when he's ready to drill and "get clean water for who doesn't have any" that the world will embrace his willing spirit and receive the gift that I know he's eager to give.

It's times like these that I know for certain that these children aren't really mine... only borrowed from the One who created them.