Pregnant. And an Encounter with a Lady I have Never Met. In Africa.

I step out.  Again.

The deck from our condo.  Overlooking the ocean.

For glass doors do little to hide my fascination to the wide open.  And I am drawn to it…..like a gazelle in the Savannah.  A dry and thirsty one….hoping for more than a mirage in the desert.

And nothing more. Separating. Water and sky. But a line. A line on horizons I long to reach.

And I think of the High and Lifted One looking down on me.  Bringing me to this place of serenity…..when my world has been a whirlwind drifting along parches sands with little water.

But then, I spot it.  There.  Sitting.  Calling from the floor.  Tumbled from my Bible last time I was alone with the Lord.

“Ayissa’s Story.”

A mother of five.  Only thirty-five…..and pregnant.  Her story?  Her source of life a mucky pond.  Stopped up.  Stagnant water.

Even after boiling it there is still scum on top.  Though when thirsty….they are compelled to drink it. 

And how often we drink things mucky.  Dirty.  Not worth digesting…..all because we too….are far from The Water Source?

When oceans await.

And I hesitate.

Looking at my water source. Not even tap water….but  “Propel Zero.” Water with flavor. 

And what Ayissa might have given for this $1.50 bottle of clean water? ….no, not just water…..but water with added vitamins.

And I shrink back.

Coincidence?

Of all the inserts and pamphlets and notes. Things of importance in my Bible….Why did this one go missing?  Today?  Here at the ocean?

And I thank Him….for oceans unending.  Uncapping….much more hesitantly my store bought, enhanced water….as Ayissa’s story kicks within me.

And I repent.  Give thanks.  And pray.

For that unborn baby on the way.  And the five kids of that woman I have never seen.  A woman not so unlike me.  Treading miles each day….to get a bucket of stenched water.  To carry to her home.

All for the sake of love.

While I sit here with oceans before me.  A growing gut.  Burdened.   

Most pregnant…..

For the nations.