Monday, October 8, 2012

Hoover Dam: Light and Water

Scroll to the bottom for the winner of last Friday's book giveaway: 
The Shunning, by Beverly Lewis

Have you ever lost power in your home or gone for a hike and run out of water? I have, too.

Today we celebrate the Hoover Dam.

On October 9,  in 1936, a switch opened the doors allowing water to flow over the Hoover Dam for the first time. 

Generators sprang to life, electrical power flowed to residents in the west improving quality of life and providing a way for new businesses. Producing electricity for those in the west is often the focused news about the Hoover Dam.

But, the lesser know primary reason for the dam was to provide water to needy desert regions in the west. 

Los Angeles residents and other communities in the west struggled for years to find adequate water. The desert area took many lives, human, animal, and plant. One could live without electricity, but they could not live without fresh water.

And yet, not far away, the Colorado River flowed into the ocean dumping tons of usable fresh water into the sea. 

With the building of the dam, an idea to bring water to the west was formed. 

Engineers and architects of the dam built aqueducts to carry the halted Colorado River water to ranches and communities in the west.

Imagine living in a desert community. It's summertime and the well ran dry. Your horses are thirsty. The pipes had been installed to bring water and according to some official, it would come one day. You sort of believed it. You told your children they would have plenty of water soon and rubbed the horses back to assure the animal water would come.

Then an unexpected sound came. A sound you had never heard on your land. You go to investigate and find water flowing. Fresh water. Glasses are pulled out of the cupboard and filled with the clear liquid. You give some to your children and drink together. You pour some in a dusty trough and lead the horse to the tasty liquid. 

"Amazing," you say. You knew it would come. But then it did and it was better than you thought.

I would have liked to have seen God create the sun, moon, and stars. I would have like to been there the day God created the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers.

I must admit, I am amazed when God's power touches lives. I know He is able, but when it happens, excitement bubbles inside and makes me want to jump and dance, sing, laugh, cheer.

Do you think those in the west felt that way the day electricity came from the Hoover Dam?

But . . .

There have been times I did not have access to water. A few times the water near me needed to be filtered before drinking and I didn't have a filter. I have known thirst. I felt tired as if drugged, unwilling to go find drinkable water, and if someone offered me a cup, I didn't feel like drinking. My lips dried, cracked, and bled. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and my stomach hurt.  

The thirst I knew was small compared to the thirst of those living in the west before the Colorado River water flowed to their land. The Hoover Dam and the aqueducts helped meet that physical need. 

There is another water we can have. 

Jesus told the woman at the well, "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst again. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13 NIV

Now that sounds like good water. No filtration needed! 

If you have never tasted the living water Jesus speaks of, and don't know what to do, email me and I will be glad to tell you more of what Jesus said.

Have you been without power or water? What happened or what did you do while you waited? 

The winner of the book drawing for The Shunning by Beverly Lewis is Jill Kemerer. Congratulations, Jill!


Janice said...

Mary, This is such a timely devo. We did the woman at the well story for children's Sunday School yesterday!

I have never been without water to drink, but I have been without power and that gets old fast. We have had boil water days and that is aggravating. But it all goes a bit more smoothly just having that living water flowing inside the body.


Cynthia Herron said...

We, too, talked about the woman at the well yesterday in Sunday School. (Praise God for His living water.)

Since we live in Tornado Alley, we're often w/o power at certain times of the year. When the last two tornadoes tore through our neck of the woods (2003 &2005), we were w/o electricity for almost five days! We lost everything in our freezer, and of course, being on a well, we had no power to our well pump. We have a whole new appreciation for modern conveniences now!

Lindsay Harrel said...

Um, I live in the desert, and I can't imagine going without water. I carry a water bottle in my purse everywhere. I get thirsty all the time.

I love that analogy about Jesus and water, because I know how vital water is!

Mary Vee said...

How timely the topics came at the same time!
I think the hardest part about being without power, aside from loosing food in the fridge or freezer is the dark. Dark take a whole new meaning in these times, don't you think?
God's living water does bring comfort at those times.

Mary Vee said...

Thanks for sharing. Desert life is interesting. I find even my skin gets thirsty so I need lots of lotions.

I agree, living water is the most important.

Mary Vee said...

No electricity for five days. Wow. Loosing the food would have been difficult, but loosing power to the pump, I hadn't considered. That must have taken interesting strategy to get through those days. I'm so glad you did.