Life on the Vine

August 1, 2012 marked the beginning of our new life in southern Arizona.  After nearly twenty hours of traveling, we arrived in Arizona, leaving behind lovely, wonderful Germany.  Living in Germany was a dream come true for me.  I'd wanted to have the experience of living overseas for many years and I got to have that experience for almost three years.  I am and forever will be VERY grateful.  There are definitely many things I'll miss about Germany and Europe but after nine months of living apart from Tom, it was time to get us both under the same roof.     More answered prayer was the fact that I got a Public Affairs job in the area and didn't have to resign in order to move back to the States.  We definitely feel like it's God's plan for us to be living in Arizona.   We look forward to seeing what He's got in store for us.  I took a week and a half of leave before starting my new job this past Monday.  We've been busy getting our new house set up.  We

All life on Earth needs it and it's called many things: H2O...voda....maim...mool...aqua...maji...amanzi...thuk...eau...das Wasser...rano.  But all those mean the same thing - WATER . Water covers 70.9 percent of the Earth's surface and is vital for all forms of life.  Water is used for drinking, cooking, agriculture, transportation, energy, laundry, even putting out fires.  In the United States it's easy to take clean drinking water for granted.  We probably consider it one of our inalienable rights...the right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and the right to clean, safe drinking water.  It's a very different reality for nearly half of humanity.  780 million people lack access to improved water sources.  Water for drinking, bathing and cooking is drawn from stagnant ponds, filthy rivers and rusty wells.  Statistics show that water and sanitation issues claim more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.  Latest numbers estimate that 3.41 mi