Daily Encouragement (11/19/21) "World Toilet Day"
Published: Fri, 11/19/21
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A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.
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Friday, November 19, 2021
 A preserved* farm on Grandview Road near Mount Joy. Tuesday we saw two deer racing across the field but too quickly for a photo. (Click on photo to enlarge) "World Toilet Day"
Message summary: Today when you count your blessings, naming them one by one, be sure to include the toilet and your own digestive health!
Listen to this message on your audio player.
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).
 Today is World Toilet Day. Did you know that? Indeed there really is such a day. If in doubt, see here if you're like Thomas. We read: "WHO CARES ABOUT TOILETS?... the 3.6 billion people
who do not have access to a safely managed sanitation service. We should all care more about toilets. If you have a [good functioning] toilet be thankful. Life without a toilet is dirty, dangerous and undignified. Public health depends on toilets."Well I hope the other 4.15 billion that do have a toilet also care and are thankful, although many take having a toilet for granted.
We have little experience regarding having inadequate toilet facilities, although there were times in life we probably wish we had more. Brooksyne grew up in a family of seven and they used an outdoor toilet for several years! We both recall outhouses at our grandparents. Brooksyne's grandparents used theirs for decades, but for my grandparents it was just a remnant from the time before they got indoor plumbing. An outdoor toilet was still
useful when extended family gathered during the holidays.
 Apart from a camp setting, our only memory of not having access to an indoor separate bathroom goes back some 30 years ago during a visit to Guatemala. We had hosted Marvin, a young Guatemalan boy, who had a serious medical condition and after his surgery, recovery and return to his home we went down to visit him and his family. They lived in a barrio near Guatemala City in a two room
house and shared a community bathroom with others in the village.We've stayed in touch with Marvin through the years. He is now in his mid-thirties with a wife and children. He's done well both medically and vocationally, working with the national forestry department in Guatemala. Above all he's serving the Lord and is active in his church. And I'm pretty sure he has an indoor toilet!
 Back to "World Toilet Day". This morning I visited with several plumbers at JK Mechanical. Plumbers are at the forefront of public health. No matter how
advanced or affluent a country is if the plumbing goes down we'd all, rich and poor, be in deep trouble, real fast. Since it's World Toilet Day and we are approach Thanksgiving week let us give thanks for two likely under-considered blessings:
1) The blessing of our own internal plumbing system, also known as our digestive system. We easily take it for granted but it's a wonderful design and anyone who has had serious digestive problems know that any alternative is not nearly as good as the original. Indeed we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
2) The blessing of our home's plumbing system. The Bible doesn't say much about bathroom practices. In the Law it refers to a primitive hygienic method in Deuteronomy 23:12, "Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself". This is followed by some rather frank instructions in v.13. Although toilet technology is different, this was indeed an effective practice long before humans were aware of microscopic germs.
Today when you count your blessings, naming them one by one, be sure to include the toilet and your own digestive health!
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
 Daily prayer: Father, we thank you for
the grand design of our human bodies. And we give a hearty amen to the Psalmist's assessment and proclamation, that indeed we are fearfully and wonderfully made! When we are strong and healthy, we often take it for granted and even expect it, but when a part(s) is out of sync or dysfunctional we soon realize how wonderful it is to be healthy and functioning properly. In addition to our health, You provide us with comforts and conveniences that makes life easier, to the point that we take it
for granted and even expect it. We count among our blessings our houses that provide privacy, that protects us from the elements and extremes of heat and cold. We also thank You for indoor plumbing that makes clean sanitation possible both in the kitchen and bathroom. We're grateful for plumbers who come to our aid when the need arises. For all things we are grateful. Amen.Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Good and Gracious King" Video CityAlight This has nothing to do with the theme of today's message but I couldn't think of any song that would! Of course I did allude to "Count Your Blessings". Video
Two years ago I wrote a message on World Toilet Day approaching it from a different angle: "The Value Of The Plumber"
* A preserved farm: Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of farms and acres permanently preserved for agricultural production. See here.
 JK Plumbers ready to head out to work this morning.
Finally today:
 Two days ago we wrote a message about my tracking and anticipating an electric bike, expecting it Wednesday. Well actually it arrived yesterday (so much for accuracy in tracking). I assembled it and so far so good. I took it for a several mile ride before it started raining.
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." © Copyright 2021 Stephen C. & Brooksyne Weber - All Rights Reserved
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