I recently moved into a new house this month – new house, new part of town, new neighborhood, new neighbors.  

It was quite an adjustment moving into this new place without really knowing who I was residing by. In my old neighborhood I knew almost every person/family that lived there.  

While I was moving in, the wonderful lady that I am renting from stopped by to make sure we were settling in well. While she was there, I saw her speaking to an older lady that lived right behind me now. After a few minutes, my new landlord came back in and told me that this lady has no family or friends nearby. She said she keeps to herself for the most part, but she also said that this lady had no running water in her home. 

I thought that was crazy. I absolutely could not go without functionable plumbing.  

My landlord had said that she and her husband had even offered to get her water turned on and running at one point before, but the lady refused.  

A few days later, I noticed that the older woman had large jugs of water out on her porch. I assumed that is what she used to go about her daily activities when water was needed. 

But I did not think about the fact that it had been below freezing for a couple of days now and surely that water sitting outside was now frozen. I did not have this realization until lying in bed one evening, I heard my outside faucet turn on suddenly.  

I peeked outside and saw the lady filling up a bucket of water. I never said anything and of course I did not mind, but she came back the next day, as well. With temperatures still not set to get above freezing for another day, I guess her water supply was still frozen.  

I wanted to speak to her and let her know that I did not mind, and she could take as much as she needed, but I was too worried about startling her or possibly making her feel embarrassed, so I decided against it.  

But I couldn’t help but to see the Samaritan woman at the well mentioned in the fourth chapter of John in the Bible, when I saw her at my outside faucet.  

I am by no means saying that I am like Jesus providing Living Water to quench this lady’s thirst for the rest of her life. It was quite the opposite. I saw myself in the older woman – in the Samaritan woman.

I have been the Samaritan woman at the well myself and I may still make a visit or two here and there looking for things outside of Christ to fill the voids in my life.  

I relate to her.  

The woman had been married a handful of times and was living with her boyfriend in sin when she met Jesus at the well. She visited the well during the hottest part of the day when everyone else was resting because she felt ashamed to attend the well in the presence of other women. And yet, Jesus met this specific woman at this specific time.  

The woman was considered inferior because of her sex, ethnicity, and relationship history/status, but none of that mattered to Jesus. He is not fazed by our sin. He knows the sin within us and sees our evil desires, but He still pursues us and loves us despite those things. He saw her need for salvation – not only for her physical needs, but her spiritual ones, as well. He knew her just as He knows us.  

This served as a reminder for me that God can save us no matter what our circumstances are. “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” I take this as meaning that if we follow Him, we can rest in His promise that whatever we are going through now is temporary. We do not need to attempt to overcome our sins on our own (we cannot), but through His sacrifice, our sins are atoned for, and we are given new life (eternal life) because of His love for us.  

Also, like the Samaritan woman, we should remember to share that good news to our neighbors, even those that our town, our country or the world claims to be unfit or unworthy to receive it.

(Paige Nash is a mom of three girls, digital journalist for Webster Parish Journal and publisher of Bienville Parish Journal and Claiborne Parish Journal.)