It's been one of those weeks, where I think I have felt every emotion imaginable within seven days. And as I reflect back on it, I can't help but think of the worship song we were singing just a week ago.
Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
We were able to have a couple of days to go and worship, to be together as a team, to make memories, to laugh together, to see new sights...
Blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name
...to take a break from the heaviness of daily life here where the poverty is relentless & the HIV rate is staggering.
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in
Lord, still I will say
I was humbled to tears that night as I looked at my Swazi brothers & sisters singing this song...and they have been where the darkness closes in...burying fathers & sisters & brothers who have died from poverty or AIDS...raising children as single parents and being raised by single parents...not being able to finish school because there wasn't enough money...going to bed hungry at night.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
As we worshiped, I remembered the truth that the ground is level at the foot of the cross - our pasts, presents & futures don't matter because in light of God's holiness, we are all sinners in need of a savior. And for this night, we weren't Swazi or American, HIV + or -, single or married, parents or children, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, healthy or sick. We were creation worshiping the Creator, the rescued ones worshiping the Rescuer.
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your name
On our way back to normal life, we stopped at the beach to play in the ocean, some for the first time. It was better than watching kids on Christmas morning to see people playing in the waves for the first time. It had only been 24 hours away, but we grew as a team, staying up late into the night, learning more about each other, sharing meals together, and worshiping together.
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
And as we got back home, the reality of the brokenness of this world hit us head on...one of our teenage friends passed away from AIDS, our friend's wound from 1996 still isn't healed, babies are still needing surgery, people are still needing to go to the hospital, families are still without fathers, kids are still not in school because of a lack of money, parents are still without jobs, people are still worshiping other things besides God.
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Of all the emotions we feel I can't help but think of the ones that nonbelievers miss out on. Like how I feel when I sing every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise! And the emotion I feel when I think of what you're doing there
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