Praising

I continue to read stories and see images of Haiti. Constant reminders of how different life is there, of how blessed I am here, of what we need to do as human beings and as Christians, well, too too many more to list. My heart breaks each and every single time I read a headline or a story related to what has been going on in Haiti. Tonite after dinner I was reading a story online about a father's desperation and frustration at trying to locate his missing daughter who went to Haiti as a missionary...to do good...to help those in need...and now she is missing and presumed dead. Today is her birthday. She would be 20. She told her parents via phone just one hour before the quake hit that she knew she wanted to do this for the rest of her life...to be a missionary...to put others needs before her own. And now...her family waits, and I wait, and the world waits to see what will happen next. And its funny or odd or however you want to word it but each and every time my heart breaks again and the tears roll down my face again I can only hear these words in my head; "I was sure by now,God, You would have reached down and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say amen and it's still raining as the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain, "I'm with you" and as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away. And I'll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am and every tear I've cried You hold in your hand You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm I remember when I stumbled in the wind You heard my cry to You and raised me up again my strength is almost gone how can I carry on if I can't find You and as the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain "I'm with you" and as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away I lift my eyes onto the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth I lift my eyes onto the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth" Those are the lyrics to the song Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns and although that song was written just after hurricane Katrina I find the words fitting for what has happened with Haiti. "The Lord who gives and takes away" I completely love, trust, have faith in and worship Jesus Christ and I always will and I trust and understand that all things happen by His will and His timing. So I trust and have faith that every single person in Haiti and around the world who has been affected by this devastation is all part of His plan in some way or another. I do not believe He caused the quake (our slowly destroying His planet is probably most likely the cause of the quake) but I believe that we will learn from all of this and hopefully will be moved to action, to great feats of human kindness and physical response. But it hasn't been an easy way to learn or be motivated to action. My heart is not the same today as it was an hour before that earthquake hit Haiti. I've changed. I hope you have too. But I WILL praise Him in this storm, and the next, and the next and the next for without Him I would learn nothing, be unable to act upon anything and be unwilling to do whatever it takes to do whatever is needed by anyone, anywhere. "The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you. Psalms 9:9-10 (NLT) Amen