One of the first things I wrote as this World Race journey started, even before I knew about the Race, included some “Life Theme Songs”, songs that resonate with where I am in life at the moment, voice my heart or carry my prayer.
Here are my “Life Theme Songs” from this year. Originally this list was meant to be given to my squad at our final debrief. The thoughts and prayers I wanted to include never really got “finished” so this list has been sitting on my desktop for the last month. So even in it’s uncompleted state – here’s to the squad who was with me throughout these seasons, the experiences this year has held, the lessons I’ve learned and will still be learning in ten years, the God who allowed me the honor of living this year in these places with these people.
1. Where
You Go I’ll Go, Brian and Jenn Johnson. Romania. June 2010.
2. I Will Not Be Silent. Jonathan David
Helser. Ukraine. July 2010.
3. Let Go Now. Kelanie Gloeckler. Ireland.
August 2010.
4. The Anthem. Jake Hamilton. The
Awakening. Early Sept 2010.
5. Come Up Higher. O Squad. Ireland
Debrief. Early Sept 2010.
6. Wavin Flag. K’naan. Going into Africa. Early
Sept 2010.
7. God of the Angel Armies. Jonathan
David Helser. Kenya. Sept 2010.
8. You Will Not Relent. David Brymer. Uganda.
Oct 2010.
9. See me Through. Tim Reimherr.
Uganda. Oct 2010.
10. Awaken Us. Cory Asbury. Africa.
Sept-Nov 2010.
11. Waka Waka. Shakira. End of Africa.
Nov 2010.
12. Come Walk with Me. Frontline
Worship. Asia. Dec/Jan 2010/11.
13. We Are Yours. Charlie Hall. Asia.
Jan 2011.
14. Finally I Surrender. IHOP. Cambodia
Debrief. Jan 2011.
15. I Saw What I Saw. Sara Groves. ATL. February
2011.
16. I Knew What I Was Getting Into. Misty
Edwards. Nicaragua. March 2011.
17. Flags. Brooke Fraser.
Nicaragua/Hondruas/El Salv. March 2011.
18. March On. The Autumn Film. El
Salvador. April 2011.
19. The Call. Regina Spektor. Guatemala.
April 2011.
20. Hymn. Brooke Fraser. Every
continent. Ending prayer – May 12th, 2011.
To O Squad….
Where You Go. “Where you go, I’ll go. What you say,
I’ll say.� I think
this is a good summary of what we all told the Lord as we left the States, quit
our jobs, put our lives into backpacks and set out to the world. Continue to
pray this prayer as we get back to the States, figure out what’s next, unpack
our backpacks and decide how we’re going to continue to go, pray, say and
surrender.
I Will Not Be Silent.
You were born to worship.
You were born to speak out the wonders of the Lord. You aren’t here – wherever
that is now – to be held back by fear.
Let Go Now. I have always loved the line “Take me by the corners of my soul and shake
me.� Anyone else feel like that’s happened this year? Anyone feel like
it’ll probably happen again? It’s good stuff. Let go and let it happen.
The Anthem. “Wake
up, child. It’s your time to shine. You were born for such a time as this.�
Come Up Higher. I was in a bunk bed in Ukraine,
sometime between 3 and 5am in the morning when these lyrics were written down. And
then I got to hang around while the words were put to music. But when we all
sing this song together…
Wavin Flag. I will never hear this song without
thinking about the last couple of days in Ireland and the time we had together
at Milamani before we all spread out over Kenya. There was an excitement and a
passion and a call for freedom that we soon found out we needed.
God of Angel Armies. This was a reminder to me so many
times throughout Africa. As we saw what a small fire in a slum could do to
displace lives, or as squadmates got sick with malaria and typhoid and
parasites, or… yeah, you all know what your lives held in Africa. But it was
such a beautiful time to be reminded of the Lord’s protection and provision.
You Will Not Relent. “It’s all about a wedding to come. It’s all about a God who’s a lover.�
See me Through. “I’m a stranger here with You struggling inside to be a resting place for
You. And I was made to be with You. I don’t truly rest until I find my rest in
You. So come and see me through.�
Awaken Us. “Awaken us. Let the light of Your countenance shine on us.�
Waka Waka. “Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.
You’re on the front line, everyone’s watching. You know it’s you as we’re
getting closer, this isn’t over. The pressure’s on, you feel it. But you got it
all, believe it. When you fall, get up. If you fall, get up. Cause this is
Africa. This is our motto: your time to shine don’t wait in line. If you get
down, get up. When you get down, get up.�
Come Walk with Me. “Come walk with me.
Speak to my heart. What’s deep in me only you know. Come walk with me.�
We Are Yours. “We are yours. We are a generation
touched by your salvation, made by you and for your glory. You’ve marked us
here to alter history.� So many
times when I didn’t have words to pray for the squad, when I felt burdened by
everything that was going on, when sometimes it was overwhelming to think of
how to specifically pray for each person, this is what I would pray and sing.
Over and over again. We are yours. What else do we need but to know that we’re
His, that He’s with us in the middle of it? This song screams a holy surrender
to whatever He would have for us.
Finally I
Surrender. “All I need
is You to have Your way.�
I Saw What
I Saw. “We’ve
done what we’ve done and we can’t erase it. We are what we are and it’s more
than enough. We have what we have but it’s no substitution. Your pain has
changed me, your dream inspires. Your face a memory, your hope a fire. Your
courage asked me what I am made of and what I know of love.�
I Knew
What I Was Getting Into. “And I see in you
strength when all you see is your failure and all you feel is ashamed. I can
see deeper than that. I know you better than that. You’re only at the
beginning. You’ve only just begun and I know where you are going. And all you
can see in the moment is that your hurting. And all you can see in the moment
is that you’re aching. Just don’t give up.â€�
Flags. “I don’t know why the innocent fall
while the monsters stand. I don’t know why the little ones thirst but I know
the last shall be first. I know the last shall be first.�
The Call. “Just because everything’s changing
doesn’t mean it’s never been this way before. Now we’re back to the beginning.
It’s just a feeling and no one knows yet. But just because they can’t feel it
too, doesn’t mean that you have to forget. Let your memories grow stronger and
stronger til they’re before your eyes. You’ll come back when they call you. No
need to say goodbye. You’ll come back when they call you. No need to say
goodbye.“
March On. I have to
laugh and wonder at how much older most, if not all, of us look from pictures
at training camp only 11 months ago. It’s impossible to explain the time warp
that this year has been, the amount of life and experience that was packed into
a year. At the end of this thing, some of us are tired. Emotionally,
physically, spiritually…or all of the above. But here’s what sings to my soul
about this squad, as we continue on in this journey that is about so much more
than the Race. “We’ll run with our aging
bones. We will sing with our tired lungs. We’ll march with our broken drums.
March on to our broken drum.�
Hymn.
My prayer throughout the race, and even now we
move on. “If to distance, lives are
scattered; If I sail to farthest seas, will you find and fervent gather til I
only dwell in Thee. If I flee from greenest pastures, would you leave to look
for me? Forfeit glory to come after, til I only dwell in Thee. If my heart has
one ambition, if my soul one goal to seek, this my solitary vision, til I only
dwell in Thee; that I only dwell in Thee.�
