He Gives and He Takes Away

Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Blessed be His Name.

Last weekend we were privileged to attend and participate in the baby dedication of one of our dear workers, Maria. If you have followed my blogs in the past, my description of a baby dedication is a time full of singing and dancing, gift giving, a short message to the mother's and then for food and drink. A typical food and drink would be a fried doughnut like bread in a
criss-cross fashion and a drink called "Maheou."

I remember the first time I was offered Maheou at the first dedication I attended. I asked one of the other Brazilian missionaries if this was safe to drink. She just made this awful face and said, "God knows. He will protect us." I was thinking, "well, am I going to die here from drinking this stuff?" It smelled really really bad, and if you know me personally you know I can't smell anything unless it is really really bad! So when it came for my drink to be poured, at that time I only knew a couple of words and thankfully one of them was, "pouco pouco" which means a little bit. So I drank a teeny tiny bit and was able to not offend the mother and her family for not refusing. That was 4 years ago. Today at any given baby dedication you can now find, Orange or Strawberry Fanta, thank you Lord!

Maria's dedication had even more of an endearment for Val and I. Maria asked us to name the baby! Val and I wrestled for a couple of minutes and then Maria said, "she must have the name of a woman from the bible." Well, that made it easier and almost unanimously we said, "Esther" It is pronounced so beautifully here. (Essteir) I love the language here, I pray I can one day speak it fluently.

The "dedication" of the baby process, is that women's ministry leaders and closest friends go into the house to pray and dedicate the child to God. After the prayer of dedication, then the child is brought outside into the sunlight to show for the first time. Someone gives a short message of encouragement and then the dancing begins with a loud shout for joy to the Lord. Not only was I privileged to come, but I dedicated the baby and then gave a short message of encouragement. Prov. 22:6
I wanted to speak to the ladies that we as Mother's have a tremendous responsibility in raising our children. They watch what we do, they follow what we do. We will make many mistakes and that is why all of us must help each other. We need to help keep each other accountable before the Lord and walk along side of each other to fill in the gap. We must take our children to church and teach them about Jesus and never take them to the witchdoctor. It doesn't matter what the traditions are, we must keep our eyes on Jesus because He is the only way. The blessings of our families come from Him. This is a day I will never forget and a child which I will always hold dear to my heart.

While I was speaking to the women and children, there was a stir amongst some of the ladies. So many people were crowded around me I couldn't see what was going on but a few of the ladies left. Afterwards we got word that a new baby had died during the dedication of life. This baby was the child of a boy whose father is the chief of witchdoctors in the Dondo area where we live. The mother was a niece to one of our other workers. The young mother had been living with the boy's family and they wanted the baby to be in line to be a dedicated witchdoctor. Since the baby died, the girl was put out. There was a ritual service for the dead baby the next day.

In the next 48 hours 4 people died within our project. Life is so fragile here. Have you thanked God for another day of life today?

Please Read These Words......
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

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

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name