This song came on the radio in the car the other day and B shouted, “Hey! We know that song!” We then had a sweet little worship time together singing at the top of our lungs, me drumming on the steering wheel and B drumming on his lap. “Bwessed be the name of the Ward!” We reached our destination while the song was still on and remained in the car to the end, singing together. Here are the lyrics, which have been ringing in my heart every since:
Blessed be Your name, in the land that is plentiful, where Your 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’ll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, 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 wolrd’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 offereing, blessed be Your name.
You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name!
Music and lyrics by Matt Redman and Beth Redman, copyright 2002.
What a great reminder of what life is all about. And it really doesn’t matter where I am, I can still live the life I’m created for. Of course, moving involves loss, and that means some grief. And that’s OK. More important than the green trees and blue mountains I spoke of before are the people we will leave behind here. In spite of myself I have made some good friends that I will miss a great deal. We worship with a wonderful group of folks here and have been through some hard times together. It will be hard to leave.
Being someplace for nearly 7 years allows emotional roots to grow a bit deeper, I think. It seems once you pass the 5 year mark it gets harder to leave a place. Our first duty station together was Hawaii. We lived there a little over 3 years. We left Hawaii in December and arrived at our new duty station, St. Louis, MO, in January. We literally drove into town during a snowstorm. That winter I referred to our new home as the state of Misery. 
Well, 5 1/2 years later, when it was time to move again, I found I had grown quite attached to St. Louis. We loved our church and our neighborhood, and G worked with a great group of folks.
Well, here I am nearly 7 years later. In all honesty, I haven’t been that fond of our neighborhood, or our house. And I’m very ready for G to have a reprieve from the stress he has lived under these past 5 years (since 9/11). But I’m finding I have grown attached to this place, just the same. On our way to our new home, we are spending a week in St. Louis and plan to see some of the folks we used to know there, and worship at our old church. So, I have hope that in the future, we will see these Virginia folks again, one way or another.
I have talked of our new home as our “dessert place.” But in reality, we are very happy with this move. This is a wonderful opportunity for G to continue his military education, and to also finish his degree. We are looking forward to a more relaxed schedule and less stress. We have also met some of the families he will be attending the academy with and look forward to making new friends. It certainly looks like it could be a very good year.
But, the song above reminds me, that no matter the circumstances, I am to worship my God – Blessed be His name! My prayer is that we will live that song, no matter what. This morning during our communion and prayer time, we prayed for a woman who has just been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Now that is definately tough circumstances. Of course we pray for healing. But that is not always what God chooses to do. It made me think – could I, would I, still turn my eyes to Him in the midst of such suffering? I believe that takes strength beyond our own to say “Blessed be Your name” on the “road marked with suffering.” I pray for that strength for this woman, for my family, and for each of you.
Back when I was a teenager, I took the Greyhound from New Hampshire to San Diego (3 times!), and I also nick-named Missouri ‘Misery’ becasue it always seemed like it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to drive through it. Plus, the bus broke down there one of those times and that was in the pre-cell phone age (they didn’t even have a cb!) and we had to sit on the side of the highway for hours until another Greyhound came by. Hey, you get what you pay for I guess… my ticket was only $69.00. That’s about what we pay to fill up our gas tank now!
I hope your move goes well, and that everything happens as smoothly as possible. (o:
Watch it now, you two,–Missouri is my home state.
Tell the truth, though, I now live in California, all our children were born here and it is home…..
I loved..”Bwessed be the name of the Ward!” What value in training our young ones.
Bwessings to you now.
I took a greyhound once from Houston to Dallas – once.
You have to admit, Shirley, that St. Louis in January – after living in Hawaii – would be pretty miserable.
But, alas, it is a wonderful state, and St. Louis is a great city – felt more like a town.
Awwwwwwww what a sweetie!!!
And I know what you mean about moving. This is our second place, and to tell the truth, I’ve never lived more than 30 miles away from my birthplace. With Rob looking to go to seminary in the next few years, we WILL have to move, and probably far away. It makes me sad for losing the constancy of life here, but happy for new adventures. Everything to His glory and in His timing, right?
i love the song Blessed be His name
thanks bazillions for the words to the song…..
What a wonderful surprise to be surfing around and come across such a wonderful blog. Although my teenage daughter willingly joins me at church on Sundays she sometimes looks as if she is wondering why she is there. When we join together and raise our voices to the Lord with this wonderful song, she relaxes and seems to be in a place of complete peace. I get to enjoy a wonderful song and the knowledge that the Lord is with my Daughter. Your Blog reminded me how wonderfully blessed I really am. Thank You.