Morrison Clan: Day 4 at the Care Point Part 2...Dedicating the David Hames Building

After the wonderful luncheon with the Gogos, we went over to dedicate a building being built in David Hames' honor. The building will be a preschool classroom on the care point.

Just a little information for those who do not know, David Hames was a member of Vanguard. He was a videographer that went to Swazi three years ago. Many of his video is part of the Beyond Survival website and provides information as well as swells hearts to hear about Swazi. In 2010, David was on another missions trip videoing in Haiti when the earthquake happened. He died in the wreckage. In his honor, is widow, Renee and her boys created a fund for Swazi. This building is being build from that fund.

Being a young widow as well, Renee's generosity spoke to me in a very powerful way. I was very impressed to see her give back to something her husband loved so much when her needs were and are great as well. David and Renee's boys are very young and they have a lifetime ahead of them. Being David was only 40 when he passed away, I have to assume that Renee and the boys will not be completely financial covered for as long as they will need it. She is a gracious and generous woman and this building being built is an honor to not only David but Renee and her boys.

As I was preparing for this trip, there were several times when I wondered what God had in store for me. I don't know that all of that has been revealed yet, but I do know that being at the dedication was very healing for me. I watched as some of Renee's very close friends broke as they stood in the building after we prayed and dedicated it. I watched them through a window as many from the team gathered around them, held them and prayed with them. I watch through this window frame and at that moment had great peace. I wrestled with that greatly.

I had once been the grieving widow whose friends gathered around and wept with me. Now I stood outside this building and watched. Renee was not there in Swazi, but her friends stood together and wept for her. I wrestled with wondering why I was not in there weeping too. I understood more than anyone there what the building represented. I lost a husband 3 1/2 years ago. That really isn't that long ago. I wondered why I had great peace. I wondered by I was looking at the sunset over the building watching Renee's friends through a window and was peaceful.

My mother had once described me as the girl that would cry with her friends when they were crying. When I overheard this description, I did not like it. I thought it showed that I was weak. As I grew up and faced the many things that I have, I started to understand that being able to grieve with others was God's gift to me. Grief is a painful thing. OK...that sounded a little obvious, but it's true. Grief hurts! There are many people that cannot stand in that pain with others. There are many that run from pain. There are many that leave their friends when they are in pain. But I am not one of them.

God has called me to the grieving. God has called me to help those who are stuck in grief. God has called me to walk with those who grieve. Because of this calling, I had to walk through great times of grief. Human nature would dictate that we trust those who understand and understanding comes from experience. In order to walk in my calling, I was going to have to loose much and grieve for a long time.

BUT...now I'm on the other side of this. The thing about helping others is we need to have learned from it and be in front of it. If I am crying so painfully hard about loosing my first husband, there is no way I can help someone talk about their losses. So I have peace and at this moment it was awkward.

We had been briefed before going to the care point that it may be hard to go off into the kitchen and eat lunch as we see these kids through the windows eating pap and beans but that was not something with which I struggled. The reality is that what I was eating would not keep them from being hungry. The food they are feeding the kids at the care point is fortified with protein will help keep their little tummies full being they only eat two times a day at the care point. That was a very logical answer for me and was easy for me to accept though I know others struggled with it.

My struggle came with the building dedication. You would think I would have rejoiced that I am not grieving anymore (or rather not weeping in grief anymore because I still grieve). You would think that would be a testimony to God's amazing healing power in my life and a blessing to be walking in such peace. All I could think is that I am called to the grieving and I am peaceful about that. I can watch a woman weep for her friend while "enjoying" the sunset giving God all the glory for the day. I feel blessed to be able to honor this man and his widow and their children. I wept as I talked about a personal experience with David and then I had peace. This is not the first time that God gave me "Peace that surpasses all understanding" and I'm sure it will not be the last.

At the end of the day, I know I needed to be on this particular trip to Swazi to stand in that building to pray over it and dedicate it to God. I know that God had something he wanted to tell me and I am so glad I was listening. My theme this past year has been Psalm 46:10 "He says, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." On this day, I was still and He was exalted among the nations and in the earth. Thank you Lord for fulfilling part of Your plan for me this day. I pray I will always remember this and hold it close to my heart as a reminder that no matter what I may think, Your plan is always perfect for me.

Here are some pictures from this event. We all had red balloons and released them in honor of David's company that was called Red Balloon Productions in reference to one of his favorite films. They don't seem to really show what we experienced but here they are: