Duang and I went to our friends’ house for the regular Friday Thai lesson she taught to the children and we were surprised to see the bedroom set up as a dining room and told that there was to be no lessons that evening. I had made a cake, knowing it was the dad’s birthday but we didn’t know the extent of what the evening would hold. We were invited to sit at the only table as guests of honor and the worship service began. The mother read Psalm 111 and then they all sang the same psalm in their language and her 12 year old son translated into English for us. Then we sang the dad’s favorite song he had learned in Bangkok which was “10,000 Reasons”.
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Forevermore
Bless the Lord, Oh my soul
Oh my soul, worship his holy name
Sing like never before, Oh my soul
I’ll worship your holy name
He explained that this song was special to him because of God’s care for them over these last 4 years in Thailand and how God has met him in his prayer times and given him His Holy Spirit as a gift and that his only response was to praise God for all God’s blessings.
It’s a humbling moment when you are sitting in a roomed cramped with relatives sitting on beds and worshiping God in a foreign land with no visible future in sight and the head of the household sees 10,000 reasons for which to bless our Lord for.
Many more words were shared…but the thought that both made me smile and yet made an imprint on my heart was that we should celebrate every day as a birthday. When we wake up every morning we can celebrate that we have another day of life. We can be thankful that we can see and hear. We can praise God for family and friends and His church and that we are never without His presence….the list went on…
God was present in that humble dwelling and I was filled with thanksgiving to be included.
