Why I Love Thursdays This Deployment

Wake up, shower, work, work, work, work, eat, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, eat, work, work, scho...(usually school is an impossibility), sleep.

That is the gist of my typical day over here. Not Thursdays. Now, before I explain why I love Thursdays over here so much I must dispel any notions that my joy on Thursdays comes in any way from the cultural tendencies of this area. See, Thursday to a Muslim in an Islamic Republic is like Friday nights in America. Friday is their Djuma, or holy day, and so there is no work on Fridays (for the most part). Therefore, Thursday nights usually involve a lot of excitement among the Afghans. There are rumors of what they do, but I'd rather you do your own research rather than listen to my conjecture - needless to say, most of the rumors are not very flattering.

I digress.

So then, why is Thursday of such significance to me? Because for a few hours I am able to escape work, school, and my B-Hut (which I don't see much of) and worship the Lord at practice for the Chapel praise team.

The group of singers and musicians is dynamic and diverse but the music is wonderful, the fellowship is second-to-none, and the ability to play as loud as I want and sing however I want to praise God is without equal to me. I can't do that anywhere - not in my B-Hut (the walls are merely 3/8" plywood that seem to amplify rather than dampen sound) and not in my office (the office is truly occupied like, 17 hours a day sometimes). The Chapel on the other hand, provides a place where I can finally get back to music and open, uninterrupted praise.

Sundays are good too (when we actually foster praise and worship) - but it is occasionally too difficult standing on that platform to force that "performer" mentality out of my mind, and I seem to sometimes lose track as to why I'm really serving to begin with. Instead, Thursday practice is a judgment-free, worship-filled event with only the hours of the practice to contain our praise.

VFF: Everlasting!

We are surrounded by the reminder of the Almighty - even in a place such as this.

"My heart and my soul,
I give you control,
consume me from the inside out.
Let justice and praise,
become my embrace,
to love you from the inside out."

It is incredible to think that the same power who created these mountains lives inside me and is consuming me from within!

"Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades!"

Even these mountains will crumble and fall eventually, but His love never ends.

"Neverending, Your Glory goes beyond all fame!"

The glories of war are bestowed with pomp and circumstance yet are as fleeting as the tides.
Conversely, His Glory arrived in unassuming fashion but will see no end.




(Above quoted lyrics are from the inspired heart of Joel Houston, From the Inside Out, 2006. Associated commentary by David S. on this 1st Valleys Fill First post.)