I got a busy weekend coming up, but before I get started I wanted to share a Saturday Psalm and Praise with you today. This week has been full of Heartbreak and Happiness. It has been a really rough week. Today is Christian’s funeral. Our beloved three year old Christian’s funeral. Do you know how wrong that sentence is? Three year old and funeral should not be in the same sentence! I am so devastated today. I will be constantly praying for Marsha , David, Tank and Dash as they lay Sweet Christian in Jesus’ arms. *I am bawling*
During these past few days, I sit crying and weeping for the Drews. It is infathomable to me that Dozer is gone. I am in shock. I just can’t believe it. I can’t sleep well because of this tragedy. He was so precious and his Mama doted on him so much! You can tell from her blog that he is truly the apple of her eye and I sit in tears as I realize that he is gone! I am so heartbroken for my dear sweet friend, Marsha that her baby is gone!

I wanted to share a favorite hymn of mine with everyone today in light of the events of this past week. This hymn’s inspiration was from a similar experience. The author is Horatio Spafford. The first tragedy was the Great Chicago Fire. On October 8, 1871, as Horatio and his wife Anna were grieving over the death of their son, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. Horatio was a prominent lawyer in Chicago, and had invested heavily in the city’s real estate, and the fire destroyed almost everything he owned.
The Second tragedy was the wreck of the Ville Du Havre. Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, and chose England knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. Delayed because of business, he sent ahead of him his family: his wife Anna, and his four remaining children, daughters Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie.
On November 21, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and two hundred and twenty six people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford’s daughters. Somehow his wife, Anna, survived. On arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning “Saved alone.” Spafford then himself took a ship to England, going past the place where his daughters had died. According to Bertha Spafford, a daughter born after the tragedy, the hymn was written in mid-Atlantic.
After the tragedy, the Spaffords had two more children: a son, Horatio, born in 1876, and a daughter, Bertha, born two years later. Sadly, young Horatio contracted scarlet fever and died at the age of four. Then in August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of 13 adults and 3 children and set up the American Colony.
Moved by a series of profound tragic losses, Chicago natives Anna and Horatio Spafford led a small American contingent in 1881 to Jerusalem to form a Christian utopian society known as the “American Colony.” Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives–thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations of the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable ventures.
Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried there in Jerusalem.

Do you know which hymn I am talking about?

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to sayIt is well, It is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul

It is well, It is well with my soul.
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Has been nailed to the cross
So I bear it no more
Praise The Lord, praise The Lord, oh my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and The Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul.

In the beginning of that track, you hear a different language being sung. This particle version is by Selah and they were actually raised in Africa. The beginning of the song is:

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
In Kituba:
Bika mono ve, mvulusi
mono ku lomba
bu nge vuluswa ba nkaka
bika mono ve
Yesu, yesu
mono ku lomba
bu nge vuluswa ba nkaka
bika mono ve

In English:
Pass me not, o gentle Savior
Hear my humble cry.
While on others thou art calling
Do not pass me by.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry
While on others thou art calling do not pass me by.

Even in the midst of tragedy, we can still say it is well with my soul because I have a savior! It is so wonderful to know that no matter what happens God will not leave us nor forsake us and He will always be with us!
I hope that this hymn brings you some comfort for whatever you may be going through today! As I go through today, the Drews family will be on my mind! I pray they find peace and feel love as they give Christian back to Jesus til the glorious day that we go to heaven and there will be no sorrow or tears. Just love and joy and happiness! OH what a day that will be!
Love, Prayers and Blessings,

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008

Each Saturday join Jacque (Mama) @ Walking Therein, and many others who are taking their Saturdays and expressing their praise to the Lord. To participate, you can post a Psalm or a praise and tell what impact it has had on you. Make sure to sign the linky: when you post your SP&P, so we link over and read it! I hope to see you on there!

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Tags: Christ, Christian Drews, Christians, encouragement, funeral, God, heaven, Horatio Spafford, hymns, It Is Well, Jacque Dixon, Jesus, Marsha Drews, Meme, O Gentle Savior, Pass Me Not, Saturday Psalm and Praise, Savior, Selah, the Word, tragedy

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