Over the ashes of my life
With wings like eagles
I take flight
**
Romeo Dallaire stood in the darkness of the Rwanda genocide in 1993 to 1994
The Lieutenant General in the Canadian Armed Forces
The commander of UNAIMIR, the peacekeeping force in Rwanda
He attempted to stop the genocide of 500,000 to 1,000,000 people in those dark days
Awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada
Romeo in his book "Waiting for the first light" describes his personal battle with PTSD
**
I have more questions than answers
I am just the storyteller
**
The Run
"Fall was in the air and as the sun started to set the day became cool. I kept walking with no idea where I was going.
Putting as much space between myself and danger
Sadness filled my heart. I was thirteen years old.
Fear made me keep walking with no idea where I was walking to.
There was no going back and the future was grim
I had no plan. Escape and survival was driving me forward
The haunting of my soul was happening to me, and an emptiness and deep loneliness
created a void in my heart.
Under the anxiety was a looming darkness of depression. These layers were building up, one on top of the other but the underlying depression was the core of all the other layers and that was the one I feared the most.
This was the enemy of my soul and would render me powerless. Fighting that layer to take hold and mentally trying to push it away.
I clutched my floppy eared stuffed animal and kept on walking. "
(excerpt from Outside the Gate)
"Death wrapped its ropes around me
The terrors of the grave overtook me
I saw only trouble and sorrow
Then I called on the name of the Lord
"Please Lord, save me!"
Psalm 116
NEW BIRTH
Over the ashes of my life
On the wings of eagles I take flight
From shame and darkness I am freed
Jesus Christ is alive in me
Ignite the fire!
Fan into flame
The greatest gift known to man
Eternal flame lights my path
Shadows of death around me pass
Living Word the flame of truth
Produces in me the Spirit's fruit
Ignite the fire!
Fan into flame
The greatest gift known to man
Lord Jesus in his resurrected glory
Came via the cross, salvation's story
Angels with hallelujahs in their wings
Worship and praise the glorious King
Light the fire!
Fan into flame
The greatest gift known to man
Truth and justice are in his hand
This is the faith on which I stand
Over the ashes of my life
With wings like eagles
I take flight
Light the fire!
Fan into flame
The greatest gift known to man
Beyond all comprehension
Jesus is the author of my salvation
Out of the darkness of my life
Comes forth the God of Light /j.smith
**
"How kind the Lord is! How good he is!
So merciful this God of ours
The Lord protects those of childlike faith
I was facing death and He saved me
Let my soul be at rest again
For the Lord has been good to me
He has saved me from death
My eyes from tears
My feet from stumbling
And so I walk in the Lord's presence
As I live here on earth!
I will lift up the cup of salvation
And praise the Lord's name for saving me!"
Psalm 116
Ignite the fire!
Fan into flame
The greatest gift
Known to man /j.smith