Grammar as an Emotional Trigger

I've just returned home from a Commissioning Service for a team of missionaries (oops, I forgot to call them Global Partners), composed of 3 couples and a single woman. They are affectionately called the B-Team, a name that bears some significance because of the place they are going, while at the same time hiding some of the details. For their security, I will refrain from using their names. They are all dearly loved.

During the service, I found myself becoming more emotional than used to be common for me, being the rational person that I am. I found it interesting that grammar provided my emotional trigger. We sang a Marie Barnett song that is commonly sung, but the words were changed (changing the focus) from the first person singular to the third person plural. The lyrics were intentionally changed to focus on the people the B-Team will be going to reach, at first singing in a prophetic sense, "You are the air they breathe. . ." At that point in the song, I was thinking, "Nice touch!" The emotions started coming later in the song:

You are their daily bread.
You are their daily bread.
Your very word, spoken to them.
And they, they're desperate for you.
And they, they're lost without you.

Think about it. That's the very reason the B-Team is going there. They don't even know how desperate they are for Jesus. May God bring fulfillment to our future-looking praise!

A little later in the service, Beau Hamlin, our High School Youth Minister, sang a song he had written in conjunction with one of the B-Team Members. I want to share the lyrics with you.

I'm not sure, what to be saying
So, I'll just start talking, maybe you'll see
The anticipation, oh it just keeps building
I don't want to leave but, I don't want to stay

It's like a mourning process, leaving on this mission
Do you know my feelings? Can you feel my tension?
'Cause, I love my family, but I know my calling
And I love my Savior, and my heart is willing

Uneasy? Yes. We're scared to jump.
But, we took the trip and we saw enough.

He's our strength. So we're going to jump.
We took that trip. And we saw enough.

People we met, faces we saw; broken buildings, torn down walls
History of war, crying for life; broken people, needing light.
We didn't see it all . . . but we saw enough.

It's intimidating, 'cause the ones before us
Never found a system, not a one they could trust

We better be longwinded, if we choose to run this
We better keep our focus, we gotta' know we're His

Uneasy? Yes. We're scared to jump.
But, we took the trip and we saw enough.

He's our strength. So we're going to jump.
We took that trip. And we saw enough.

People we met, faces we saw; broken buildings, torn down walls
History of war, crying for life; broken people, needing light.
We didn't see it all . . . but we saw enough.

About 33 years ago, my wife and I were at the same jumping off place. I can remember some of those same emotions. I thank God for these young adults, for their commitment, and for what they will accomplish in His name. Soli Deo Gloria.