STORY BEHIND SONG
This song is dedicated to a 12 year old boy called Teddy who died in an amazing AIDS Orphange in Addis Abba, Ethiopia on the 11th of January 2005.
Teddy asked me to write his goodbye letter and the words bring tears to my eyes. "I now go into the hands of God, I thank you for leading me into this moment. I thank God for you, for treating me like a son, for being my mother. I praise God for my life".
This made me angry. Why? well lets look at Teddy's life.....
Teddy had AIDS and was reacting to his second blood transfusion. He was swollen and in the worse pain imaginable. They have no pain relief or anything to help these kids as young as 6 days old get through the nights.
So how did Teddy get AIDS? Teddy was offered as a "scarifice" at a young age. You see some cultures believe that if you sleep with a virgin then you will rid the "curse". But in Teddy's case the "curse" was passed on to him, so his family/village had to reject him. He was dumped at the gates of the Orphange so that the "curse" wouldn't spread into the village.
This was something I struggled to grasp. How could a mother do that to her child. But this is what they believe. Try telling someone the sky is red when they believe its blue? And it was hard for the mother to do that but she had to for the sake of the village - what that mother must have gone through to lose her son. The heart ache all in the name of her village.
Teddy was going through not only the worse pain but the worse rejection possible. Most people struggle with rejection in their lives and I am one of them. This child showed me that through the worst of circumstances he knew the love and acceptance of God. He found it through nothing yet he felt he had everything he could ever want! He was so greatful for the things he had, for his life because God had shown him it was possible.
Now some people would wonder why a loving God would let something like this happen but lets look at the reasons why this is happening - our own selfishness, pride and lust for more wealth, more things, more power!!
Teddy showed me that I was worthy of Gods love and that I needed to be greatful for what I have, for my life.
This song is written about Gods perspective of us, although we may struggle to believe it. We are worthy of his love! He sees us all beautiful children.