Homesick Chords by Mercyme

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_ Anyway, you know, it's been a, it's been,
it has been an amazing journey that God has had us on
in the last 10 years.
And I have to admit the most amazing, most surreal,
most fascinating thing that I've been a part of
that's happened in my life,
and I believe probably as a band as a whole,
has been the last couple of months,
more specifically December and January.
And it wasn't because of a big show or anything like that.
We actually try to take those two months off
just so our families know that they're way more important
than what we do as a band is.
And we had just finished a fall tour
and that last show when it was over,
I felt like a kid getting out of school for the summer.
And I didn't wanna do anything.
I just wanted to go home and lay low.
And I had kind of a cocky attitude saying,
God, you know what?
Just see me next year.
I'm off, I'm home for the holidays, whatever.
And I can almost see God smirking and saying,
no, you're just getting started.
And there was about a four to five week period
in December and January,
where there were eight people somehow connected to our lives
that passed away.
And to lose a loved one is a huge deal in someone's life.
But when eight people,
when it just seems to keep going and going,
it was almost unbearable.
And the first person to go through this
was a friend of my wife's and mine.
And she was pregnant with twins.
And she was five months pregnant
and she lost both the twins.
And she was so far along in her pregnancy
that she still had to give birth to the babies
and then have a funeral.
And had the incredible privilege of singing at that funeral.
And it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
Because I just, I couldn't fathom being where they were
in that service and having to go through
such an emotional time.
And the curse of a songwriter,
I go home and I start writing down
kind of what I'm feeling at the time.
I call it a curse because you feel like
you're kind of cheapening this huge ordeal in someone's life
by trying to put it,
put words to like five minutes,
four or five minutes of music and try to make it rhyme.
But as a songwriter, we keep writing.
And I wrote the chorus and realized about after that,
that I just don't remember what they're going through.
I don't remember what it feels like to lose someone.
My father passed away almost 13 years ago
and I just can't recall how it feels.
And I didn't wanna fake my way through it
or anything like that.
So I pushed it aside and didn't mess with it anymore
and just thought maybe someone else could finish it.
Then a few days later, Jim's father passed away.
And a few days after that,
some people from my hometown passed away
and our manager's father-in-law,
then his grandmother died.
And all these things were happening
and we all were kind of feeling like,
God, what in the world's going on?
Then the hardest thing that I've ever gone through
my entire life was on January 3rd of 2004
when my brother-in-law, my wife's only brother,
who was 20 years old, was killed in a car accident.
And I felt like my heart had been pulled out of my chest
and cut into pieces.
You know, I sit here every night
and I talk about how God is greater than anything
and he can fix anything.
But I felt a hurt and a pain that crippled me.
And for the first time in my life, I thought,
I just don't know if God can fix this.
And deep down and ultimately I know that he can,
but that's what I was feeling at the time.
I just, I couldn't move.
And needless to say, that song that I couldn't remember
what it felt like to finish, I finished pretty quickly.
And I had the privilege of singing it
at my brother-in-law's funeral.
_ And at the last minute,
the song was able to make the new record.
And I was so excited to let, you know,
my friend who lost the twins and my in-laws
and everyone that had gone through losing someone
during those few weeks, to let them know
that this song came about because of the ordeals
they went through.
And to see the smile on their face
that maybe, just maybe, their loved one's [F] lives were not,
they weren't lost in vain,
that people's lives could be touched,
you know, for years to come.
And we never meant to write the sequel to Imagine.
You know, we prayed that God would take us
kind of out of this season,
but for some reason, God has kept us here.
And the song doesn't talk so much about heaven
as it talks about those of us who have lost someone.
And we get kind of the raw end of the deal
and we've got to stick around and wait.
And, you know, if you're a part of the body of Christ
and you know that there's no goodbye, there's no [Bb] end,
we don't belong here, [C] it's just a matter of [Bb] time,
but still, the waiting hurts just [F] the same.
And if you've lost someone,
then I think [Bb] then you truly understand
what it means to be homesick.
_ [F] And so I just pray that this song ministers to you
the way it has me every day [Bb] since the third.
And the title of the song is called Homesick.
[F] ♪ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[F] You're in a better place, I've heard [Bb] a thousand times ♪
[F] ♪ And at least a thousand times [Bb] I've rejoiced for you ♪
[Eb] ♪ But the reason why I'm broken, [C] the reason why I cry is [Bb] how long ♪
♪ Must I wait to be [F] with you?
_ _ And I close my eyes [Bb] and I see your face ♪
♪ [Cm] If a home's [F] where my heart is, then I'm out of [C] place ♪
♪ Lord, [Dm] won't you give me [Cm] strength to make it through [Bb] somehow?
_ ♪
[C] ♪ I've never [Bb] been more homesick [F] than this ♪
_ _ [Bb] _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
[C] [F] ♪ Help me, Lord, because I don't [Bb] understand your ways ♪
[F] ♪ The reason why I wonder [Bb] if I'll ever know _
_ [Eb] _ _ ♪
♪ [C] The hurt would be the same, because [Bb] I'm still here so far [F] away from home ♪
♪ But I close my eyes [Bb] and I see your face ♪
♪ [C] If a home's where my heart is, [F] then I'm [C] out of place ♪
♪ Lord, [Dm] won't you give me [C] strength to make it [Bb] through somehow?
♪
[C] ♪ I've never [Bb] been more [F] homesick than now ♪
♪ And in [C] Christ, there are [Bb] no goodbyes ♪
♪ [C] And in Christ, there is [Bb] no end ♪
♪ [C] So I'll hold on to Jesus [Gm] with [Dm] all that I have [Gm] _ _ _ _ [C] ♪
♪ And I'll never forget it [F] ♪
♪ I close my eyes [Bb] and I see your face ♪
♪ [Dm] If a home's where my heart is, [Am] then I'm out [Bb] of place ♪
♪ Lord, [F] won't you give me strength to make it through [Bb] somehow?
♪
♪ Won't [F] you give me strength to make it through [Bb] somehow?
♪
_ [F] _ ♪ To make it through [Bb] somehow? _
♪
[C] ♪ I've never been [Bb] more homesick than _ [F] now ♪ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ [F] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
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