Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs... but mostly hymns.

A month or two ago, our church gave away all the hymnals to whoever wanted one. Now lest you think that our church doesn't sing hymns: that isn't true. Most weeks we sing a couple familiar ones. It kind of depends on who's on the worship team that week. And because we have the projector screen, the hymnals just aren't needed anymore. As it turns out, I had been wanting (praying for) a psalter or a hymnal for a long time (they don't exactly stock them at the library), so I was delighted to take a copy. And it's been such a blessing to me. As it turns out, it is the exact same hymnal that my other church used to use, and I knew quite a few of the songs in it.

My favorite way to use it is to just go through it and play the songs on the the violin while taking in the lyrics. Songs I knew, songs that looked familiar, songs that I'd never heard before. Good practice for my violin and my music-reading, but the songs themselves were the real treasures. Did you know there are songs about how to be holy? ("Take Time To Be Holy") There are songs on prayer, and missions, and service, and pretty much every aspect of the Christian life. Why don't we hear these songs anymore? There are songs of peace, security, and comforting. There are songs about God's majesty, and lots of songs about Jesus' incredible sacrifice. And then of course there are the Christmas songs. :) But I'll leave you with this one.

Come, all Christians, be committed
To the service of the lord;
Make your lives for him more fitted,
Tune your hearts with one accord.
Come into His courts with gladness,
Each his sacred vows renew,
Turn away from sin and sadness,
Be transformed with life anew.

Of your time and talents give ye,
They are gifts from God above;
To be used by Christians freely
To proclaim His wondrous love.
Come again to serve the Savior,
Tithes and off'rings with you bring.
In your work, with Him find favor,
And with joy His praises sing.

God's command to love each other
Is required of every one;
Showing mercy to one another
Mirrors His redemptive plan.
In compassion He has given
Of His love that is divine;
On the cross sins were forgiven;
Joy and peace are fully thine.

Come in praise and adoration,
All who in Christ's name believe;
Worship Him with consecration,
Grace and love you will receive.
For His grace give Him the glory,
For the Spirit and the Word,
And repeat the gospel story
Till mankind His name has heard.

"Come All Christians, Be Committed" Words by Eva B. Lloyd

Aslan is on the move...

The first week of March is my favorite time of the whole year! At least weather-wise. It's that first hint of warmth after winter... the wondrous sunshine... the bright blue sky! It's when you realize you didn't have to wear your coat and gloves after all... when 40 degrees Fahrenheit actually feels great! But the air is still brisk and so deliciously fresh that you breathe deeply for the joy of it. It's the perfect weather for exercising. Maybe everything's not green yet, but that's all right. It'll come, and I'll enjoy that too. But this first week of March, that point where you realize that winter is capitulating to spring, this is glorious.

A blog that is way more important and meaningful than mine.

Today, across the ocean, in the African country of Uganda, lives a 21-year-old young lady named Katie. Jesus called her to leave her comfortable life in the USA and she obeyed. Now she is a single mother to 14 adopted African girls and pours herself out for hundreds of other children there. Her life is not easy at all, but she has such tremendous JOY. She is living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And... she has a blog. It's inspiring and fantastic, but very challenging. So consider yourself warned. But read it anyway.

 The Journey 

Illinois's First Mountain Range!

What do you get when you put together: 1 fresh snowfall of great packing snow + 1 morning with no pressing time commitments + 2 girls itching to build something really cool? Answer: Snow cones?

 

Valerie and I have been wanting to build something (reliving the good old days) for the past two years, but we never had the "perfect snow". We also discovered that it is hard to build giant forts and such without the boys. (Good packing snow is heavy!) So we did our own thing. It took about two hours to make 22 cones and we were too tired to do the other side of the driveway. ("Tomorrow", we said.) Of course the next day it was colder and the snow was horrible for packing!

Project Proverbs 365 - The Blog!

I started a new blog! Don't worry, my little readership, it won't replace this one. In fact, it isn't about what I have to say at all. It's simply a directory of all the Proverbs I'm memorizing, one a day. I think it will be a useful index, and typing them in will be a nice reinforcement. (Speaking of typing them in, I should mention that I am not caught up to today's verse yet. Hopefully that will not remain the case for long.) Though it was made mainly for my personal benefit, and I do not expect a horde of followers, I thought I'd make a mention of it.

http://www.projectproverbs365.blogspot.com

As our pastor says, "May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word." Amen.

More Grand Prix Car Pictures

 

Brian and David arranging the cars.

 

Center: Mine ("The Dice") Clockwise from top: Michael's "Clothespin", Laura's "Icecube", Brian's "Speed Van", Mom's "Upside-Down Flower Basket", David's "Like-the-sample-instructions Car", Stephanie's  "Skateboard". 

 Michael's was my favorite.

Grand Prix 2010

This was our first year doing the Awana Grand Prix at this church, and despite some differences, I think everyone had fun! There was a clubbers' and a leaders' division. Our family's cars are never big speed winners so we tend to go for Best Design, often with non-car designs. I didn't know what I wanted to do until the eleventh hour, because I really wanted to do something rectangular (a tradition starting with "Butter"), but Laura came up with a great idea the day before - dice! And then Chris and Michael did the drillwork. So all I did was sand and paint. But I am happy with how it turned out.

Before paint and wheels / After paint and wheels

The ribbon is just for participating. Sadly, the leader division had no Best Design judging.

If I can, I'll get a picture of our family's other cars. Stephanie made a skateboard and Michael made a working clothespin! (I think David was the only one that made a "real car", lol.)