Grace and Glory

Musings from the Threshold

This Week’s PHSS (Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs) + Gratitude Monday

Our hymn this week is Awake, My Soul, In Joyful Lays. Here are the lyrics, with some of my favorite lines in bold:

Awake, My Soul, In Joyful Lays
by Samuel Medley

Awake, my soul, in joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;
He justly claims a song from me –
His lovingkindness, O how free!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how free!

He saw me ruined by the fall,
Yet loved me notwithstanding all;
He saved me from my lost estate –
His lovingkindness, O how great!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how great!

Though numerous hosts of mighty foes,
Though earth and hell my way oppose,
He safely leads my soul along –
His lovingkindness, O how strong!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how strong!

When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
Has gathered thick and thundered loud,
He near my soul has always stood –
His lovingkindness, O how good!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how good!

Often I feel my sinful heart
Prone from my Jesus to depart;
But though I have Him oft forgot,
His lovingkindness changes not.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness changes not.

Soon I shall pass the gloomy vale,
Soon all my mortal powers must fail;
O! may my last expiring breath
His lovingkindness sing in death.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness sing in death.

Soon shall we mount and soar away
To the bright realm of endless day;
And sing with rapture and surprise,
His lovingkindness in the skies.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness in the skies.

This treasure is #1 in Hymns of Worship and Remembrance. The music with which I’m familiar is written by William Caldwell. I found sheet music, including chords in a pdf for that tune.

Psalm 104.33-35 is our Scripture song this week. One of my Gospel Chapel favorites.
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.  My meditation of Him shall be sweet, I will be glad (I will be glad) in the LORD.  Bless thou the LORD, O my soul! Praise ye the LORD!

We’re adding in a little chorus this week, both because we love to sing and because I thought it would be fun to add a “spiritual song” to our “psalm” (scripture song) and “hymn” each week. Our focus this month is giving thanks, and I love this reminder.
Count Your Blessings
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God has done!

And speaking of counting blessings…
#’s 79 – 98
Fresh Juice made with loving hands
Forced Relaxation
God-timed visits with grandparents and friends
My Mama’s sweet voice on the other end of the phone line
Late night IM’s with my Papa
Shared tears
Shared laughter
My sin debt – paid in full
Giveaways won
The Ultimate Giveaway – eternal life – so precious and costly, yet freely given
God is good. All the time.
Throne access
The written Word in abundance
The Word hidden in our hearts
The first Adam, picture of the coming second Adam
The Second Adam, completion of promise
Bulbs safe in the ground
Dirt under my fingernails
First lard rendering successfully completed
Spray-painted candlesticks

holy experience

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

We recently added something to our morning routine of memory work and Bible reading. We choose one hymn and one Scripture song to focus on each week, and sing them daily (or as faithfully as we can). The Blessings are loving it, and so am I.

The Father has used hymns often in my life to remind me of His truths, and I want for our Blessings to have the rich heritage of hymnody. I think that unless we are deliberate about preserving it, our children/grandchildren are likely lose that heritage.

I’d like to make a practice of posting our hymn and Scripture song each week. Prior to this week, we’ve sung Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lamentations 3.22&23, A Debtor to Mercy Alone, and I Chronicles 29.10-13. We’re currently singing A Thousand, A Thousand Thanksgivings and Philippians 4.4 (Rejoice in the Lord Always).

A Thousand, A Thousand Thanksgivings

Thou Life of my life, blessed Jesus,
Thou death of the death that was mine,
For me was Thy cross and Thine anguish,
Thy love and Thy sorrow divine;
Thou suffered the cross and the torment,
That I might forever go free—
A thousand, a thousand thanksgivings,
I bring, blessed Saviour, to Thee!

For me Thou hast borne the reproaches,
The mockery, hate and disdain;
The blows and the spittings of sinners,
The scourging, the shame, and the pain;
To save me from bondage and judgment,
Thou gladly hast suffered for me—
A thousand, a thousand thanksgivings,
I bring, blessed Saviour, to Thee!

O Lord, from my heart I do thank Thee
For all Thou hast borne in my room,
Thine agony, dying, unsolaced,
Alone in the darkness of doom,
That I, in the glory of heaven,
Forever and ever might be—
A thousand, a thousand thanksgivings,
I bring, blessed Saviour, to Thee!

The words are by Ernst C Homburg (1605-1681) and were translated from German by Mrs. Frances Bevan (1827-1909). The music is by Alfred P. Gibbs. It’s #128 in Hymns of Worship and Remembrance (the chapel “black book”).
I couldn’t find a video or even a midi file of it, so I recorded it myself, for those who are not familiar and would like to hear it.  Nothing fancy, and I post it in fear and trembling.  But I know my parents will be thrilled.

A Thousand Thanks

I lay in the dark, sleepless, emotions roiling, saying in my head what I might say aloud if he were awake.

In the midst of my rant comes, “Any other time, I would be thanking God that I’m lying here with your arms around me, with your breath on my neck, and your gentle (for once) snore in my ear. But… (blah, blah, blah about the incident that had me all in a twist)!”

And then the still small voice, “Why don’t you thank Me anyway?”

Oh.

I began the thanks.
And gradually the hurt, anger, and frustration slipped away, to be replaced by peace, joy, and gratitude.

As I drifted off to sleep, I was reminded that I haven’t established the gratitude habit as I should. I’m seeking to change that, and part of the process will be officially joining the Gratitude Community and trying to post faithfully each Monday. If I slack off, please hold me accountable.

A Thousand Thanks #s 61 – 78

His arms around me as I fall asleep

His gentle snoring

His breath on the back of my neck

Finding out what was making Andrew miserable

Allergic Collitis and the opportunities it brings to die to self

Almond Milk (and dark chocolate almond milk!)

Chocolate without dairy or soy

A foundational school routine that seems to be working for us

Learning flexibility

Principles (versus Boxes)

Ephesians 1 mostly memorized by most of us

Learning to walk in grace

Reminders to give thanks

A three-year-old who loves to cuddle with Mama

Sin discovered

The humbling, heart-breaking, joy-bringing honor of being parents

Friends who encourage and pray

Parents who have lived out unconditional love; who think I’m wonderful even though they know my flaws

holy experience

Preparing for Life

Though autumn has long been one of my favorite seasons, it is generally associated with death.  Is that how you’ve viewed it?

In the “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies” sense, yes, autumn is tied to death, but as I’ve walked in creation this fall, I have been struck by how busily nature is preparing for new life.

Will you walk with me around our pond and catch a glimpse, through my meager photographic offerings, of some of the preparations being made for new life?

Our wise Father has creation sow her seeds throughout the year – some in the spring and summer, to quickly sprout and bear new life; some in autumn, left to winter in the cold hard ground.  He has created the times and the seasons, and His infinite wisdom has devised a planting plan far superior to any we could develop.

So too does He have plans for our lives better than any we could concoct for ourselves. 

Does it feel as if you are in a season of death?  Left to winter in the cold hard ground?  Does it seem unfair?

He knows. 
He sees bigger than I do, than you do. 
He loves greater. 
He works stronger. 
He has a plan.
And He is preparing you.

The Lord brought to mind verses about His ways being higher than ours.  I went to look them up, and was tearfully surprised by the surrounding verses.  I’ll hush and let Him speak:

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:6-11

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPBtExE4W0&fs=1&hl=en_US]

An update on Andrew’s diet

I mentioned near the beginning of the month that we had discovered that Andrew does not deal well with the bovine milk protein that comes through in my milk (a condition called allergic colitis), that I had gone off dairy, and that he seemed to be improving.  I’ve now been off dairy since around 1pm on Thursday, September 30 (not that I’m counting or anything) and thought I’d give an update on how Andrew and I are doing.

Andrew is doing much better.  Over the first couple of weeks, we saw a dramatic improvement in his comfort level, cheerfulness, and the quality of his stools.  About three weeks in, however, it seemed like he was moving backward.  I felt quite unsettled about him, and called wonderful Mary, our midwife.  She connected me with a friend/client who has dealt with allergic colitis with a few of her babies and who has, through necessity, become an expert.  It was very helpful to talk with her, and I tweaked a couple of things after our conversation, including dropping goat cheese, as her experience indicated that it is any dairy, not just cow dairy, that causes trouble.  That helped a bit more.

Early this week, with Andrew still having the occasional pre-bloody (I can explain that in more detail if you really want) or blood-tinged diaper, I became more convinced that Andrew is one of those babies who cannot handle dairy or soy.  I have generally avoided soy products for years now, but I had not realized how many innocent looking foods have soybean oil in them.  I’ve peeled off a whole other layer of the dietary onion this week. And it seems to be paying off.

Just to give you an idea of the changes I’ve made, here are some of the things that are in the works in our kitchen:

Things at which I feel the need to develop proficiency/for which I need to find recipes that are dairy/soy free –
~ Tortillas
~ Mayonaise
~ Biscuits
~ Potato soup – a fall/winter staple in our home.
~ Popcorn. I tried it tonight with seasoned salt (and olive oil to hold the salt on the popcorn). It was passable, but nothing to hoot and holler about. I’m looking for ideas.
~ There are more on my mental list, but I can’t find the mental paper it’s on. I guess that’s a sign that I need to write it down with pen and paper.

Things I’ve tried/am trying –
~ Experiments in substituting for butter in various recipes. I have some coconut oil, but it is quite pricey, and I’m definitely not going to be making cookies with it at a cup or cup and a half per batch.
~ Today I tried an idea suggested by a friend – using mashed up white beans as a substitute for butter. I found a recipe for oatmeal cookies using beans and they were quite yummy. I’ll post more about this on my Love You Can Eat blog, because, well, it qualifies!
~ I have a batch of artisan bread dough in the fridge so I can start making bread again. Need a carrier for my homemade apple butter, you know. (Store-bought bread is pretty much an automatic fail)
~ I made cornbread last night. I generally use bacon drippings for the fat in my cornbread, so the only sub was almond milk instead of buttermillk. Quite tasty.

Foods for which I’m developing appreciation (read: my sanity savers) –
Almond Milk
Dark Chocolate Almond Milk
Dark Chocolate that doesn’t use soy lecithin as an emulsifier
Almond butter on gala apples
(Do you see an almond theme here? I’m extra grateful that almonds are an alkalizing food, or I would be in a world of hurt!)

In the midst of our food journey, I am thankful that we do not have to be concerned about one of the most common side effects of allergic colitis, failure to thrive.

Creation Museum Trip ~ Day 4 – Sat. Oct. 9 ~ Last Day

Saturday was our last day at the museum, and we had originally talked about leaving in the early afternoon. More on that later.  Heh.  We struck camp and had the van loaded by around 10.30, and ate breakfast on the way to the museum. Not as early as we had hoped, but still pretty impressive for the 12 of us and all our gear.

Our first workshop on Saturday was the Buzz about Bees workshop with Doug Nelson, a home schooling dad of seven whose family business is bee keeping. Doug is also the bee keeper/educator for the Creation Museum. We are interested in adding bees to our repertoire at some point, so we soaked the bee workshop, and were thrilled at the opportunity to go out to the museum’s bee hives later in the afternoon to watch and learn even more.

The Snakes Alive workshop was also a hit with our family, since Jonathan has all of us trained to appreciate snakes and other reptiles. Rick Teepen has an extensive collection, taught us some interesting things about the animals, and best of all, has a passion for Jesus Christ and brought out some very practical spiritual truths.

A highlight of the day for this newly-dairy-free mama was a Chai Latte from the Palm Cafe at the museum. I normally avoid soy like the plague, but I couldn’t resist this one time treat. It was yummy!

Some shots here and there around the museum on Saturday:

Worlds of Creation, the other current planetarium show, highlights the wonders of our solar system. Here is the Smith gang waiting in line for the show:

After our late afternoon trip out the bee hives, we made our way to the bookstore for our final visit. Some of the Blessings and Jonathan spent birthday money from Papa and Gramma Byrd. Instead of leaving early, we “closed down” the museum before hitting the road, so we arrived home around 3am. That’s just how we roll.

It was a fun, memorable, and educational trip. I’m already looking forward to the next time!

Creation Museum Trip ~ Day 3 – Fri. Oct. 8 ~ Campground/Museum Fishing Night

 Our original plans for Friday were to spend some time checking out the neat state park at which we camped.  There is a bison herd there, hiking trails, and an outdoor museum about the mastodon.  Alas, due to a fluke with the campground office, we wound up needing to move to a different campsite on Friday, which changed our plans for the day significantly.

We “slept in” until 8.30 Friday, then enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked on the campstove (firewood at the campground was quite pricey).  After breakfast, we struck camp, hauled everything to the other end of the campground, and set up camp again.  It took several trips, was quite an ordeal adventure, and I was thrilled with everyone’s attitudes in the midst of the inconvenience.

Once we got the foodstuff to our new campsite, I started cooking lunch.  We had an easy version of sloppy joes that I cooked in our biggish cast iron pot.  Three pounds ground beef, a couple cans of pork n beans, and a bottle of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce.  Plus an egg left over from breakfast that would’ve gone to waste if we hadn’t used it.  Yummy.

We made it back to the Creation Museum in time for the late afternoon showing of the Created Cosmos planetarium show.  We had seen it last year, but the extent of God’s creation is beyond comprehension and the CC show does a fantastic job of showing off the vastness of His universe.

Friday evening after the museum closed, there was a special Members Family Fishing Night.  The Blessings did some fishing, I did a lot of camera-play, we roasted brats and marshmallows over the fire, and the Blessings got to ride Gomer the camel.  It was a fun and special time.

Another grocery stop for Saturday’s food and some more sushi, and we were on our way back to the state park for another (slightly less frigid) night of camping, our last this trip.  The Blessings went straight to bed, and we grown-ups weren’t far behind.