Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on thee is stayed,
All my help from thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within:
Thou of life the Fountain art,
Freely let me take of thee;
Spring thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.


Charles Wesley, 1740
Tune: Refuge, Joseph P. Holbrook, 1862

Thankfulness

Yesterday, the ladies of our church had lunch together and it was delightful!  I am thankful for each one of these precious sisters in Christ. The reason for our gathering was less delightful, however.  One of our number (and we are a very small church) is leaving us to move to North Carolina with her husband.  She will be sorely missed but I am thankful for the time she and her husband have been with us.

Yesterday, the temperature here in Crystal Lake, IL got up to 101 degrees.  I may sound like a broken record (now isn't that revealing my age category) but I am very grateful for our working air conditioning.

Finally, I am still fighting shingles and am on a pain medication that makes me sleepy and less efficient than normal...not that I am always on top of everything, mind you.  But I am especially thankful for the patience and loving kindness of my family at this time.

Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, My Great High Priest

Jesus, my great High Priest,
Offered his blood and died;
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside.
His pow'rful blood did once atone,
And now it pleads before the Throne.

To this dear Surety's hand
Will I commit my cause;
He answers and fulfills
His Father's broken laws.
Behold my soul at freedom set;
My Surety paid the dreadful debt.

My Advocate appears
For my defense on high;
The Father bows his ears
And lays his thunder by.
Not all that hell or sin can say
Shall turn his heart, his love, away.

Should all the hosts of death
And pow'rs of hell unknown
Put their most dreadful forms
Of rage and mischief on,
I shall be safe, for Christ displays
His conqu'ring pow'r and guardian grace.


Isaac Watts, 1709
Tune: Bevan, Sir John Goss, 1853

Thankfulness

We had a major thunderstorm last night and lost power just as we were getting ready for bed.  I am so very thankful that it came on again about 7 this morning.  We have a generator (which I am thankful for too) and Andy started it for me before he left but I don't like being the one who is responsible for the thing so I was glad that he could turn it off and set things up for commercial power, as he calls it, before he left too.  It just happened to be the one day a month that Andy goes in late to back up certain pieces of equipment at work.

I am also thankful that we had a certain tree in our yard taken down on Tuesday because we were concerned about the way it increasingly leaned over the garage.  Actually, the tree is not completely down but only the tall trunk remains.  It was so hot on Tuesday (100 degrees) and the men were being so careful not to let the branches fall on the garage that they ran out of time and are coming back to finish in a couple of weeks but I guess there was nothing to catch the wind last night.

Thirdly, I am thankful that the wasps who were apparently living in that tree and were swarming all around the back door once they discovered their home was gone have apparently left us in peace now.

Finally, I am thankful for the badly needed three inches of rain that fell last night!!  That is in addition to the 2.11 inches (according to Andy's rain gauge) that we got on Saturday.  The grass is still brown but some of the plants are looking a little happier now.

So what are you thanking God for today?  Please do share.

Sunday's Hymn: Call Jehovah Thy Salvation

Call Jehovah thy Salvation,
Rest beneath th'Almighty's shade,
In his secret habitation
Dwell, and never be dismayed:
There no tumult shall alarm thee,
Thou shalt dread no hidden snare:
Guile nor violence can harm thee,
In eternal safeguard there.

From the sword at noonday wasting,
From the noisome pestilence,
In the depth of midnight blasting,
God shall be thy sure Defence:
He shall charge his angel legions
Watch and ward o'er thee to keep;
Though thou walk through hostile regions,
Though in desert wilds thou sleep.

Since, with pure and firm affection
Thou on God hast set thy love,
With the wings of his protection
He will shield thee from above:
Thou shalt call on him in trouble,
He will hearken, he will save;
Here for grief reward thee double,
Crown with life beyond the grave.

From Psalm 91; James Montgomery, 1822

Tune: Autumn, Francois H. Barthelemon, 1741-1808

Thankfulness

Our evening walks with Murphy have been so lovely this week!  Perfect temperatures and gorgeous sunsets over Crystal Lake!  And I just came back from a very pleasant (70 degrees) walk with Murphy this morning.  So I thank God for His provision of lovely mornings and evenings in this hot summer we've been having.

I'm still in the clutches of shingles so I was so thankful when Emily came home Tuesday evening with a loose fitting summer dress that she saw at Walmart and thought might be a perfect shingles dress.  She was right and I appreciate the thoughtful, loving daughter God has given me.

Speaking of family, I am thankful not only for our working A/C but for the fun times together we're enjoying despite the heat.  For me, its not what we're doing so much as the fact that we are together.  Even if we're each engaged in our own activity, we are together.  I am thankful for the gift of family.

How about you?  What good gifts has our gracious God given you this week?  Please share.

Sunday's Hymn: Like a River Glorious

Like a river glorious
Is God's perfect peace,
Over all victorious
In its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth
Fuller ev'ry day,
Perfect, yet it groweth
Deeper all the way.

Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blest,
Finding, as he promised,
Perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow
Of his blessed hand,
Never foe can follow,
Never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry,
Not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry
Touch the spirit there.

Ev'ry joy or trial
Falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial
By the Sun of Love.
We may trust him fully
All for us to do;
They who trust him wholly
Find him wholly true.


Frances R. Havergal, 1878
Tune: Like a River, James Mountain, 1844-1933

A Little Shade for the Flowers

I just came in from getting the mail.  Well, actually, I came in from getting the mail to get my camera and head back out to capture my neighbor's novel method of protecting her impatiens from our scorching 102 degree sun.  Maybe she's onto something but I just don't have that many umbrellas!

Thankfulness

This week I am thankful for improvement in my case of shingles.  Its not gone but its less painful and I am therefore sleeping better at night.  Thank you, God!

I am also very grateful for air conditioning in this week of daytime highs hovering around the 100 degree Fahrenheit mark.  And I am thankful for electricity to run the air conditioning.  Many are without power and suffering in the heat without a way to cool off.  I pray for relief for them very soon.

Finally, I am thankful for our country and the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S.  Its far from a perfect country.  That's my homeland in Heaven.  But as earthly countries go, its a pretty good one and I was pleased to celebrate its birthday yesterday.

What are you thanking God for this week?  Please do share!

Sunday's Hymn: Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord to thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest
And set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy pow'r alone, O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work, save thine,
No other blood will do;
No strength, save that which is divine,
Can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfalt'ring lip and heart
I call this Saviour mine.
This cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in his tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
Each ling'ring shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace;
I trust his truth and might;
He calls me his, I call him mine,
My God, my joy, my light.
'Tis he who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives;
I love because he loveth me,
I live because he lives.


Horatius Bonar, 1861; alt.
Tune: Leominster, George William Martin, 1862
Har. by Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, 1874