Sunday's Hymn: Away in a Manger

Away in a manger,
No crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down his sweet head;
The stars in the sky
Looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus,
Asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing,
The Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus
No crying he makes;
I love thee, Lord Jesus!
Look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle,
Till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever,
And love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children
In thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven,
To live with thee there.

Anonymous, c. 1884, 1892

Well, its another Thursday and time to share my thanksgivings of the week.  But first I feel I must make some sort of explanation for my neglect of keeping up my blog of late.  It kind of goes hand in hand with giving thanks.  More than kind of, actually.  I am free now to share our praise and thanksgiving to God for His answer to our longstanding prayer for a special man to love and cherish our daughter, Emily.  Once God revealed His work in Emily's life, things started happening and so it is with great joy that we anticipate the marriage of Emily to Glenn on January 15th.

That praise and thanksgiving is only overshadowed by our humble thanksgiving as we prepare to celebrate the birth of God's only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, at this time of year.  What joy could possibly compare with that!!  In answer to the question "Are you ready for Christmas?" I say a resounding "Yes and Amen!"

Sunday's Hymn: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear Desire of ev'ry nation,
Joy of ev'ry longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring,
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley, 1744

Thankfulness

For the second Thursday in a row, I have gotten to stay home all day!  Thank you, God, for that and for everything I was able to accomplish because of it!

I am thankful that I was able to get Murphy groomed and he looks pretty sharp, if I say so myself.  I am thankful that he is pretty cooperative with the grooming process too.

The rest of the tasks were more mundane...paying bills, laundry, changing sheets...but I am thankful to get them done too.

And I am thankful for leftovers tonight!  Yay!

I am also thankful for the time to think as I worked.  I've been thinking about lessons learned through the study of Genesis and thank God for the conviction to change some attitudes in my life.

Thankfulness

I am so thankful for a whole day at home and all the work I was able to accomplish today!  Its been an incredibly busy fall and so much has fallen behind here at the cottage.  I am also thankful for the health to be able to do all that work!

It was a beautiful sunny day and Murphy and I did squeeze in a noontime walk out there.  I am thankful for that too!

And I am thankful for the nifty bluetooth headset Andy gave me for my cell phone.  I never would have guessed how much I would enjoy that little thing!  What a thoughtful husband to do that guessing and go out and get one for me!

Thanksgiving

Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mother's arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns
With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God
Whom earth and heav'n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.

Martin Rinkart, 1636
Trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1858

Sunday's Hymn: Great is Thy Faithfulness

"Great is thy faithfulness," O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fade not;
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
"Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
"Great is thy faithfulness," Lord unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in thy courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain:

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain:

Thomas O. Chisholm
Tune: Faithfulness, William M. Runyan

Thankfulness

I was so busy yesterday that I totally forgot about posting my thankfulness for the week but I am surely thankful for all I accomplished yesterday.  I defrosted the basement freezer, always a bigger job than I think it is going to be.  Then I pruned back the roses in preparation for putting them to bed for the winter and did some other yard work while I was out there.  And I was so very thankful for a mild day to do that outside work!  It was a pleasant, sunny 50 degrees!

Then Murphy and I got in a lovely walk with only a light coat for me and none for him.  Such a lovely day!

After that it was back inside for some kitchen work.  I boiled a chicken carcass for soup and put it in the freezer to have handy for a warming meal on a busy day when I don't know what to make for dinner.  Yesterday, I already had a plan for dinner so now I am one up on that repeating job!

I can't help but mention my thankfulness for time spent on TWO occasions with TWO dear sisters in Christ.  What a blessing they both are to me and how encouraging in my walk of faith!  I thank God for both of them

Sunday's Hymn: O Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord

O come, let us sing to the Lord,
To Him our voices raise;
With joyful noise let us the Rock
Of our salvation praise.

Let us before His presence come
With praise, and thankful voice;
Let us sing psalms to Him with grace,
And make a joyful noise.

For God's a great God, and great King;
Above all gods He is,
The depths of earth are in His hand;
The heights of hills are His.

To Him the spacious sea belongs,
For He the same did make;
The dry land also from His hands
Its form at first did take.

O come, and let us worship Him;
Let us bow down withal,
And on our knees before the Lord,
Our Maker, let us fall.

Psalm 95:1-6
Scottish Psalter, 1650
Tune: Irish, Hymns and Sacred Poems, Dublin, 1749

Thankful Thursday

This fall has been especially busy for me so I was thankful to have a quiet day at home today. Enhanced by a cup of tea with a friend who stopped by, it felt like just what I needed.

I am also thankful that I am sleeping well lately. That is not always the case and especially during time change weeks so I am grateful for the restorative power of sleep.

But most of all, I am thankful for God's mercy and grace to me, a sinner before Him. I am thankful for the safety of the ark that is provided for believers in Jesus Christ.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thankfulness

Well, its been another absence of longer than I planned but here I am.  Andy had still yet a few more days of vacation to use so we had some more days together doing things like going to Starbucks and talking for a couple of hours and long walks with Murphy.  There is a lot to be thankful for in that!

I am also so very thankful for answered prayer!  There is finally a special somebody in Emily's life!  Now we are praying for God's hand on that relationship, giving both of them His wisdom and protection.

A friend who listens with her heart as well as her ears has been a special blessing to me this week.  I thought I was too busy to make time for lunch with her today but God, and my encouraging husband, knew better.

Thank you, Lord.

Sunday's Hymn: From All that Dwell Below the Skies

From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer's Name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends thy Word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From Psalm 117
Isaac Watts, 1719
Tune: Lasst Uns Erfreuen, Giestliche Kirchengesang, Cologne, 1623


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thankfulness

Its been two weeks since my last posting of Thankfulness.  Andy took last week off and we accomplished quite a few tasks around the cottage in preparation for colder weather.  I am thankful to have then finished; thankful for the good health to do that work.

I am also thankful for the time spent together, Andy and I, last week.  We worked together some of the time and also spent some time just relaxing over tea together.  It was fun.

There are still lots of leaves left in the trees and I am surprised and pleased that this has been a beautiful fall despite our lack of rainfall in the midwest.  I thank God for the majesty of His creation.

Our study in Genesis this past week has focused on the fourth chapter, story of Cain and Abel, and leaves me so very grateful for God's loving mercy to us sinful people.  Surely we are a blessed people!

Sunday's Hymn: Christ For the World We Sing

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With loving zeal;
The poor and them that mourn,
The faint and overborne,
Sinsick and sorrowworn,
Whom Christ doth heal.

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With fervent pray'r;
The wayward and the lost,
By restless passions tossed,
Redeemed at countless cost
From dark despair.

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With one accord;
With us the work to share,
With us reproach to dare,
With us the cross to bear,
For Christ our Lord.

Christ for the world we sing;
The world to Christ we bring
With joyful song;
The newborn souls whose days,
Reclaimed from error's ways,
Inspired with hope and praise,
To Christ belong.

Samuel Wolcott, 1869
Tune: Braun, Johann G. Braun, 1675

Sunday's Hymn: By Grace I am an Heir of Heaven

By grace I am an heir of heaven;
Why doubt this, O my trembling heart?
If what the Scriptures promise clearly
Is true and firm in ev'ry part,
This also must be truth divine:
By grace a crown of life is mine.

By grace alone I shall inherit
That blissful home beyond the skies.
Works count for naught, the Lord incarnate
Hath won for me the heav'nly prize.
Salvation by his death he wrought,
His grace alone my pardon bought.

By grace! These precious words remember
When sorely by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan comes to vex thy spirit,
When troubled conscience sighs for rest;
What reason cannot comprehend,
God doth to thee by grace extend.

By grace! Be this in death my comfort;
Despite my fears, 'tis well with me.
I know my sin in all its greatness,
But also him who sets me free.
My heart to nought but joy gives place
Since I am saved by grace, by grace.

Christian L. Scheidt, 1742, cento
Tr. by H. Breuckner
Tune: Neumark, Georg Neumark, 1657

Thankfulness

I am thankful for extra time spent with Andy over the last week as he took a couple of vacation days that needed to be used by the end of the year.  We took Murphy and went fishing one of the days, hiking the other.  It was fun and relaxing!

As I continue in the study of Genesis, I am very thankful for God's institution of marriage.  Our God's wisdom and provision for us is perfect in every way!

And I am very thankful that His particular provision for me in this regard is Andy!

Sunday's Hymn: I Sing the Almighty Power of God

I sing th' almighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

Isaac Watts, 1715

Tune: Forest Green, Traditional English melody, Arr. by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906

Thankfulness

I am thankful this week for the book of Genesis and my study of it this year.  We are only one week into it, and I have studied Genesis before, but I can never cease to be amazed at the power of God demonstrated in creation.  More than His power is demonstrated though.  He demonstrates His sense of order too and His love for mankind in providing all that was needed before creating him...and her.  I am thankful for the reminder this gives me in my life now that God knows exactly what I need and He will provide it exactly when it is needed.  Why do I ever worry?

I am thankful for the creation of my life and the privilege it is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Sunday's Hymn: How Beautiful the Sight

How beautiful the sight
Of brethren who agree
In friendship to unite,
And bonds of charity;
'Tis like the precious ointment, shed
O'er all his robes, from Aaron's head.

'Tis like the dews that fill
The cups of Hermon's flow'rs;
Or Zion's fruitful hill,
Bright with the drops of show'rs.
When mingling odors breathe around,
And glory rests on all the ground.

For there the Lord commands
Blessings, a boundless store,
From his unsparing hands,
Yea, life for evermore;
Thrice happy they who meet above
To spend eternity in love!

From Psalm 133
James Montgomery, 1771-1854
Tune: St. Godric, John B. Dykes, 1823-1876

A Blanket for Daphne

I am a bit behind on posting but we have another great niece!  I am thankful for her safe delivery, of course, but I am also thankful for another reason to knit.  I decided to try a bit of lace knitting this time and it was fun!  There are a few flaws in the blanket, if you look closely, but I am guessing that Daphne won't.