A City Life For Me

Elaine requested that we sing Who Is He in Yonder Stall? for our hymn this month.  This is my favorite Christmas song, though only the first line talks about the nativity.  The song tells the story of what Jesus did on earth.  He came as a baby so that He could die, and now He has resurrected and rules through the earth from His throne in heaven.   Who Is He in Yonder Stall?  is written differently in different hymnbooks.  Some separate each line of the stanzas into their own short stanzas.  I learned it with two couplets per stanza before the chorus.  I also have usually heard this sung with several choruses omitted, to shorten the length of the song.  My PDF includes three choruses, but you can just print pages 3-4 again if you would like to include the refrain after each stanza. I usually laminate my song and attach the pages with jump/binder rings.  For this hymn, I put my pages together to hang vertically making one complete ve...

Continuing in the thoughts of my last post , when Jehoshaphat was faced with a difficult situation of almost certain anihilation, he turned his eyes to God and trusted the Lord to fight for him.  After the Lord sent a message through His prophet with instructions for Judah in the battle, their immediate response was to bow, worship, and sing praise to God.  God hadn't yet done anything, but Judah praised Him for what they knew He was going to do -- fight for them. These thoughts have been brewing for a little while, since the outbreak of COVID-19 that has turned our whole world upside down.  At first, our church wasn't able to meet at the public school we were renting because the schools were closed down.  So, we had church in our dining room for two weeks.  It was all very last minute, and unplanned.  My mind was swirling and things seemed uncertain.  I turned on my iTunes and started a playlist on random.  Each song, though having little to d...

Here is another visualized hymn.  This one is made for the kids to color before it is laminated.  If you would like a playable file, you can find it HERE , along with a PDF of the musical score.  I prefer to use hymnal.net but sadly this song is not in their database. Download Printable PDF

I enjoy teaching our kids different hymns as part of our school curriculum!  Last month I heard "Standing on the Promises" being sung or hummed every day by at least one of my kids!  This month I chose "Jesus Loves Even Me" to go with the love  and Valentine's Day theme.  (Even though we don't really celebrate that holdiay very big...) These are the words to the hymn: I am so glad that our Father in heaven Tells of His love in the Book He has given; Wonderful things in the Bible I see— This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me. Chorus: I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me; I am so glad that  Jesus loves me, Jesus loves even me. Though I forget Him and wander away, Still He doth love me wherever I stray; Back to His dear loving arms would I flee, When I remember that Jesus loves me. Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing, When in His beauty I see the great King, This...

I have another visualized hymn to share with you.  This year we started back to opening exercises in school, which meant a new hymn of the month.  Ben chose "Standing on the Promises."  I chose to use pictures that the kids could color so we could double the project for art class that week. This was probably one of the best hymn choices we have made so far.  Everyday I hear at least one, but usually several singing the words as they go through their day.  Usually they don't learn all the words completely, even after working on the hymn for most of a month.  This one they have down pat already!  It's nice to hear them singing around the house! To download the PDF, CLICK HERE

In Spanish class (which is far less consistent than it should be) my kids learned the hymn O Say But I'm Glad  in Spanish.  So I took the opportunity to make that our hymn of the month in February.  In January and March we learned some songs I had purchased visualized. Even Henry did a good job with the catchy tune and easy phrases of this hymn, so we ended up singing it in church.  Most of our congregation is bilingual, and they enjoyed the kids' effort to sing in Spanish! With the exception of a couple visuals, this song is designed for you (or your kids) to color in before laminating and using.  Here's a peek at a couple of the visuals: Download the song in PDF form from Dropbox here.

We didn't do hymns at the beginning of this school year...I was swamped learning to teach Kindergarten to two  kids at once.  That is still a work in process!  We reviewed some hymns which we had already learned last year.   Learning to stand and sing hymns and pay attention always seemed like creating a discipline opportunity.  There was a lot of fighting and not listening.  I thought my kiddos didn't like the singing time.  But two of my kids asked for hymns again in the same week, so we are bringing it back!  We have also been letting one child in each bedroom choose a song to sing before bedtime prayers each night.  I love  that they are asking for songs like "Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty," "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," and "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"! This month we are learning Come Ye Thankful People, Come  in preparation for Thanksgiving.  I had a good time visualizing this hymn because fall i...

In April we learned "The Bible Stands" as our hymn in morning time.  The kids really got into this one, I think because it is a peppy, upbeat tune.  Though Elaine did say, "Wow, I'm really out of breath after this song!"  I wanted to make it a song that the kids could color in the visuals, but I couldn't find the right pictures for each page.  So some pictures are black and white clipart, and others are full color photos.   Late in the month, our Thursday night Bible study was about the surety of the Bible.  Ben chose this song to sing, and my kids were excited to know the song already! This month we are learning a slower song, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."  It's a nice change after last month!  Again, the pictures are designed to be colored by you or your kiddos.  While one verse focuses on death, the next verse speaks of eternity in heaven praising our Jesus for His love.  This has been a good lesson to teach my kids! ...

Here are some resources and printables for you as you prepare for Resurrection Sunday! My friend MaryEllen shared 15 verses for the Resurrection, and she includes a free printable hymn art.  I love decorating my house with Scripture, so these kind of printables are right up my alley!  Read the post at Imperfect Homemaker HERE . Available in MaryEllen's store, you can get a beautiful printable set of Resurrection verses to use in family devotions, as well as a printable banner (my newest favorite in home decor  is changing out a banner with the season or holiday!), and three printable hymn arts.  Purchase it HERE . The Isaiah 53 study in the Busy Mama's series is excellent. Study the prophecy of Jesus as the Lamb of God.  You can purchase the PDF or paperback HERE .  You will finish after Easter if you start now, but it is still worth the time and effort! When I was studying Isaiah 53 through Doorposts two years ago, I created this picture ...

Last year I made it a goal to teach my kids a different hymn each month.  We explained the big words, the doctrine from Scripture, and learned all  the verses because they are so rich in theology.  My kids really liked it!  In fact, today I didn't have the new hymn ready for morning pledge time and Nehemiah came to me later very sad because "we didn't sing today." We didn't do well with hymns in the summer...we were too busy renovating a house!  This coming summer we have several mission teams joining us for Bronx ministry, so I am again taking off the summer months (this time by design).  What we have been creating is "morning time" like many homeschoolers do in their learning routine, but I didn't even know there was such a thing!  This year we are going to incorporate Scripture memory into the morning time along with our pledges and hymn and prayer time. Here is my list of hymns for 2018: January: Satisfied February: Blessed Assuran...

One of my goals this year was to teach my kids a new hymn each month.  I am just learning about what some homeschoolers call "Morning Time," but I guess we've had an abbreviated version of this all year.  We open our homeschool day with pledges, prayer, and a hymn.  Then we divide up into our various Bible classes and play times.  For pledges, we say the pledge to the American flag, the pledge to the Christian flag, and the pledge to the Bible.  Even Henry tries to say the words, and the twins know all the pledges just from listening every day.  The kids rotate who gets to hold each flag/Bible, and who prays. We have done well learning our hymns this year, except for June, July, and August.  With the house purchase, renovation, and move I totally fell off of anything goal related or routine encompassing.  But we started back in September with "Power in the Blood" and now we are learning "Jesus Paid it All."  It's fun to see the delight ...

I wrote this post on Friday, but I wasn’t ready to publish it yet.  While most years find us remembering this “Good Friday” as the day Jesus bore our sins at Calvary, prior to celebrating a glorious Resurrection Sunday, I was all set to enjoy this day, April 14, 2017, as a good Friday for another reason.  Today, at long last, we were to close on the house in the Bronx. Three years ago we began a life changing journey of deputation.  I admit, it wasn’t anything I had planned on doing (even as a missions major…I thought there must be a way out of it).  But it was good, and hard, and growing, and we crossed the finish line of that season of life on November 28, 2016, when we pulled into our temporary driveway after our last deputation trip.  Near the end of that process, we gave up a much-loved apartment in Brooklyn.  We moved into missions apartment in upstate New York, 2 long hours from my beloved Brooklyn, to save money on the rent.  It has been 19 ...

We’ve been learning “He Lives” in preparation for Easter!  I wanted to share the visualized file in case anyone else wanted to use it.  I was able to find a lot of sketch images for this song, so most of it can be colored or decorated by the kiddos.    PDF Printable File

One of my goals this year was to teach my kids a new hymn each month in our morning pledge and prayer time for school.  I want my kids to learn the rich doctrine in the good old hymns that the church has used for so long in corporate worship.  Through our travels we were in many kinds of churches.  Some were big and had lots of kids programs, and some we small and didn’t even have a nursery worker, much less a children’s program for every age group.  I also got the impression that many times in church we feel we have to have something to entertain the kids in every service, or some program or activity “on their level”.  After a couple of struggles in church with four, and then five kids, who didn’t want to sit still or be quiet while their daddy was preaching, we set out to teach our kids how to sit in church, and proper “etiquette” for the worship service.  The twins were very young, and Elaine and Nolan had never sat through church because they were alwa...

The lyrics from this song have been stuck in my head lately.  They have caused me to contemplate what I am doing to touch the world around me with the love of Jesus. He walked along the shores of Galilee. From clay he formed the healing balm that caused the blind to see. When stones of wrath weighed heavy in their hand, He knelt to write His mercy in the sand. Jesus came to set the captives free; showed us by the way He lived, the way we need to be. Our love is more than words could ever say - We must touch them with compassion to help them find their way. How can we reach a world we never touch? How can we show them Christ if we never show them love? Just to say we care will never be enough. How can we reach a world we never touch? Could we be so busy being saved? Trying to impress a world, that’s long since lost its way? We pride ourselves in being set apart, Yet we don’t take time to touch a broken heart. Even if we found the time to ...

Today is the 41st Earth Day celebration.  Many people around the country are focusing on this celebration this weekend.  While I believe that we should do our part to be good stewards of this world that was given us, I also understand that when God is finished with this earth nothing we can do will stop Him from destroying it and creating the New Earth. You see, while most people are focusing today on how to save the trees, as Christians, my family is remembering a Tree that saves.  Today is not only Earth Day, but more importantly it is Good Friday.  Around 2,000 years ago, my Savior Jesus Christ gave His life on a tree called Calvary so that the entire earth might be truly saved by placing their faith in Him.  I know that it is not really the Tree (His cross) that saves, but rather what He did on the cross that brings salvation.  I am so thankful for my Jesus, and that He was willing to pay the price for my sin, to take my punishment, so that He cou...

“The more I think of and pray about the state of religion in this country, and all over the world, the deeper my conviction becomes that the low state of the spiritual life of Christians is due to the fact that they do not realize that the aim and object of conversion is to bring the soul even here on earth to a daily fellowship with the Father in heaven. “When once this truth has been accepted, the believer will perceive how indispensable it is to the spiritual life of a Christian to take time each day with God’s Word, and in prayer to wait upon God for His presence and love to be revealed.” ~Andrew Murray I was reminded of the words of the second verse of Like a River Glorious by Francis Ridley Havergal: 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. Chorus: Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully bl...

  Happy Fourth of July!   Today marks the 234th birthday of American independence.  With that in mind, I would like to share the story of the Star-Spangled Banner, our National Anthem.  The words were penned by Francis Scott Key in 1812: You are likely familiar with the first verse: “O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that Star-spangled Banner still wave? O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave? “On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of t...

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28   Yesterday Pastor Bickel taught from Romans 8:28 in the afternoon Bible Study at Bethel Baptist Fellowship .  He gave four truths to encourage us, as long as two conditions are met.  The conditions are to love God (be in a right relationship with Him), and be called according to His purpose (where my plan gives way to God’s plan).  When those two things are true, “All seeming adverse circumstances can be viewed as advantageous.” Four Truths to Encourage You: God’s plan is beneficial - “good” God’s plan is active - “work” God’s plan is inclusive - “all” God’s plan is harmonious - “together” I was reminded of one of my favorite songs, “In All Things God Works for Our Good” by Lloyd Larson.  The lyrics go like this: In the lush verdant valleys where we walk sure and strong, or the rugged terrain unsafe and long; ...

On Sunday, January 17th we participated in a child dedication at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Pittsfield, MA.  This is the church where Ben grew up.  Pastor Neiner called us to the front of the church along with three other families.  He took us through the Scriptures regarding the parents’ responsibility to raise their children in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  I liked that Pastor Neiner made it very clear that this is not baby baptism, nor is the church imparting salvation to the children.  The purpose of dedicating Elaine is a public declaration on the part of Ben and I that we intend to raise her as the Bible prescribes.  Pastor Neiner also touched on the fact that the church has a responsibility to teach the children that God brings into their influential sphere.  At the end Pastor Neiner had two deacons pray over the children being dedicated.  Jim Hamilton (my father-in-law) prayed for the parents and their responsibility to...