Mom’s Musings

The prompt this week for One Single Impression is GLORY. Immediately I thought of the GLORY OF GOD. Specifically, I thought of how God manifests His GLORY in the creation that we see all around us (and in us).

A helpful summary of Christian doctrine, The Westminster Confession of Faith, says this about God’s GLORY in creation:

It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the GLORY of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good. – The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647, Chapter 4: Of Creation.

In our family, during daily Bible reading times, we also sing from God’s song book, the Book of Psalms. One of our favorite psalms, Psalm 148, speaks of God’s GLORY in creation. Here is the metrical version of Psalm 148:1-14 taken from The Scottish Psalter, published 1650:

The Lord of heav’n confess,

On high his glory raise.

Him let all angels bless,

Him all his armies praise.

Him glorify

Sun, moon, and stars;

Ye higher spheres,

And cloudy sky.

From God your beings are,

Him therefore famous make;

You all created were,

When he the word but spake.

And from that place,

Where fix’d you be

By his decree,

You cannot pass.

Praise God from earth below,

Ye dragons and ye deeps:

Fire, hail, clouds, wind, and snow,

Whom in command he keeps.

Praise ye his name,

Hills great and small,

Trees low and tall;

Beasts wild and tame;

All things that creep or fly,

Ye kings, ye vulgar throng,

All princes mean or high;

Both men and virgins young,

Ev’n young and old,

Exalt his name;

For much his fame

Should be extoll’d.

O let God’s name be prais’d

Above both earth and sky;

For he his saints hath rais’d,

And set their horn on high;

Ev’n those that be

Of Isr’el’s race,

Near to his grace.

The Lord praise ye.

Those of you interested in meter (which means all of you, I imagine!) will note that this metrical psalm is written in 66. 66. 88. We sing this Psalm to the tune Darwall, written by John Darwall.darwalls148th

I love this Spiritual, and these folks have beautiful voices. This is the Romanian “Acoustic Choir.”

Heavenly singing.

Just high schoolers; can it be?

From Bellevue Christian.

Passing through our town,

Going to perform up North,

Sang at Meadow Greens.

Foretaste of heaven,

About fifty voices strong;

They sang for an hour.

Sang a cappella,

“In chapel style” as they say:

Without instruments.

Soprano, alto,

Tenor, baritone and bass,

All sang heartily.

From cathedral lays,

To spirituals sung by slaves,

And old classic hymns.

Our hearts burned within;

Affection to God was stirred,

A longing for Home.

For more Haiku, visit Jennifer over at Playgroups are No Place for Children and Christina at A Mommy Story.

(Just to let you know: Meadow Greens is where my elderly mom lives, not me (yet!). I was over visiting her today, and happened to catch the best singing I think I have EVER heard. Thankfully the choir will be back in town this Saturday at 7:30pm at Bethel Christian Reformed Church. That way more members of our family will have the opportunity to hear these talented young people sing. The performance location and time are for you local readers who might be able to come!)

Thirteen Things I loved about Home schooling

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Back when we were beginning our family, about 25 years ago, home schooling was not the popular, cool thing to do that it is today. We became friends with some pioneering families who were really dedicated to the concept, however, and became convinced that home schooling was the only option for us.

As things have worked out, our oldest child was the only one who was exclusively home schooled (until he went to college). The next four children were home schooled plus Christian schooled. Now, the youngest four children have been home schooled, Christian schooled, and are currently public schooled. There are many reasons for this change from exclusive home schooling. One of the main reasons, I guess, is that we view home schooling as a TOOL, not as an end in itself. When the home schooling “tool” worked to the best advantage of our family and our children, we employed it.

For this Thursday Thirteen, I would like to tell you 13 things that I LOVED about homeschooling, not home schooling in general, but OUR home schooling (There are lots of different versions out there, ya know.).

• We were able to provide a warm, nurturing environment for our young children.
  

• We were able to be the main influence on our children’s developing characters when they were very young.
  
• The children were not rushed into academics too soon, but had lots of opportunities to play and explore, and to learn to help with the work of the home. You have probably guessed that I agree with Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s approach to homeschooling, explained in their books such as School Can Wait and Home Grown Kids.
  

• The children learned how to handle themselves confidently in varied settings because they went everywhere that we did, and were prepared beforehand on what to expect at the library, the store, the church, etc.
  
• We were on the lookout for the children’s special talents and interests and were able to facilitate their development. An interest in art, for example, led to us hiring an artist one summer to teach the youngsters watercolor techniques. We made sure to have plenty of art supplies on hand as well.
  

• I love interest-based education, something which is ideally suited to the home school. For example, when our first child became interested in WWII, American Indian chiefs, or astronomy, he had the opportunity to explore those subjects in depth, WHEN he was interested in them. When one of the girls became interested in breeding gerbils to obtain as many coat colors as possible, she did that.
  
• We went to the library A LOT. They have a limit of 100 books maximum which may be checked out at once, and we sometimes reached that maximum. Our rule with the children was, “You have to check out as much non-fiction as fiction.” All of our children continue to love books.
  

• I loved reading aloud to the children. If the children were interested, I would sometimes end up reading to them up to three hours a day.
  
• The children had time and energy for music lessons and practicing their instruments (3 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello). They still play occasionally, but I miss the “all-the-time” music.
  

• The children learned to take a lot of responsibility for their own learning, helping to research and select the curriculum, and helping to decide the time-table of completing their work.
  
• Life was more relaxed. The children got enough sleep. I got enough sleep.
  
• We could pretty much go where we wanted, when we wanted, without worrying about missing school.
  
• I enjoy my children. I love being with them. They have learned to be thoughtful and pleasant people. We had (and continue to have) such a good time together throughout those home school years.
  

I was looking for some good music on You Tube this evening. I started off with some kletzmer; there are some fantastic clarinet and tuba solos out there, as part of the dance music. Then I got to hankerin’ for something Celtic, and listened to some fiddle and guitar artists for a while. Then I got to thinkin’ what I really was craving was some good, old-fashioned dulcimer music. That did indeed prove to be the best of all. Come to find out that a wonderful dulcimer artist and teacher, Robert Force, lives near here, and used to teach at Western Washington University, where two of our children are currently studying. Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Robert Force:

My friend, Marmee, pointed out this fun parody of Hey There, Delilah on You Tube. Enjoy.

Rick, my husband, and Seth, our youngest son, left a few minutes ago for Anacortes, WA where the Jr. Solo and Ensemble Contest is being held this year. Some students, like Seth, will be singing. Others will be playing musical instruments, solo or in small groups.

This past Thursday evening I attended the dress rehearsal for the students from our school district who will be performing in this year’s contest. Without exception, the students did beautifully! Participation in this event is voluntary. In fact, a small fee is charged to enter the competition. It was evident from the quality of the musical performances that these students love music, and have really worked to prepare for the event.

Originally, Seth planned only to sing Hey There, Delilah by the Plain White Ts, but the school’s piano accompanist couldn’t locate piano music for the song. Seth has been learning to play guitar in an enrichment class that is offered three mornings a week at the middle school, so he asked his choir teacher if he could accompany himself. She agreed that he could try, so Seth searched online for the guitar tablature to this song, learned how to play it, memorized it, and now plays it fluently while singing.

Seth has loved to sing since he was a wee little dude. Music is one of the loves of his life. His worry last night was that he has a couple blisters on his fingers. I hope he will be able to relax and do his best. It would be neat if he can go further in the competition, perhaps to the state level.

Here are the lyrics to the song that Seth will be performing:

Plain White Ts
- Hey There Delilah
(These lyrics are from www.lyrics007.com)

hey there delilah
what’s it like in new york city
I’m a thousand miles away
but girl tonight you look so pretty
yes you do
time square cant shine as bright as you
i swear its true

hey there delilah
don’t you worry about the distance
I’m right there if you get lonely
give this song another listen
close your eyes
listen to my voice it’s my disguise
I’m by your side

oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
what you do to me

hey there delilah
i know times are gettin’ hard
but just believe me girl
someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar
we’ll have it good
we’ll have the life we knew we would
my word is good

hey there delilah
I’ve got so much left to say
if every simple song I wrote to you
would take your breath away
I’d write it all
even more in love with me you’d fall
we’d have it all

oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me

a thousand miles seems pretty far
but they’ve got planes and trains and cars
I’d walk to you if I had no other way
our friends would all make fun of us
and we’ll just laugh along because we know
that none of them have felt this way
delilah I can promise you
that by the time that we get through
the world will never ever be the same
and you’re to blame

hey there delilah
you be good and don’t you miss me
two more years and you’ll be done with school
and I’ll be makin’ history like I do
you know it’s all because of you
we can do whatever we want to
hey there delilah here’s to you
this one’s for you

oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
oh it’s what you do to me
what you do to me

Psalm 42:6 – 11, Scottish Metrical Version

6 My God, my soul’s cast down in me; thee therefore mind I will

From Jordan’s land, the Hermonites, and ev’n from Mizar hill.

7 At the noise of thy water-spouts deep unto deep doth call;

Thy breaking waves pass over me, yea, and thy billows all.

8 His loving-kindness yet the Lord command will in the day,

His song’s with me by night; to God, by whom I live, I’ll pray:

9 And I will say to God my rock, Why me forgett’st thou so?

Why, for my foes’ oppression, thus mourning do I go?

10 ‘Tis as a sword within my bones, when my foes me upbraid;

Ev’n when by them, Where is thy God? ’tis daily to me said.

11 O why art thou cast down, my soul? Why, thus with grief opprest,

Art thou disquieted in me? In God still hope and rest:

For yet I know I shall him praise, who graciously to me

The health is of my countenance, yea, mine own God is he.

This morning I received a link to this amazing video from my friend Kathy in Arizona (We were in sixth grade together, lost touch because my family moved a lot, and then rediscovered one another in the past couple years through Classmates.com. Yay!).

Anyhow, I was so moved by the amazing voice, and heart of love, of the speaker/singer, Mr. Wentley Phipps, and want to share this with you.

Did you know (I sure didn’t!) that ALL Negro spirituals are based on the pentatonic scale, the five black notes on the piano keyboard (The same five notes repeat over and over, from lower to higher.) And, the very famous “white” spiritual, Amazing Grace, is based on this “slave scale” as well.

Guess where John Newton heard this melody? From the poor Negro men and women he was transporting from their homes in Africa, to lives of slavery in other lands. But that’s not the end of the story, for John Newton was transformed by God’s grace, and learned to love those whom he once oppressed.

Please enjoy.

Artist : Jack Greene –Song Title: Try A Little Kindness
(These lyrics are from www.lyrics007.com)

If you see your brother standin’ by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed
And if you see your sister fallin’ by the way
Just stop and say you’re goin’ the wrong way

You’ve got to try a little kindness yes show a little kindness
Shine your light for everyone to see
And if you’ll try a little kindness then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of the narrow minded people on the narrow minded streets
[ ac.guitar ]
Don’t walk around the down and out lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day will help someone along their way
You’ve got to try a little kindness…
[ ac.guitar ]
You’ve got to try a little kindness…