Just A Few More Days 'Til Christmas!!

I love the whole idea of starting off the week cheerfully by 'Making Your Home Sing (on) Mondays. Since Mondays seem to always bring me an overload of housework, it is such a pleasant thought to have an attitude of praise or singing. I love the old hymns and I love to sing just one after we eat breakfast. I don't actually sing like I should (don't tell anyone that I sing in the shower) because my voice often sounds like I have a cold....and I miss half the alto notes when we sing together . . . that's why I play an instrument instead. So, how was I 'Making My Home Sing Merry Christmas' today??

Today, I got the house back in shape after a nice weekend....got the laundry almost caught back up, took care of some homeschooling desk work badly needing to be done before the end of the year, mailed Christmas cards, mailed Christmas presents to my parents, and pasted the Christmas cookie recipes I might use into "Plan to Eat", made a list of Christmas cookie ideas, bought dish soap (would you BELIEVE that I forgot to buy it for the SECOND week in a row?? 89c shampoo works almost as good (not quite as good!), I put butter on the counter to soften....but ran out of time to make that batch of cookies, put the butter back into the fridge, and made a delicious supper using my "Plan to Eat" recipe book and menu planner. It seems like I found this recipe on someone else's blog but I can't remember. Let me know if it is YOU.  How did this 'Make My Home Sing Merry Christmas'???? 

It is all in the preparations!! You will forget that Christmas is about Jesus coming to earth as a baby to live among us, then to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could accept his precious gift of God's Son to live in our hearts and abide in us . . . You will forget if you are too stressed!! So, what are my sage suggestions?? Persistence and consistence and don't procrastinate!!

I meant to start baking today but I hopefully will be ready to start tomorrow. I want to enjoy baking like I did when the children were little. There wasn't so much to do (oh yes there was!!) when they were little. Oh for those little hands reaching out to help dump the flour and sugar into the bowl. I remember letting my little daughter and son (who are now way grown) sit on the counter to add ingredients into the batter. By the time they were a little older, they were helping to bake. Now daughters still love to bake and we can make quite a lot of cookies to share with neighbors or for caroling door to door with our church family. Let your children help when they are little and don't give in to stress. I have been there and done that and oh....for that older woman who could have come along side of me and encouraged me and taught me how to destress when little children are jumping all over the place with excitement when there is LOTS to be done!!

I am ready to start baking!! 

~Judith~

A Christmas Hymn by Nita Brainard

I love the old hymns and find that they have many more biblical truths in them than the modern songs, especially many of the choruses. That isn't to say that choruses don't have their place as there are many which I have enjoyed singing over the years. It is just that there are many old hymns that are dear to my heart. 

Fanny J. Crosby is one who wrote thousands of hymns, but she lived around 150 years ago and none of us lived during her lifetime. Maybe my grandparents were contemporaries of hers as they were born in the late 1800s....but they passed away many years ago. I have a friend who has written a 'Christmas Hymn'. Her name is Nita Brainard. My children have met her in person, and I have found her to be very special although I have not yet met her in person. Here is her poem and also a link to her blog where she shares about writing hymns. Maybe one of these days I will put my thoughts to the Lord into a poem. She makes it sound so doable!!

Christmas Hymn


Oh, do you believe in my Savior?
You honor the day of His birth,
But have you received His forgiveness,
And seen Him for what He is worth?


He came as a babe in a manger,
And  humbly He dwelt among men,
Yet He is the high King of heaven:
In judgement He's coming again.


He's righteous and holy and perfect.
His judgments are all of them right.
We fall so far short of His glory,
That all are condemned in His sight.


I beg you to call on His mercy,
Before your short life is all spent.
He's free with His grace and forgiveness,
And offers a chance to repent.


Don't cling to your own silly merit;
Don't cling to your sins or your pride;
But give yourself now to the Savior,
Today for Christ Jesus decide.


Nita Brainard
December 2011

Nita has such a personable way of expressing her thoughts about hymns in her recent post on her blog, Pilgrim's Purse and Poems. I'd like to share her link here as this is the best explanation I have ever read. She grabbed my attention better than any English book which explained poetry and actually made me feel like maybe I could even learn how to write a poem someday!! Whether you read someone else's poem or write your own, I hope that you are drawn closer to the Lord if you use what she shares to write your own. It is a way to worship the Lord, and that is something God especially desires from us!!

Hints on Hymnody

Rejoice with Joy Unspeakable!!

Our life; A Journey


Making Your Home Sing Monday

"Whom having not seen, ye love: 

in whom, though now ye see him not, 

yet believing, 

ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

( Peter 1:8)

"Today you can decide to smile more than you frown,

to laugh more than you cry."

"Will it change your circumstances?

Maybe,

but probably not.

But it will change YOU!! 

Momstheword: Making Your Home Sing Monday

Today is the day that the Lord has created and I have decided that I am going to smile, rejoice, and allow the Lord to give me His joy unspeakable. Sometimes circumstances are such in our lives that singing and rejoicing isn't the easiest thing to do. It is a sacrifice. I wonder if the biggest sacrifice is deciding not to 'feel sorry for myself?' Hmm!!

I have found His grace is all complete,

He supplieth every need

While I sit and learn at Jesus' feet,

I am free, yes, free indeed.

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Full of glory, full of glory;

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Oh, the half has never yet been told.

I have found the pleasure I once craved,

It is joy and peace within,

What a wondrous blessing! I am saved 

From the awful gulf of sin.

I have found that hope so bright and clear,

Living in the realm of grace;

Oh, the Savior's presence is so near,

I can see His smiling face.

I have found the joy no tongue can tell,

How its waves of glory roll!

It is like a great o'er flowing well,

Springing up within my soul.

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Full of glory, full of glory;

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Oh the half has never yet been told.

Growing pains as a mother can be more than we 'think' we can bear at times. As long as we ask the Lord, 'What He trying to teach us through our circumstances?' we will be on the right track. Do not neglect to spend time with Jesus and spend your day, 'practicing the presence' of the Holy Spirit abiding in you and He is you.

I am extremely thankful today for the privilege God has given to me in allowing me to be a mother to my children. In whatever season you are in as a mother, allow the Lord to walk ahead of you, leading you. See His presence everywhere and look back at the moments and memories with a thankful heart that you were given each of those days to cherish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrzqaRiVo_A

 Remember, we are raising our children to be arrows for His glory!! 

Making Your Home Sing Monday!