Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Words: Jo­ach­im Ne­an­der, in A und Ω Glaub- und Lieb­es­ü­bung (Stras­lund: 1680); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Cath­er­ine Wink­worth, 1863.

Family, Rain, Blossoms and Cycling!

Just got back from a trip to CA to visit family. We coincided our visit with the Amgen Tour of California. FHA and I went to the Prologue in Sacramento and then Astronerd joined us for Stage 3. It rained. And rained. And rained some more. Then the weather became sunny and warm when we left. I don't know how to watch a bike race in good weather! It was a lot of fun and I hope to post pictures soon.

How Firm A Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

From A Se­lect­ion of Hymns from the Best Au­thors, by John Rip­pon, 1787; at­trib­ut­ed var­i­ous­ly to John Keene, Kirk­ham, and John Keith

Near Disaster

If I Only Had a Brain
I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain.
And my head I'd be scratchin' while
my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.
I'd unravel every riddle for any individ'le,
In trouble or in pain.
With the thoughts you'll be thinkin'
you could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain.
Oh, I could tell you why The ocean's near the shore.
I could think of things I never thunk before.
And then I'd sit, and think some more.
I would not be just a nothin' my head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry, life would be a ding-a-derry,
If I only had a brain.
-From The Movie: The Wizard of Oz

I nearly had a meltdown today. Late last night, I discovered my beloved Moleskine weekly notebook had gone AWOL. How was I going to remember all my appointments? What about all the notes I have taken? What about the ideas and funny family quotes? I was very worried. I turned my car inside out as well as parts of the house. I found the papers that were with the Moleskine, but not the Moleskine. Ah, PTA meeting at the school library, it was with me then. I left the meeting and bought a Val-O-Gram from the student council. Maybe I set it there amongst all the kids? Yikes! Hordes of students with my beloved book, reading my busy, strange, sometimes silly schedule! But I thought I left the school with it. Why hadn't I written my name in it, not just phone numbers? After asking God for some help and looking a little more, I had a good night's sleep.

When I took Astronerd to school this morning, I stopped by the office. Nope, no Moleskine there. Uh oh. I went to help AN and whined to AN's teacher about my missing "brain". He said "Oh, I think it is in the library. The librarian had it and asked me if I knew whose it was, but I didn't." I literally jumped for joy. There it was, sitting on the librarian's desk. I cannot describe the relief I felt. It is so pathetic to be dependent on a book that can be misplaced.

My brain and I have been reunited and I am thankful I was blessed with peace and with finding it. By the way, I don't believe it was a coincidence Astronerd's teacher was the one who knew its location. :)

Thou Gracious God

Thou gracious God, whose mercy lends
the light of home, the smile of friends,
our gathered flock thine arms enfold
as in the peaceful days of old.

Wilt thou not hear us while we raise
in sweet accord of solemn praise
the voices that have mingled long
in joyous flow of mirth and song?

For all the blessings life has brought,
for all its sorrowing hours have taught,
for all we mourn, for all we keep,
the hands we clasp, the loved that sleep.

The noontide sunshine of the past,
these brief, bright moments fading fast,
the stars that gild our darkening years,
the twilight ray from holier spheres.

We thank thee, Father; let thy grace
our loving circle still embrace,
thy mercy shed its heavenly store,
thy peace be with us evermore.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Words: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 1869

Midwinter Storytelling

One of my favorite annual activities is the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. I laugh, cry and have tons of fun each year.

Well, the festival has had for the past three years, a midwinter conference. People come to attend workshops, swap stories and to hear some of the nation's best tellers. Tonight Astornerd and I attended a performance by Elizabeth Ellis, whose "Meddlin' At The Walmart" is one of my very favorite stories, Syd Lieberman, whose stories I haven't heard before and am now a new fan, and one of my family's favorites, grammy winner Bill Harley. Astonerd and I were singing "Zanzibar" today, to get in the spirit of the event.