Category Archives: Musings

The Power of Song

March 5, 2007 KME 4 Comments

There are so many things I want my children to learn – how to study and do well in school; how to cook, clean, and help run a household; how to budget their money; how to be honest, responsible and hard-working; how to care for other people, and on and on and on (I doubt the list has an end). As a mother and follower of Christ, however, my intentions and hopes for them are more focused. One of my greatest desires is that my children study and memorize the Word of God.

Joshua and his little cooking assistants, David and Sarah, tackle a big baking project in 2004.

Notice Sarah’s “picture posing smile.”

Give a child a cookie and they’ll be hungry in an hour. Give a child a SPATULA and they’ll never lack for cookies. Ancient Duckabush proverb.

Years ago my mother gave us a set of Steve Green’s Hide Em In Your Heart scripture cds. I immediately copied them onto cassette tapes so we could play them in the van. This was before cars routinely came with cd players. Oh wait, we STILL don’t have a cd player in the van. Let’s not go there. How long since we abandoned the 8 track and upgraded to cassette? We can’t rush right to cds and mp3s. These shifts in technology take time and adjustment.

There are two Hide Em’ In Your Heart volumes, both of which have been made into DVD’s as well. We loved these cds and played them constantly in the house and car. To this day, if you begin a song or verse from those two cds, my older children can belt out the finish.

Unfortunately Steve Green only made two albums and eventually a person does grow weary of listening to the same music over and over. I never did understand why he didn’t continue with the series – ran out of verses, lost his voice, got in copyright issues with the source of his songs??

Wow, it’s 2003 and Sarah is already doing First Grade Math! She’s obviously a child progeny (as Calvin would say).

I’m sure Daniel really appreciated Sarah helping him with his math.

Last year I stumbled across some amazing Bible memory cds (probably heard about them on the SHS loop, the source of treasures too many to enumerate). I listened to sample songs on Christianbook.com and was so taken with them that I immediately bought all four of the cds (I never was one for just window shopping). These Family Worship cd’s, Seeds of Purpose, Seeds of Faith, Seeds of Courage, and Seeds of Praise are truly outstanding. I highly recommend them. If you don’t have young children, buy them for your friends or grandchildren. Find the Christian Director at your church and give him/her a set. Drop hints with relatives who buy for your children. Put them on your Amazon gift list. Borrow a friend’s child so you have an excuse to listen to the music yourself.

The songs are energetic, fun, and worshipful. The lyrics come from God’s true Word. The music varies from lively to moving but best of all it sounds like real ‘praise music,’ not kids music, but it’s praise music that is solely scripture. How powerful is that? The songs are performed by grownups (with occasional help given by children) and have a contemporary feel to them. On the CBD page, the cds come with this comment:

WARNING: This package contains songs that may result in the listener unintentionally MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE. Furthermore, those who learn these words may find themselves inexplicable recalling and/or applying them to real-life situations, as the Holy Spirit leads. USE WITH CAUTION.

Summer 2006 – Samuel gets a good grip on Daniel while David smiles on. These boys obviously need some good Bible music!

More and more I find myself playing the Seeds Praise Mix (as it’s called on my computer) on days when we have busy (i.e. stressful) mornings. On Sundays, in particular, everyone is rushed and a bit harried. It’s difficult (especially when both parents are NIGHT OWLS) getting a large family fed, dressed and out the door in time for Sunday school. Being on time is NOT something I do well as my children will gladly tell you.

On such mornings, I put on the Seeds Mix. With the music blasting and the Word of God filling the house, a new spirit of cheer and praise fills our hearts. It is remarkable how something so small can evoke such a dramatic change.

Rebecca favors classical music but might let Rachel and Sarah talk her into some songs from Seeds of Faith.

Listen to the clips and see if you agree. I separated out the links so you can reach each album easily. We’ve been listening to the collection quite a bit over the past two days and the children are rapidly picking favorites. This does lead to a bit of conflict when one child sneaks up to change the song while another child’s song is still playing. Is there something a bit odd about children fighting over what Bible song to listen to? Ah, these rascals will find something to fight over if it kills them (or is that the point?) Let’s see if they can resist the power of God’s Word reflected in these songs (“Do Everything in Love” comes to mind).

Note: these are NOT hymns. My children love hymns (Daniel and Joshua in particular) but they do NOT enjoy cds of children’s choirs performing hymns. I haven’t been able to find a decent collection of hymns aimed more for children. Still looking. If you know of a treasure I’m missing, please pass the info along!

As the Psalmist wrote:

Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:2-4

Kathy

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P365 – Day 63 (Cleaning Helpers)

March 4, 2007 KME 8 Comments

We were gone for so much of yesterday that the house was thoroughly in need of some loving care (especially as we have Bible Study meeting at our house on Sunday evenings). Since two of my boys (Tim and Daniel) were low on their computer playing allowances and the rest of the family low on funds, I had a house full of eager workers today.

Tim made a LONG list on my wonderful (full size) whiteboard. I added to it later as we were nearing the end of the day.

All of the children worked very hard today. They cleaned (and vacuumed) their rooms. Between them, Rachel and Daniel handled all three of the bathrooms. I think Tim helped Rachel with the master bathroom floor. We washed all sorts of laundry and put away five overflowing baskets of clean clothes. Tim and I cleaned up our room. Joshua worked on the garage.

Rachel hired David to clean her room. She said he always does a great job. With off hand statements like that, a mother wonders just what kind of deals the children are making behind her back. This sounded like something that they had arranged at least once before. Check out David’s cool costume – maybe my work would go faster if I had a royal cape.

Rachel folded socks for me. Reminded me of the time my parents were in town and Mom stood in that same place working on socks.

Finally it was late afternoon and our Small Group was due to arrive. We had accomplished so much, I was truly stunned. The only thing that wasn’t finished was a small stack of paperwork of mine. All that remained from two baskets full was a paper bag of misc. papers. Wow!

When this family comes together to tackle a task, and is energized and motivated to work, we are a formidable force.

Thank you, everyone for helping me get the house picked up and ready for company. It looked great!!! All of the rooms were vacuumed, the bathrooms were sparkling, the kitchen fresh. Ahhh.

David asked me, right before he went to bed, “Are we going to work as hard tomorrow?” I didn’t know what he meant. School work? Finally he told me, “You know, around the house, are we going to work this hard again tomorrow?” Hmmmm. I looked around. The house looks beautiful. The laundry room is fairly empty (there’s always more laundry to be found) and the toys are all picked up. The garage is still in reasonably clean shape, even after kids playing in their for two hours. The bedrooms look great. Just what kind of work did he have in mind?

It really illustrated for me how little the children really understand (especially at a young age) of my desires for the house to be picked up. They are content to enjoy it messy and lived in. He didn’t see the clutter in the first place but knew we all had to work hard (and he enjoyed the ‘payment’ for his labor) and this evening (after it’s all finished) he didn’t see the cleanliness and was wondering if we have a full day of work ahead of us. Interesting.

We never seem to get to any deep cleaning (spring cleaning – sounds like such a wonderful idea) because we rarely stay on top of the clutter and daily mess. How could we possibly deep clean when we can barely reach the bottom of the chaos?

It’s lovely going to bed, knowing the house is fresh and pretty for Monday morning.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 61 (5 A’s)

March 3, 2007 KME 5 Comments

The Young Peace Maker’s class continues at our homeshooling co-op. As we progress through the material, I often wonder if we are reaching the children’s hearts. The class is full and the kids appear to have a great time. They recite their weekly memory verse, answer questions as best they can, engage in discussion, and beg to be in the weekly skits.

Daniel sits in class.

But, I ask myself, are they learning anything? Is any of the discussion about choices and consequences sinking in? Are they absorbing the lessons? Will this make a difference in their life? Are they beginning to recognize the different ways people respond to conflict?

The questions plague me in particular because two of my five children are members of the class, two that are constantly battling to get along. I desire for my children to learn how to respond to conflict in a godly way. I long for them to grow in wisdom. I agree with author, Corlette Sande, that conflict can become an opportunity to please and honor God, to serve other people, and to grow to be more like Christ.

I don’t want my children to simply gain communication and problem-solving skills, I yearn for them to take responsibility for their wrongs, express sorrow for hurting others, and commit themselves to forgive one another as God has forgiven them.

If I can help them understand the root causes of their conflicts (pride, selfishness, greed, unforgiveness, etc) and encourage them to ask God to free them from these sinful attitudes, I will be helping them to become true Peace Makers.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

Every single day my children have ample opportunity to respond to conflict. Conflict abounds in my family. Unfortunate but true. I’m afraid a bunch of sinners lives in my home (and I’m one of them!). Some form of dissonance or conflict is always ready to spring forth – from lips that speak angrily, from arms that push and shove, from countenances that darken, or from offenses easily taken.

Silence is easy – I can tell my children to be silent and the house will be quiet. I don’t want simply a hushed atmosphere, I crave a peaceful home where love abounds more than contention, where grace, patience and joy are the defining characteristics. The stakes are high!

I guess they are quiet SOME of the time.

This week, in class, we studied the 5 A’s of responding to conflict.

1) Admit – admit what you did wrong, take ownership or responsibility for your attitudes and choices

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5

2) Apologize – “I am sorry for … ”

3) Accept – accept the consequences for your choices, understand that there is a need for restitution, or making right what you did wrong.

4) Ask – ask for forgiveness. This is beyond apologizing, it is asking the person to accept your apology and forgive you. It shows you are seeking to restore the relationship and seek reconciliation.

5) Alter – alter your choices in the future. Tell others how you want to change, pray that God will give you the heart and will to do so.

Rachel and some other girls act out a conflict and the 5 A’s.

This morning Daniel and David woke up early and decided racing up and down the stairs (sometimes on their knees) would be a fun way to entertain themselves. As Saturday is Tim’s only day to sleep in (and he is consistently short on sleep) this turned out to be a bad choice. Both boys were punished and received lectures on respect for others and being quiet on Saturday mornings.

Afterward I happened to mention to Daniel that he should use the 5 A’s from our PeaceMaker’s Class. I must admit I had little hope that Daniel would know what I was talking about, much less be able to pull back any of the information from our study on the subject. To my great delight and surprise, he immediately rattled off all 5 of the A’s (in order). I was stunned. He was listening! He remembered! It had been a whole day and the information was still there, fresh in his memory. I decided to go further (why not live dangerously!) and asked him to apply the 5 A’s to his situation.

Again he surprised and pleased me. He admitted that he was wrong to be so noisy in the morning. He apologized. He said he accepted the punishment we gave him. He asked for forgiveness and then said he would try to be quiet and respectful next time.

To see understanding and application in a child who struggles dearly with authority and bristles under rebuke, was a beautiful gift from the Lord. It gave me tremendous hope and joy and encouraged me to persevere in this study. I need to model and practice these 5 A’s until the children thoroughly comprehend and internalize them.

Did I already mention that this study is as convicting, if not MORE, for the teachers as it is the students? Almost every week Lisa (my co-teacher) and I comment on how much we are learning in teaching this class and how challenged we are to live out these principles. If we can share even a portion of this with our children and the other kids at co-op, they will be mightily blessed and enriched.

Today, in our Proverbs study we read about the value of wisdom.

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;those who lay hold of her will be blessed. Proverbs 3:14-18

These are the riches I want for my children.

Kathy

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Saying Goodbye to “The Cousins”

March 2, 2007 KME 6 Comments

We miss “The Cousins!” I don’t know when we gave them such a lofty title, but at some point we began calling Tim’s brother’s children “The Cousins.” The kids have other cousins, my brother has three children and Tim’s sister has three as well, but neither of them have been so dubbed. Who can explain how these things come about.

Rachel and Rebecca enjoy a quiet moment together before the Big Goodbye.

For one glorious year The Cousins lived near us in Washington. It was wonderful. We came together for birthdays, celebrated holidays in each other’s homes, and, near the end of the year, met almost every Friday for pizza and Game Night. Sigh.

And then they left. Moved overseas. Just like that, they were gone. No more family birthdays or game nights or cousin time.

Daniel weeps to say goodbye to Samuel

Lately The Cousins are reading the blog. Daniel and Samuel got on Skype and talked for an hour one day this week. When I asked him what all they discussed, he said they mainly chatted about the blog, looking through pictures and laughing together.

Ever since I heard that, I knew I had to write a blog to The Cousins. What is more fitting than a tribute to their departure last summer.

Notice the manly way Joshua and Timothy say goodbye – no tears or hugs, just a simple handshake. Either that or they’re cementing a clandestine business deal (not sure why Joshua is in his pajamas, but these are the days of “casual wear,” even on Wall Street).

The girls, on the other hand, are a little more demonstrative.

We prayed and prayed that The Cousins would be able to stay in Washington but the Lord had other plans. The children devour any contact they have with the kids – Rachel and Joshua both correspond with Rebecca on a regular basis, Daniel talks on the computer with Samuel, and of course, then there is the blog (obviously the glue that holds us all together). When we received a cd full of pictures and videos we had to take a half day off of school in celebration (we needed that long to go through all the video of Mark careening through the streets of their new town).

So this quick little blog is to say hello to The Cousins and let them know how much we love and miss them. Come back any time, all is forgiven!

Aunt Koffee

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P365 – Day 60 (A Letter to Sarah)

March 1, 2007 KME 10 Comments

Dear Sarah,

Hello Princess! We had another busy day – nothing extraordinary or unusual – just one of many that flow together to make the beautiful, crazy tapestry of our life. I’m taking a quiet moment to write and tell you that I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I pushed you aside this morning when you wanted to climb in my lap (I already had a keyboard there and was “busy”).

I’m sorry I didn’t let you kiss my cheek (I was eating breakfast and was “too busy for kisses”).

I’m sorry I didn’t snuggle in for another book at school time. Your request was so simple and sweet and yet, I pushed you aside. It was time to move on to the next thing.

I’m sorry I fussed at you for pulling on my jacket in the library. I told you to “hold on” and then was impatient with your tugs. Even though I could see the irony in the moment – you were “holding on” but not “waiting” like I intended – I still felt irritable.

I’m sorry I didn’t take the time for a real embrace this evening. I was hurrying out the door and didn’t pause for more than a quick brush as I went by.

Please forgive me. You are my precious daughter and I love you. Your smile and cheerful bounce brings a deep, contented joy to my heart. Even though I was busy and distracted today, you remained radiant and full of warmth. I am so blessed to be your mother and I am honored that God chose to place you in our family. May tomorrow bring a new sweetness to our relationship.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23

Most of all, I am excited to see the way God is pulling and tugging at your heart. He wants to do wonderful things in your life. His love is everlasting and unconditional (unlike a tired, preoccupied mommy). He is calling you to Himself.

And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. Romans 8:30

Here is a little glimpse of your day.