"...none but Zion's children know."

This morning in church, we heard an excellent exposition of Psalm 48, and spent time together pondering the gift of God to us in His body, the church, and the everlasting nature of that relationship.  It was a beautiful, significnt thing to contemplate!

One of the mental rabbit-trails this took me down was to remember that my mother's family descends from French Huguenots: French protestants who followed the teachings of Jean Calvin.  In following after that great Reformed tradition, I imagine those ancient grandfathers and grandmothers praying for those who would come after them.  I can hear their prayers for preserving in the family a remnant of those who would seek after Christ and follow Him alone.  And I can imagine that I, myself, am a partial answer to their prayers. And in turn, that thought leads me to pray for those generations coming after me- my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and those stretching on as long as the Lord tarries.  I pray that God would call this family faithful, by His gift of grace to us.  May there always be a remnant to follow Him from among this family!

And that leads me to think (in the opposite direction) of that great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us in this race of faith.  God not only provides a straight, smooth path for our feet, but provides generations of examples in the past to show us how it's done.  His church is truly a thing against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. John Newton wrote about it beautifully in this selection from the Olney Hymns, which we enjoyed singing together this morning.  May we, indeed, Gentle Readers, be raised by His love, over self, to reign with Him.

Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.


See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love;
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t’assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
Never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a cov’ring
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from our banner
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which He gives them when they pray.

Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God.
’Tis His love His people raises,
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests, His solemn praises
Each for a thank offering brings.

Savior, if of Zion’s city,
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy Name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.

Happy Birthday, Nikki!

Happy birthday to our sweet daughter-in-love, Nikki!  Nik- you have brought such completion and fullness to our family.  Thank you for your love and vivacity, your caring heart and your sense of humor.  Happy birthday! We love you!

Veritas Press Scholars Academy

Registration opens today over at Veritas Press Scholars Academy, where I am a faculty member.  If you have any students in grades 8 and up who need a good composition class, I would be pleased to have them in one of my two composition classes at VPSA, or in one of the sections taught by my friend and colleague, Cindy Marsch. We have designed the course ( Composition 2) together, and I think it has excellent content for your would-be writers, or any students who need to prepare for writing tasks in high school, college, or beyond.

I have been very impressed with many of the faculty members at VPSA.  If you have an artistically-inclined student, I would not hesitate to place them under the tutelage of  Ken Spirduso: he has an amazing way of looking at and thinking about art!  And there are many other excellent choices listed at the link above.

VPSA is now an accredited secondary school, with about 50 faculty members.  Check it out!

Little is much...

This year, in my various teaching duties, I have once again been amazed at the truth of the maxim that little is much, or less is more.

It is the little things, done faithfully over time, that reap the greatest benefits.  Whether it is a discussion of how to picture the form of an essay, or a narrative retelling of historical events, or forming excellent thesis statements, it is those little, plain things that seem to add up to an education.  It's not the fancy, glitzy computer programs, nor the colorful texts.  It's the little things, done faithfully.  If I could just remember that, I would be less harried in my teaching. Then teaching could truly be an act of leisure for me.  Ah, what a perfect world that would be!

How do you smell?

This morning we heard a convicting sermon on these verses:

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
~2 Corinthians 2:14-16

 The gist of the message was that if we belong to Christ, we smell like Him to others: if they love Christ, itis a sweet fragrance, and if they don't, it is the stench of death.  And if we don't smell of Christ to others, then we need to question if we belong to Him.

Perhaps one reason the message was so moving this morning is that it came from the lips of a man who has served God in costly ways for many years: first, abroad in places like Columbia and Ecquador, and now as a chaplain in a maximum security prison for the criminally insane, and for a regional hospice program.  You know how stressful the prison job is when you hear that he took on the hospice chaplaincy to have a break from the stress. Here is a man who knows what it means to smell like Jesus.

Of course, these verses end with a question: who is equal to such a task? The implied answer is, of course, none of us.  Not you, Gentle Reader, not me, not my amazing friend who did the preaching this morning.  It is only Christ Himself who is equal to such a task.  And so I find myself thankful, indeed, that He leads us always in victory. May you rejoice in the same, Gentle Friend!

My most recently completed quilt...

It is already off to my dil Nikki, to celebrate her upcoming birthday.

 

And here is a close-up of the center.  The subject matter is so very precious!

The photograph in the center was "painted" using GIMP, then printed on cotton fabric, and measure about 5 x 7.

Wednesday without words...