Happy Valentine's Day!

I want to wish a Happy Valentine's Day to my wonderful husband, Peter.  You are my best friend, and I wouldn't trade in the last 6 1/2 years for anything.  I love you!

Let's Go Hope!

Today I am heading to St. Louis for what is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.  That's right, I am heading to a Hope/Calvin rivalry viewing party.  This annual event is a must-do on my calendar.  I get to see other people who went to Hope (even if I didn't know any of them while I was there).  The basketball game is ALWAYS good.  Plus, it is amazing to be a part of what even ESPN realizes is one of the best (although fans say "the best") basketball rivalries in the nation.  Let's go Hope!
(If you want more info, you can visit the following website: Rivalry Website)

Hymn of the Month - "Christ Be My Leader"

This month's hymn is "Christ Be My Leader" by Timothy Dudley-Smith.  I particularly like this hymn, as it has been a source of comfort through the many changes and unknowns I have encountered.  I find myself singing "Christ Be My Leader" frequently.
John 8:12 says:

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" (ESV)

The first verse of the hymn talks about Christ leading us through the darkness.  When life seems dull, dark, and dismal, Christ is there as the light of the world.  Here is the text of the hymn.  I hope it can be a reminder to you of Christ's love and care.

Christ be my leader by night as by day;
Safe through the darkness, for He is the way.
Gladly I follow, my future His care,
Darkness is daylight when Jesus is there.


Christ be my teacher in age as in youth,
Drifting or doubting, for He is the truth.
Grant me to trust Him; though shifting as sand,
Doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand.


Christ be my Savior in calm as in strife;
Death cannot hold me, for He is the Life.
Nor darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain
Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.

(LSB 861)

Hymn of the Month - "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright"

Happy Epiphany!  Yes, on Epiphany we celebrate the coming of the Magi to worship the Christ Child.  However, Epiphany is not just a day on the calendar, but a whole season of the church year.  The season of Epiphany is a season of light.  It is a season where we celebrate God's glory coming into the world.
With those things in mind, this month's hymn is "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright" by Philipp Nicolai.  Nicolai was a German Lutheran pastor around the time of the Formula of Concord (which was written as a statement of faith to unite Lutherans).  He was also a pastor during an outbreak of the Plague and was burying hundreds of Plague victims.  That is when he wrote "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright."  This hymn celebrates the light of Christ that has come into the world, remains with us, and will come again on the last day.  (While I like the entire hymn, stanzas 5 and 6 are my favorite.)

O Morning Star, how fair and bright!
You shine with God's own truth and light,
Aglow with grace and mercy!
Of Jacob's race, Kind David's son,
Our Lord and master, You have won
Our hearts to serve You only!
Lowly, holy!  Great and glorious;
All victorious, rich in blessing!
Rule and might o'er all posessing!

Come, heav'nly Bridegroom, Light divine,
And deep within our hearts now shine;
There light a flame undying!
In Your one body let us be
As living branches of a tree,
Your life our loves supplying.
Now, though daily Earth's deep sadness
May perplex us and distress us,
Yet with heavn'ly joy You bless us.

Lord, when You look on us in love,
At once there falls from God above
A ray of purest pleasure.
Your Word and Spirit, flesh and blood
Refresh our souls with heav'nly food.
You are our dearest treasure.
Ley Your mercy warm and cheer us!
O draw near us! For You teach us
God's own love through You has reached us.

Almighty Father, in Your Son
You loved us when not yet begun
Was this old earth's foundation!
Your Son has ransomed us in love
To live in Him here and above:
This is your great salvation.
Alleluia!  Christ the living,
To us giving life forever,
Keeps us Yours and fails us never!

O let the harps break forth is sound!
Our joy be all with music crowned,
Our voices gladly blending!
For Christ goes with us all the way -
Today, tomorrow, ev'ry day!
His love is never ending!
Sing out! Ring out! Jubilation!
Exultation!  Tell the story!
Great is He, the King of Glory!

What joy to know, when life is past,
The Lord we love is first and last,
The end and the beginning!
He will one day, oh, glorious grace,
Transport us to that happy place
Beyond all tears and sinning!
Amen!  Amen!  Come, Lord Jesus!
Crown of gladness!  We are yearning
For the day of Your returning!

(LSB 395)

Merry Christmas!

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."
(Galatians 4:4-5, ESV) 

Have a very blessed Christmas, focused on God's great gift of grace!

Hymn of the Month - Creator of the Stars of Night

I love hymns.  The fantastic and diverse hymnody of the church is something to rejoice over.  It has been the study of scholars and laymen alike.  However, in an iPhone world (where people are continually wanting the next big thing), people are starting to lose out on this wonderful, scriptural hymnody that helps set the church apart from the rest of the world. So, in an effort to bring good hymnody back to the forefront, my goal is to highlight a different hymn each month.
Since we are currently in the season of Advent, I want to start with the hymn "Creator of the Stars of Night." This hymn is often attributed to St. Ambrose, however, there is little proof that he is actually the author.  What we do know is that is a Latin hymn written somewhere between the 5th and 10th centuries.  The most common English translation was done by John Mason Neale.
Light and darkness are a common theme in Scripture and appear frequently in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany hymnody.  The apostle John wrote:

          In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.

          Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

(John 1:1-4, NIV)

"Creator of the Stars of Night" refers to Jesus as the "everlasting Light."  The hymn also references the reason that Jesus came to earth in the first place - to redeem us from the curse of sin, death, and eternal condemnation.  This isn't always a happy thought or a joyful thought during this season where people want to think only of happy things.  But, after all, where is the joy of Christmas if not for the death of resurrection of Jesus?  Without that, Christmas is meaningless.  This wonderful hymn reminds us of this truth.

Here are the lyrics to this wonderful hymn (which are public domain, by the way):

Creator of the stars of night,

Thy people's everlasting Light:

O Christ, Redeemer, save us all

And hear Thy servants when they call.

Thou, grieving that the ancient curse

Should doom the death a universe,

Hast found the healing, full of grace,

To cure and save our ruined race.

Thou cam'st the Bridegroom of the bride,

As drew the world to eventide,

The spotless Victim all divine

Proceeding from a virgin shrine.

At whose dread name, majestic now,

All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;

All things celestial Thee shall own,

And things terrestrial, Lord alone.

O Thour, whose coming is with dread

To judge the living and the dead,

Preserve us from the ancient foe

While still we swell on earth below.

To God the Father and the Son

And Holy Spirit, Three in One,

Praise, honor, might, and glory be

From age to age eternally.

Amen.

    

Weekend Update (without Seth Meyers)

I haven't made a post that simply updated everyone of what is going on in life for awhile, so, I am taking some time to do that now (without making this sound like a Christmas letter).
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  The day started with church.  Peter and I spent the rest of the day on our own, making a delicious turkey, my famous mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, and, of course, cranberry sauce.  (Yes, the cranberry sauce did come from a can.  If you can't see the can lines on it, something just feels wrong.)
Since we can't really go anywhere for Thanksgiving, nor did we have any family coming, we spent Friday buying a chest freezer (so we could freeze the venison that Peter shot) and going to Blue Man Group in St. Louis.  We ate dinner at a restaurant called Vito's.  I had an amazing lobster risotto and Peter enjoyed his  goat cheese pizza.  Blue Man Group was also fantastic.  I enjoy how they combine music, art, and comedy.  My only complaint was the woman and her son sitting next to me.  She did nothing but explain to her son what was going on and play on her phone.  If your son isn't old enough to understand it, he shouldn't be there.  (Frankly, there were a few moments that were a bit adult and inappropriate for small children anyway.)
This weekend I also got the outside Christmas lights up, including the new-to-us nativity set my parents gave us after they moved into their condo.  The inside of the house is not yet decorated yet, however.  Peter and I are both adamant that you cannot have Christmas without a real Christmas tree.  Because we leave the tree up until Epiphany, we don't want to put it up too soon.  As Advent begins next Sunday, we will probably put up our tree then.

Enjoy the rest of your November!

The Joys of Reading

Reading is such a huge part of my life.  I know it sounds cheesy, but reading really does open the door to new worlds and ideas.  When I am reading a good book, I am completely transported out of my own world and into another.  This means I have a really hard time putting books down.  I read like a maniac over the summer.  Now that school has started, I will have a lot less time to read, but I still try to read as much as I can.  Today I checked out and read The Amazing Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick from the library.  (I had been waiting for awhile to see it on the shelves and was excited to find it.)  I am about to start reading Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman.  Yes, both of these fall in the range of children's/young adult literature.  While I certainly enjoy some adult literature (I reread Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte this summer as well), I find children's and young adult literature, frankly, often to be better written, with a better grasp of literary elements and style, as well as plots in which every element is purposeful.  So, I am going to include a list of some of my favorite works in the children's/young adult literature realm.  This list is by no means all-inclusive; however, I think it is a good starting place for anyone looking for something good to read, no matter what your age.  (These books are not necessarily in any order, either.  I have a hard time picking favorites when it comes to book.)

1) The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (If you know me, this was an obvious choice.)
2) A Wrinkle in Time (and the rest of the Time Quartet) by Madeline L'Engle
3) The Lightning Thief (and the rest of the series) by Rick Riordan
4) The Kane Chronicles trilogy by Rick Riordan
5) The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (book 3 in the series come out in October)
6) Peter and the Starcatchers (and the rest of the series) by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
7) The Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson
8) The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix
9) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
10) Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
11) Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
12) Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
13) The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
14) The Giver by Lois Lowry
15) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
16) The Little Maid books by Alice Turner Curtis
17) Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach
18) Holes by Lois Sachar
19) Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliiett
20) My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
21) Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
22) Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
23) Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
24) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
25) Speak by Larie Halse Anderson
26) Ballet Shoes (and the rest of the "Shoe" books) by Noel Streatfeild
27) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
28) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
29) Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
30) James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

There are many, many, many more books that I love, but I figured that I should limit the list to 30.  If I listed one book by an author, I probably love lots of other books by that author as well.  So, if you give one of these books a shot for the first time, let me know!  I hope I have opened up some new worlds to you.  (Also, if you have other children/young adult books to add to the list, feel free to comment on those as well.)
Happy Reading!

Seek First

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

Today was the first day of school.  Matthew 6:33 is our theme verse for the year.  I think it is a timely and important one.  As a teacher, I sometimes fall into the trap of trying to win accolades from parents and fellow teachers.  After all, I want what I do to make a difference, and I admit that I sometimes want people to acknowledge that I am doing a good job.  No, not a good job - a great job.  Sometimes I have to stop and think if I am making teaching decisions based on what is truly best for my students or based on what other people will think about the decisions.  However, Jesus says to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."  He doesn't tell me to seek approval of others.  As I go throughout the school year, I need to be constantly reminded of this.  After all, teaching is part of my vocation, and is meant to serve God. 

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison

I love the liturgy.  I love the order that it brings to worship.  In a world that is full of chaos and disorder, it is important for the Church to be a place of order and peace.  The pattern of the liturgy provides stability to worship.
The liturgy reminds me of my sin, gives me the opportunity to repent, and reassure me of God's mercy and grace for me as forgiveness is proclaimed by the pastor.  After all, isn't that why I come to church in the first place?
The liturgy is full of Scripture.  Is there a better way to praise God than to use the words God Himself gave us in His Holy Word?
The liturgy serves as common ground between people in the Church through time and space.  I once attended a service conducted completely in Arabic in Israel.  Even though I don't understand Arabic, I was able to follow along with the service and still left having received God's grace in the forgiveness of my sins.  The liturgy gives Christians a common language. 
That's why I love the liturgy.  That is why the timeless liturgy is worth saving instead of following the pattern of the world that is always looking for the next "new and exciting" thing. 
Now, don't even get me stared on hymnody... :)