A Good Dose of Bach

Now that we have DSL, I can listen to music and watch those YouTube videos easily (I know...I'm so behind the times). The other day I was talking about organs, as I’d love to see a small, simple Allen organ in our church someday, and Sam argued with me that we already have one. We don’t: we have a Clavinova (a full-size Yamaha keyboard), so I was trying to describe what a real organ is. Apparently not doing a very good job, I remembered how easy it is for me to find something online and found a real showman's rendition of Bach’s Fugue in D Major. It was great to see my boys bouncing up and down and dancing to Bach organ music! That also led to a neat little video of the same song along with some commentary on Bach by a young German (who speaks very good English, I might add), who did a marvelous job playing it on a simply beautiful pipe organ.

Sharing the videos with Brewmaster that evening, he asked if this was a piece I ever learned: yeah, right. I wish. I told him of my last big Bach piece that I never quite mastered, Fugue in G Minor, aka “Little Fugue” (which really isn't that little). Trying to find a good recording of it on YouTube was very difficult, but alas I finally found one with an “air-organ” performer—the way I have to settle for playing real organ music these days. It’s rather amusing! He has good technique and is really playing it on his desk, although the video is a couple beats ahead of the audio, but when he brings in the first pedal line it’s almost together. A bit goofy, but at least it was a good audio recording and I was able to relive the good ol’ days of when my fingers were in better shape.

I can’t leave you with just that, though. After listening to the organ recording, you simply must listen to another I never thought I’d hear….ever. It will blow your mind!

Nothing in particular…

…Just a few random things:

First, we now have DSL...exciting stuff!

However, we lost about nine months worth of digital photos in the process. Brewmaster downloaded everything onto DVDs in preparation to format the hard drive, but the one with pictures from January-September 2007 didn’t burn properly. And me being the tightwad, procrastinating, lazy person that I am, haven’t printed any off in eons (always waiting to get that DSL so I could do it from the comforts of my home). Long story short—if any of you have pictures of our family since last January, send them our way!

On a blogging note, I invite you all once again to frequent a real blogger’s blog, Dana Hanley at Principled Discovery. I learn so much from her writing and am always impressed and in awe how a mother of four young ones finds the time and brain-power to do what she does. Of course, she is a real writer—that is her gift; much like I am a musician, and people wonder how I can play on a Sunday morning while my one-year-old is fighting his father and anyone else trying to handle him, screaming his head off. So I should probably keep that in perspective as to not get too envious of her talent. But she’s changed her blog a bit, moved it to its own domain, so hopefully I’ll get that all squared away on her link over there. But hers is, by far, one of my favorite blogs out there to learn about the importance of strong foundations for our family, our culture, and our country.

On a book note, I’ve begun reading Common Sense via DailyLit and have been really enjoying it. In the weeks to come, I am going to post favorite quotes from that and from another book Brewmaster and I are both reading, D.L. Moody’s Prevailing Prayer. (I’ll end today’s post with a quote from that.) In our women’s study from church, we’re finishing up Charles Spurgeon’s Faith before starting a study on Paul’s letters to maturing churches in January. And last month I finished up Susan Hunt’s By Design: God’s Distinctive Calling for Women, and am slowly reading her book on Titus 2, Spiritual Mothering. Yes, it’s probably not wise to read so many at once; I’m notorious for starting many books and never actually finishing. So the blog is going to be my outlet to help keep me accountable to at least retain some of what I’m learning by posting bits and pieces on the books I’m reading now and then….kind of my own Charlotte Mason way of narrating, I guess. So that’s what you can expect on my end of the blog the next couple months as I try to increase in knowledge and faith by studying not only God’s word, but also those he’s gifted to help the rest of us have a better understanding of our role in his plan of redemption.

Now something from Prevailing Prayer that I read last night (and keep in mind he was writing in the 19th century):

I firmly believe that the Church of God will have to confess her own sins, before there can be any great work of grace. There must be a deeper work among God’s believing people. I sometimes think it is about time to give up preaching to the ungodly, and preach to those who profess to be Christians. If we had a higher standard of life in the Church of God, there would be thousands more flocking into the Kingdom. So it was in the past; when God’s believing children turned away from their sins and their idols, the fear of God fell upon the people round about. Take up the history of Israel, and you will find that when they put away their strange gods, God visited the nation, and there came a mighty work of grace.

Sacrifice

I'm sure there will be people, maybe even family, who will question us about letting our children be so different and letting them constantly talk about God. It came to me (I call it my mini-revelation—I know, cheesy) that, in a way, we are offering our children as sacrifices. We are willing to let them not fit in, not know the new songs, new shows, new fads. We are even willing to let them be teased, humiliated, even hated by the world because they have different priorities and interests and loves. We are willing to submit them to emotional (perhaps even physical) pain because we know that it is the right and most important thing for them to love the Lord our God with all [their] heart and with all [their] soul and with all [their] mind and with all [their] strength (Mark 12:30).

I think of Abraham offering up his precious son as a sacrifice; his obedience is beyond comprehension. He was obedient to not just allow Isaac to experience pain and suffering and death, but that he would bring about Isaac’s pain and suffering and death. So many times I have thanked God for not testing my faith in that way. I’m perhaps revealing too much, but I’ve often said “I just don’t know if I could do it.” Even though I could never compare my faith to Abraham's, my mini-revelation gives me a little better understanding of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice and to be obedient.

Also, reminded of Rom. 12:1, whenever our children are suffering or hurting or sad or humiliated, we suffer with them. We cry over their physical pain, but even more so, we cry when they experience embarrassment or hurt feelings. I cringe inside when my sweet Gracie’s artwork gifts are misunderstood by the recipients or when Nathan gets ignored or patronized by the grown up with whom he’s so deliberately trying to share a story (usually the Gospel). We are offering ourselves as living sacrifices because of the hurt we experience on our children’s behalves.

I guess to wrap up my mini-revelation I’ll say that I want to be obedient as we continue to raise and school our children--I pray that my heavenly Father will continue to grow my faith. What is faith? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11: 1). It is believing even if every one else does not and being willing to die for what you believe. Faith is sacrifice, sacrifice is worship (Rom 12:1), worship is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).

DailyLit

Ever wish you would've read more of the classics in school, or actually pay attention to the ones you did read? Ever tell yourself you're going to start reading the classics but never get around to it? I recently came across a new website via Why Homeschool called DailyLit. Here you can sign up to receive free emails of classic literary works and read them straight from your email account. They send short bits at a time--about five minutes worth--and give you the option of selecting the next bit if time allows. You can find works by category, author and title. I haven't signed up for one to read yet, but plan to do so soon. I'll wait to see if anyone would like to do one together with me. I think for my first one, I'd like to read Thomas Payne's Common Sense, which is only 24 installments. If anyone would like to join me, let me know!

"They're going to do it anyway..."

I can’t even come to grips with these two stories to comment on them myself yet. Maybe I’ll be able to later, but for now I just want to get them on the blog for y’all to read.

First in Maine:

Students who have parental permission to be treated at King Middle School's health center would be able to get birth control prescriptions under a proposal that the Portland School Committee will consider Wednesday.

The proposal would build on the King Student Health Center's practice of providing
condoms as part of its reproductive health program since it opened in 2000, said Lisa Belanger, a nurse practitioner who oversees the city's student health centers.

If the committee approves the King proposal, it would be the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to some students in grades 6 to 8, said Nancy Birkhimer, director of teen health programs for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Most middle schoolers are ages 11-13.

[…]

Types of prescription birth control available through the health centers include contraceptive pills, patches or injections, as well as the morning-after pill. Diaphragms and IUDs are not usually prescribed, she said. [empahsis mine]

So the idea of condoms were sold to public schools on the premise that kids are going to have sex anyway and we don’t want them to get STDs, so we need them to have access to all the condoms they want; it’s for their safety. So are STDs not that bad after all? (Maybe not since we can vaccinate girls for HPV, which may be mandatory before long.) I’m not following this jump…will they start teaching the kids to use condoms for backup protection now? Or vice versa?

I guess since the schools are already providing birth control and condoms, would it be too much to ask for them to also provide quiet, dimly-lit rooms for students so they don’t have to disrupt class with their sex acts? Well, it may be a better idea than just letting kids run around naked during school.


In a totally unrelated story out of Norway:

…a respected Oslo pre-school teacher, backed by child psychologists, thinks children should be allowed to openly express their own sexuality, not least through sex play and games in the local day care centers…

[…]

Children, she said, should be able "to look at each other and examine each other's bodies. They can play doctor, play mother and father, dance naked and masturbate.” [emphasis mine]

I mean, they’re going to do it anyway, so we might as well get them used to it and not feel ashamed and teach them when and where to do it along with all the other children, right? Because, you know, a few of these poor kids might not have parents doing their job and addressing this issue at home. So it’s important that the daycares and kindergartens do it themselves and expose a lot of other kids to such things unnecessarily to make up for the few not getting the proper upbringing, right? And we'll instruct the teachers on how to deal with this properly in a classroom setting:

"But their sexuality must also be socialized, so they are not, for example, allowed to masturbate while sitting and eating. Nor can they be allowed to pressure other children into doing things they don't want to."

Oh...what a relief. Sorry for all the sarcasm, but this got me in a mood. I gotta stop before I vomit.



Hat tip: Glenn Beck

Adjunct Jenny Update

Many of our regular readers may already know, but Adjunct Jenny's husband has been deployed to Afghanistan for six months as of last Thursday. They didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this--they first found out about three weeks ago today--and have been very busy the past couple weeks getting their affairs in order and trying to spend as much family time as possible together. He has set up a blog to keep in touch with everyone and, as he says, "to try to document evidence of God’s hand in my trip to this dark part of the world." They both have incredible faith and are anxious to share the Gospel wherever God sends them. Let us all keep them in our constant prayers during their separation, and marvel at God's love and work through these two able and willing servants!

Christmas is coming!

For those family members who will soon be asking what our kids want for Christmas, please take note!