New Year’s Wishes by Frances Ridley Havergal

What shall I wish thee?
Treasures of earth?
Songs in the springtime,
Pleasures and mirth?
Flowers on thy pathway,
Skies ever clear?
Would this ensure thee
A Happy New Year?
What shall I wish thee?
What can be found
Bringing thee sunshine
All the year round?
Where is the treasure,
Lasting and dear,
That shall ensure thee
A Happy New Year?
Faith that increaseth,
Walking in light;
Hope that aboundeth,
Happy and bright;
Love that [...]

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What Is Eaten in One Week

If you missed this in the comment section in the post below, I’m reposting a link sent to me by a reader. This is a very interesting comparison of what is eaten in one week by families in different parts of the world. This ties in with my post below about being content and grateful [...]

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Andrew Gray on Prayer

“Prayer is the travel of the soul between emptiness and fullness, between misery and mercy, between inability to help ourselves and complete ability in Him to help us. Prayer is one depth crying out to another depth; it is the depth of our necessities crying out to the depth of the fullness of God. Prayer [...]

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Christmas Impromptu

My kids were helping me clean Saturday with company coming when Jonathan said, “let’s sing some Christmas carols!” I looked at my watch dubiously, but figured we had time for a musical break. I’m really glad we did. Mary, William and Jonathan gathered around the piano, and we sang our way through the Advent and [...]

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A Day at the Old Bailey

I stumbled onto a fascinating website where the records from the Old Bailey in London are posted. Reading just this one page, taken from November 29, 1832, is to step back into another world. This is a world where habitual thieves were put to death, where a woman could serve seven years in prison for [...]

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Treasures of the Deep

The children and I got to see some of the most unbelievable creatures today while watching a DVD from NOVA called, “Treasures of the Great Barrier Reef”. If you ever have a chance to get this one from the library, it will leave you spellbound to see the unbelievable glory of God’s creation. These little [...]

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Lord of the Valleys

I was in a grocery store yesterday when I heard someone call out my name. It turned out to be a Christian woman and VCY listener. As we began to talk about the Lord’s work in our lives, she began to share some of the heartache she had going on in her family. I was [...]

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A Christmas Story by Anita Dittman

Anita Dittman was a recent guest on Crosstalk Radio Talk Show where she told her story of how she became a Jewish convert to Christianity as a young girl in Germany. She then went through a nightmarish series of events during World War II. In this excerpt from her book, Trapped in Hitler’s Hell, Anita [...]

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Thy Manger Is My Paradise

I watched a short video today on the life of German pastor and poet, Paul Gerhardt. He lived in the 17th Century and his beautiful legacy of hymns remains today. This year marked the 400th anniversary of his birth. I came across this Gerhardt hymn today, and at this Advent season I was reminded again [...]

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Soul, Adorn Thyself With Gladness

We sang this song during communion in Divine Service today. Nothing more needs to be said.
1. Soul, adorn thyself with gladness,
Leave behind all gloom and sadness;
Come into the daylight’s splendor,
There with joy thy praises render
Unto Him whose grace unbounded
Hath this woundrous supper founded.
High o’er all the heavens He reigneth,
Yet to dwell with thee He deigneth.
2. [...]

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