Songs For Saplings

About a year or so ago a dear friend shared a CD with me.  She said that a friend of hers put these CDs together and thought that we would enjoy them.  The children LOVED it so we decided to purchase the rest of the catechism cds and have been enjoying them ever since.

The other day a very well known blogger posted about these very cds.  Challies posted about Songs for Saplings along with other music for children.  Challies wrote:

Songs for Saplings is James and Dana Dirksen from Porland, Oregon. They have recorded four albums, one of which follows an A,B,C format while the other three are questions and answers, much like a catechism. I suppose these albums will largely appeal to younger children. They are quiet and acoustic.

He is correct in his assessment of the cds. They are geared toward younger children. But they are beneficial for the entire family.  The catechism cds do appeal to older children more and more in the second and third cds.  There is a great variety in the style of music on each cd. You can even listen to excerpts on their website.

What I love about them is that the children (and us parents) learn the great truths presented in the Westminster Catechism which is derived directly from scripture. Each question and answer also contains the scripture that teaches the truth. This way your children are not only learning the doctrinal truth but the scriptures that proclaim that truth.

Songs for Saplings is a ministry of the Dirksen family and this is what they state on their website.

We create lively, fun songs that attempt to deliver the deepest of Biblical truth in a format that your children will love to listen to. We want them to understand who God is and what He has done, as well as what He wants your children to do and to be. We hope that you will benefit from these CDs and use them to help teach your children about our God and his great love for us.

With Christmas time approaching, what better gift could you give than the gift of music which teaches and proclaims the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ?!

I am pleased to announce that I can offer you a 20% discount off of your order when you buy CDs from their website. This includes the “12-pack bulk pack” which a lot of people order for gift-giving. This does however exclude the 24 and 48 CD bulk packs, which are already heavily discounted.

All you need to do is enter the following code as you go through the checkout: mamaarcher
It’s really simple.

Hopefully you will find this really helpful as you order CDs this Christmas!

As you seek to grow your little saplings……

into strong oaks of righteousness…

Songs for Saplings can be a musical and fun tool for you and your family to use and enjoy!

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
(Isaiah 61:3b)

Visit SONGS FOR SAPLINGS and order your CDs today! Order some for your friends and family too! Don’t forget to enter the discount code for your 20% off!

Please leave a comment and let me know if you plan on making a purchase and what you think of their music and ministry!

Regardless of whether you order, please tweet, email, and share on Facebook so that others can take advantage of the discount offer!

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

It is easy to state what one believes but it is not always so easy when those things are put to the test, or must be put into practice, or when circumstances do not fall into the plans we have for our lives.  It is one thing to say that you believe God to be sovereign but when life doesn’t go the way you think it should it makes one come face to face with that belief.  Do I really believe that God is sovereign and even though I do not see the good can I trust that God knows what is best?

I am going through this once again.  We are preparing for an unwanted move.  If it were up to me, I would NEVER leave Alaska.  Our next assignment (which I am not sharing at this time) is not one that I am looking forward to.  Not only are we going to have to move from my beloved Alaska but we are moving to the one place I DIDN’T want to go!  Not only are we moving but we are moving earlier than anticipated because it is a special assignment.  This messes up all of my plans for late spring and early summer.  It is also a shorter than normal assignment so I have another back to back move to look forward to.  It interferes with graduating children too.  We may not even have time to get our house ready to put on the market and will need to be renting it out.  Long, LONG, distant landlords was not necessarily appealing to us.  Not to mention, we will have no snow!  To top it all off we will be leaving behind our eldest child.  We will be a long way away!

BUT,

I DO believe that God is sovereign!  I know that he has a plan for us and that I do not always see the big picture.  I know that God can tell that I am a little confused and in disagreement with his plans at the moment but I am still trusting.  I am trying to get my children to understand and to trust, all the while struggling with it myself.

This is where the rubber meets the road.  Will I trust even though it doesn’t seem best to me?  OR, Will I fight and fight the whole way?  I really do not have the energy to fight and I have learned along the way that God doesn’t change what is best for me just so I can have what I think might be best.  Not to mention, that if I were honest, I would never want him to anyway.  I simply wish that my ways were his ways.  Isn’t that horrible!!!!  This is where prayer comes in.  I do not even want that kind of thinking and desire in my heart.  I should want HIS ways to be my ways not the other way around!

This is part of the military life that many do not talk about.  Most military families love the moving and the adventure.  OR at least they say they do!  It is fun moving and going new places and seeing new things but I am one who grew up in the same small town and see the benefits of living that way.  It is becoming more and more of a struggle for me to pack up and move.  I am one of those rare or at least seemingly rare military wives that struggles with the “pack it up and move on” kind of lifestyle.  Is it a bad thing that I struggle?  I don’t think so.  Do I wish that I didn’t have this struggle almost every time we move?  Of course.  But God teaches me through each of these moves to trust him more and more for numerous things.  It tests my faith each and every time.  Some times it is easier than other times. Sometimes harder.  This is one of those harder times.

I continue to remind myself of the great God that I serve, of his love not only for me but for my entire family.  I try to rest in who he is!  I remind myself that he is indeed sovereign and I am simply, me.  His wisdom far exceeds my own and I must trust him!  I will trust him!  I even need to trust him to help me to follow him with a cheerful heart even when he leads me where I do not want to go.

I will share more about our new assignment later.  For now, please just pray for me to have a cheerful heart concerning this move.  Momma tends to set the tone for the whole family and most of the children are struggling as well.

God is good.  This assignment will be what is best.  I desire to be open to God’s best for our lives.  I pray my own will, heart, and desires will fall in line and that my trust in my Savior will grow more and more through this journey.

Many will say, “Oh, come on, it is just a move!” …….. Well, for right now, I think it is much more……… It is an opportunity (though one I didn’t ask for) to grow, trust, and hopefully to cheerfully pass the test of the rubber meeting the road!

Tweets to Ponder

I haven’t share these in a while.  Thought it would be a good thing to do today.  I don’t know how many of my readers are on twitter but I wanted to share some of my favorite tweets from recent days.  Now, there are things that I HATE about twitter, especially when people are to busy tweeting to truly be worshiping during church.  But there are some things that I love about twitter.  The main thing is that there are such great thoughts, ideas, and truths that are shared in a much more articulate way than I could ever phrase them.  So, here are the ones I would like to share with you.  Please tell me your favorite, tell me why, let me know what you think about twitter.  If you don’t follow me on twitter yet, please do so! The link is in the sidebar.

• RT @jaredcwilson: “We don’t need to bum people out about sin” some preachers say……”32 lifeboats will clutter the deck” the decorator of the Titanic said.
• RT @BDHouse: “Wise” people are just biblically prepared and equipped for whatever might come along, and humble enough to accept their need.
• RT @MJRyman: God doesn’t love us because of our worth, we are of worth because God loves us. (Luther)
• RT @tweology: RATIONALISM is the doctrine that the human faculty of reason is the supreme authority for faith and life.
• RT @llanphere: “God uses suffering to put His grace on display.” -John MacArthur
• RT @Ligonier: We cannot change God. God is unchangeable. If changes are to be made, they must be made in us. -R.C. Sproul
• RT @llanphere: It’s extreme madness 2so hate God & His law that u cant stand 2hear it &yet affirm that we r made righteous by it. M. Luther
• RT @BDHouse: We must not be satisfied with a Christian faith that allows us to live at the center of our own world.The Savior is the center.
• The law makes afflicted souls thirst for Christ. Christ requires thirsty souls whom He lovingly&graciously allures & calls unto Him. -Luther
• RT @dahlfred: “Many have become immune to Christianity by contracting a mild and unbiblical form of it” – Randy Alcorn (via @sarcasticxtian)
• RT @burk_parsons: RT @RefTrust: I hear people say, “Doctrine divides.” Of course doctrine divides, but it also unites (Sproul).
• RT @ReformedGlory: “A world where everything was easy would be a nursery for babies, but not at all a fit place for men” Charles Spurgeon
• RT @llanphere: Lots of Christians talk about their desire 2′go deeper’,but they don’t want doctrine 2 B the solution.What’s the alternative?
• RT @RaeWhitlock: It is not the Christian’s call to make the Gospel palatable, but rather understandable
• RT @JohnnyTechnoX: Mr. President, there is no such thing as “people of no faith”. Even atheists have gods of their own making.
• RT @llanphere: The gospel is not primarily about your happiness and satisfaction, but God’s. Yours is a bonus.
• RT @RefTrust: There is no thought, no word, no act, and no area of human life that is not affected by sin. – Joel Beeke
• RT @llanphere: “Our Lord did not come to tell us what we have to do in order to save ourselves; He came to save us.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• RT @NationsBeGlad: When suffering happens, grieve with those affected, don’t just throw Romans 8:28 at them. @RandyAlcorn #dgnc
• RT @LaneChaplin: “It is a sad fault in many Christians that they cannot do anything unless all the world is told of it.” – Spurgeon
• RT @DiscipleMyChild: “You may be quite certain that if you love God it is a fruit, not a root.” – C.H. Spurgeon ~
• RT @Ligonier: Prayer is not a cavalier, casual matter; but prayer is a matter of personal intensity. -R.C. Sproul
• RT @ReformedRlin: Some Christians pray, “Lord, I want to know You more” but totally neglect the Bible. Now how ironic is that?
• RT@RefTrust: Calvinism is no mere religion of “head knowledge”.It is a religion of head &heart.-Daniel Hyde in Welcome to a Reformed Church.
• RT @jimelliff: Devotionalism often prevents good men who ought to be teachers fr going on w God. Discipline yourself to study the Bible!
• RT @LaneChaplin: “Paul was Nero’s prisoner, but Nero was much more God’s.” – William Gurnall
• RT @Ligonier: Reformed theology so far transcends the mere five points of Calvinism that it is an entire worldview. -R.C. Sproul

Glacial Moment

Last week while taking my mother around Alaska we stopped in a place filled with glaciers.  Here is a shot of one place we stopped right off of the highway.  You can see the glacier in the back.  The trees were green with a few beginning to turn yellow.  The water a very clear green/blue color.  Black pebbles along the beach.  It was an amazing and awe inspiring view to behold and a photo can barely do it justice.  What was so peaceful was standing there taking in the beauty and listening to the waterfalls from the melting runoff of the glacier in the distance.  It was quite a ways away but you could hear the thundering of the water as it fell.  God makes some indescribable scenes for us to enjoy.  They all point to His magnificence.  As I absorbed this glorious site the unfathomable reminder came to me.  Even with all of this beauty, considering all of his creation, he chose one such as I to love and redeem!  Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, my King wouldst die for me!

Who’s The Audience

Context, context, context.  We often hear these words when it comes to understanding the scriptures.  Unfortunately, too often when people refer to context they simply mean three verses before and three verses after the main verse they are interested in.  Sometimes people broaden their view to the whole chapter but it seems it rarely goes beyond that.  What about the context with in the whole of the book or even in the whole of scripture?

One aspect of context which is very often overlooked is that of the audience.  In Sunday school we have been studying through the book of Mark.  One thing that has stuck out to me over and over again is the context in respect to the audience.  Why was this never pointed out to me before?  Why have so many churches and teachers overlooked this?

Now it is true that everyone can glean from the miracles and teachings of Jesus but the lessons being taught are not always what we tend to pull out of them because we neglect the audience.  In the book of Mark, Jesus’ main audience was the disciples, the twelve.  He was preparing them for ministry.  It wasn’t the multitude of the crowds that was the main audience.  This can change everything.  When we focus on what Christ was teaching the disciples and why it takes on new meaning than it would if that fact was neglected.

As we studied the illustration that kept coming to mind was that of a field trip.  Maybe it is because I am a homeschooler who knows but it fits!  Jesus was there teaching, training, and preparing his disciples as they wandered the region.  Many people were there, many saw, many heard, and many followed but they only had glimpses and didn’t know the intent or real lessons being taught.

It is like my hubby and I taking our children on a field trip.  We are teaching, training, and preparing our children.  We are leading them in the ways of the Lord as we teach and go about our daily lessons.  Sometimes people over hear us.  We have even had people follow us around in a museum to listen to my hubby’s commentary.  Do they learn and glean from that?  Maybe, maybe not.  If they do  that is wonderful.  But they are not our main audience.  We do not adjust our teaching for their benefit or understanding.  These other people do not know they full context of what we are teaching our children.  They do not know what we have already poured into them and are building upon.  They are missing the big picture. They really do have a limited awareness of the lesson at hand.

If we see the teachings of Jesus in the same manner and neglect the whole context, neglect the main audience, then we really only have a limited understanding of the lesson.  Sometimes the lesson is missed completely because we are looking at it the wrong way!

We are allowed to come along on Jesus’ field trip with the twelve (in Mark) but let us make sure to remember who his main audience was when we are studying.  That way we do not miss the real lesson being taught.  You will be enriched if you remember and do not neglect the context of the audience at hand.

The Cross

Ok, this is the final post on our field trip to the Eklutna Historical Park.  If you missed the others please check out the two previous posts.

The Russian Orthodox Cross is rather unique.   I am glad that we had the guided tour so that they could explain all of the symbolism in their cross.

The Three-Barred Cross existed very early in Byzantium, but was adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church and was especially popularized in the Slavic countries. The upper arm represents the inscription over Christ’s head, and the lower slanting bar represents His footrest. The origin of this slanted footboard is not known, but in the symbolism of the Russian Orthodox Church, the most common explanation is that it is the pointing upward to Paradise for the Good Thief on Jesus’ right who acknowledged Him and downward to Hell for the Thief on His left (Luke 23). ^*

Info. via Eklutna Historical Park–Orthodox Church in America

Some of the crosses have a clover(three) shape on the end of each point as seen above.  This stands for the three persons of the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is also a good shot of the many spirit houses and an example of a grave with a fence around it signifying a person of prominence.