Hymn of the Week--Blessed Assurance

This week has been crammed and busy. Ben is on his birthday trip with Gigi to the lighthouse north of Duluth. They'll be back tonight. Consequently, we have been a little late to this week's hymn. We'll have to do it next week too. We've done this one before I believe, but it's a great one. Enjoy Randy Travis' version below.

Hymn of the Week
Blessed Assurance

Words by Fanny Crosby
Music by Phoebe K. Knapp

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Happy Retirement Dave!

Last night we celebrated Amanda's dad's retirement from General Mills. It was a great night. People spoke about Dave's impact in their lives and on the company. Gregg spoke for the kids and did really well. We are excited to see what God has for Dave and Joni in the coming years.

A continuing theme

I wrote almost a year ago about the death of our pastor's granddaughter. Since then, Amanda has begun following The Pipers blog. Last Friday they welcomed Morrow John Piper into the world. (The Pipers wrote about how they choose the names of their kids here.) As I wrote in the previous post, their new joy is mixed with the grief of the loss of Felicity not yet a year ago. Pastor John puts it well in this poem.

Though weeping tarry through the night
And darkness deepens sorrow,
Felicity awaits the Dawn
And joy comes on the Morrow.
--John Piper

Psalm 30:5
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

See both Pastor John's and The Pipers' announcements.

Showers of blessings at the Falder house

When it rains it pours and Tricia and Alex are experiencing showers of God's blessings. They officially announced that they are expecting number three in May. Tricia and Alex had a long season of difficulty in initially getting pregnant. I so appreciate how they take such care to mix their excitement with a hint of the remembered grief and continued heartache for people that they love who are walking through similar struggles. I remember the conversations that I had with Tricia when I would call her to tell her that we were pregnant. In those moments I tried to reach into and acknowledge her disappointment and she pushed to put her excitement for us above her own fears. This is most of life. It is the nature of the "here but, not yet" paradox. God has gifts for us here, but they are not yet culminated. In each of our sorrows, there are hints of joy. In each of our joys, there are drops of grief. Always, life is pointing us to somewhere and someone deeper.

Tricia, Alex, Davy and Jacob, we celebrate with you and thank God for His many mercies in your lives. We thank God for the many manifestations (some mentioned above) of his grace in your lives. All of their kids will be 15 months apart. They will be a busy family. What a joy!

Molly's first steps

We knew when she finally decided she wanted to, she would just get up and start walking. Well that's exactly what Molly has decided to do in the last day or so. Check out the video below and this one. She sure is sweet!

Hymn of the Week--Heaven Came Down

When we picked this week's hymn, Heaven Came Down, Amanda said, "That is a Grandma Nagel classic." Amanda has many memories of her Grandma Betty humming hymns as she worked in the kitchen. I have just as many memories centered around old hymns. That is just one of the reason's that we try and do this. Amanda and I have such a rich heritage of faith and singing these hymns with our kids is one way of passing down that heritage. Sometimes the boys don't join right in while we're singing at the table but, it was so GOOD to hear Caleb clearing the table singing "Heaven came down and glory filled my soul."

One of my favorite things about this hymn is how it points out that it was God who came down to us. It wasn't our efforts that led to salvation, "Heaven came down." I am so thankful for that.

Hymn of the Week
Heaven Came Down
Words and music by John W. Peterson

O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget;
After I'd wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.

Chorus
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, (filled my soul)
When at the cross the Savior made me whole; (made me whole)
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! (filled my soul)

Molly's big girl towel

When Benjamin was born, Gregg and Allison gave him a towel with his name monogrammed on it. With each of the kids we've done the same. Ben's is red; Caleb's is navy blue; Matthew's is light blue. Yesterday Molly got to use her new towel. Of course her's is pink.