Our "Go To" Poetry Anthology

Because we love poetry, and because it is National Poetry Month after all, I thought I would share some of our favorite poetry books during the month of April.

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Favorite Poems Old and New by Helen Ferris is our "go to" poetry book. This is one anthology that I think no home with children should be without! It has 598 pages filled with over 700 wonderful children’s poems. The plethora of poems are arranged in such enticing categories as "My Almanac", "Little Things That Creep and Crawl and Swim and Sometimes Fly", and "Roundabout the Country, Roundabout the Town". Within its pages are sonnets, ballads, nonsense poems, seasonal poems, and Bible passages. There are poems by Shakespeare and William Butler Yeats, by Christina Rosetti and Emily Dickinson, by Sir Walter Scott and Carl Sandburg, by John Keats and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Some of the verses are quite well known, and some neither of us has heard before, but the poems are well-chosen, carefully selected by Helen Ferris—Helen Ferris whose delightful forward to the book is sure to inspire you to create a life of poetry for your family!

If you have children, I suggest that you buy this book today. If you are a home educator, you need this book. If you are a grandparent, purchase this book for your grandchildren...or keep it at your house and read from it when the little (and bigger) ones come to visit. It will be money well spent.

Commercial ended.

(But I honestly don't receive commission from any sales! ~grin~ )

I will share two poems from the book that my girls chose to memorize: "The Library" (Kati) and "Mice" (Bekah).

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The Library

Barbara A. Huff

It looks like any building

When you pass it on the street,

Made of stone and glass and marble,

Made of iron and concrete.

But once inside you can ride

A camel or a train,

Visit Rome, Siam, or Nome,

Feel a hurricane,

Meet a king, learn to sing,

How to bake a pie,

Go to sea, plant a tree,

Find how airplanes fly,

Train a horse, and of course

Have all the dogs you'd like,

See the moon, a sandy dune,

Or catch a whopping pike.

Everything that books can bring

You'll find inside those walls.

A world is there for you to share

When adventure calls.

You cannot tell its magic

By the way the building looks,

But there's a wonderment within it,

The wonderment of books.

Mice

Rose Fyleman

I think mice

Are rather nice.

Their tails are long,

Their faces small,

They haven't any

Chins at all.

Their ears are pink,

Their teeth are white,

They run about

The house at night.

They nibble things

They shouldn't touch

And no one seems

To like them much.

But I think mice

Are nice.

Hoped For

Rebekah Hope.

For many years, we hoped for another baby, another child to love and to live and to grow with. And then we found out that she was coming at the very time that we would not have chosen ourselves. It was after I had had a very serious illness, and was on multiple long-term medications. And I had just turned forty.

So then we hoped that this little gift within would make it. Not only were there real concerns about the effects of the drugs I was taking, but I had had a middle trimester miscarriage five years earlier and that fact caused apprehension. Then I had complications in the pregnancy, including one dark day when I hemorrhaged so badly that my OB doctor assumed that I was miscarrying, but sent me for an ultrasound to confirm before performing a D & C. Imagine my elation when the baby’s heartbeat sounded loud and clear! So we kept hoping.

I’d like to say that we hoped for nine long months, but on a Sunday morning seven weeks before my due date, my water broke, and I spent six days in the hospital hoping that she would stay put a little longer, hoping that her little body would be ready to enter the world a bit early. Then labor was induced, we learned she was in breech position, and Bekah was delivered by C-section at 9:22 on a Friday night. After giving our tiny girl a quick examination, the neonatologist turned and gave us a thumbs-up sign and we breathed a big sigh of relief.

Bekah spent the next ten days in the NICU, and then came home with an apnea monitor, and then had difficulty gaining weight, but by the end of the summer, she was the plump little baby in the beautiful smocked dress at her big sister’s wedding!

So today, our little “hoped for” Rebekah is nine years old and we are rejoicing. She is beautiful, bright, tenderhearted, opinionated, musical, talkative, artsy, indecisive, feminine, delightful—a true joy to our hearts and our home!

Happy Birthday, Rebekah Hope!

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For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent [her] to the LORD; as long as [s]he lives [s]he shall be lent to the LORD.” I Samuel 1:27,28

A Golden Treasure

Because we love poetry, and because it is National Poetry Month after all, I thought I would share some of our favorite poetry books during the month of April.

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I have wonderful memories of the magical revolving book rack at the grocery store, filled with Little Golden Books. My mother would sometimes delight me with a purchase from that plethora of word-goodness. (I believe that Little Golden Books cost 29 cents in those days. Oh but that makes me sound old!)

What a golden treasure those treats were...so much better, so much more lasting than a candy bar or a popsicle or even a new toy. Today I can stumble on a book in a used book store or an antique store and it will spark a memory. Then I pick it up and thumb through it, and remember vividly the illustrations and the phrases that I find within its pages.

Perhaps my very favorite Little Golden Book is A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. What child could not love Stevenson's verses—the way he saw through a child's eyes, and laced the words together in his engaging style? My own children have fallen in love with the same poems that I loved (and still love) and that my mother loved—"The Swing", "The Land of Counterpane", "By the Seashore", "Time to Rise"—and now my grandchildren are loving them too.

And as much as I adore the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson, I am equally fond of the illustrations of Eloise Wilkin. Her old-fashioned watercolors of cherubic children are endearing, and she somehow captures the innocence of childhood and the tenderness of the adults around them.

Sadly, the Little Golden Book edition of A Child's Garden of Verses is out of print, so you may have difficulty locating it. Perhaps you'll be lucky enough to stumble on it in an antique shop, or win a bid on eBay! There are other versions, though, that are still published, including a lovely volume with illustrations by Tasha Tudor.

However you find it, I think every child should be friends with A Child's Garden of Verses!

~~~~~

THE SWING

Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again
Up in the air and down!

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. Phillipins 3:10

Decorating for Resurrection Day

Inspired by Jeanne Winters at Inspired Ideas, we've been doing a little decorating for Resurrection Day.

Eggs with a Resurrection message...

...and celebration at our front and back doors!

Visit here at The Inspired Room where others are sharing their Easter inspirations!

The Lamb

Musings about Jesus, the Lamb...

"Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men?”

(lyric from the modern hymn "Wonderful, Merciful Savior" by Eric Wyse and Dawn Rogers)

Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. John 1:29

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. I Peter 1:18-20

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Revelation 7:9, 10

Thanking God today for Jesus, the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed to take away my sin!

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

More musings....

And from my broken heart, with tears, two wonders I confess: the wonder of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

Oh, what wonders!

I discovered some of the history of the beautiful hymn:

“Beneath the Cross of Jesus" was written by Elizabeth Clephane in 1868, one year before her death. It was not published, however, until 1872, when it appeared anonymously in The Family Treasury with several of her other poems. The original poem consisted of five stanzas, but today only three are used in most hymnals.

It is obvious that Elizabeth, like most Scottish Presbyterians of her day, was an ardent Bible student for her hymn is replete with Biblical symbolism and imagery.

For example, in stanza one: The reference to "the mighty Rock" is taken from Isaiah 32:2.

The reference to "the weary land" is taken from Psalm 63:1.

The reference to "home within the wilderness" is taken from Jeremiah 9:2.

The reference to "rest upon the way" is taken from Isaiah 28:12.

The reference to "noontide heat" is taken from Isaiah 4:6

The reference to "burden of the day" is taken from Matthew 11:30.

Elizabeth Celphane is also the author of "The Ninety and Nine".

***

BENEATH THE CROSS OF JESUS

Elizabeth Clephane

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand,

The shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land.

A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,

From the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.

Upon the cross of Jesus, mine eyes at times can see

The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;

And from my smitten heart with tears, two wonders I confess:

The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place,

I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face.

Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss,

My sinful self, my only shame, my glory all the cross.

Deep and Vast...and My Sin

The words of hymns are playing in my mind and heart this week as I reflect upon His great sacrifice. This newer song, too, has rich and meaningful words describing His love.

Deep.

Vast beyond all measure.

And then the words which cause me to feel remorse.

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there.

Would you like to join me in meditating on the words of this song?

***

HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US
Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away.
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.

If April Showers Bring May Flowers...

...then what do NovemberDecemberJanuaryFebruaryMarch showers bring?

Broken

In reading Matthew 21 recently, I was struck with this verse about Jesus, the Cornerstone.

"And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." (Matthew 21:44)

The idea that penetrated my spirit was that of brokenness. If we fall on the stone, we are broken. If the stone falls on us, we are still broken, but to the point of no repair—ground to powder!

Oh, let me fall on the stone!

Being broken hurts—broken will, broken pride, broken desires, broken plans—but His plan is full of mercy and grace.

To Young Moms

I am going to tell you something that I would have liked for someone to tell me when I was a young mother with very small children.

It is hard.

Oh, I love babies and would have welcomed more of them. Snuggling with a newborn, rocking my babies to sleep in a darkened room, smelling their sweet baby smell and seeing their adoring smiles...all are precious memories.
The toddler years are full of joys too. Chubby cheeks and hands, wobbly toddler walk, expanding vocabulary rendered in toddler talk, belly laughs, sharing book after book after book (or sometimes the same one time after time after time).

But all of the joys do not take away the fact that it is hard. Is it worth it? Yes, a thousand times yes. But is it easy? No.

I so clearly remember an interchange I had with a slightly older mother at a time when I had two small children (at the time, around ages 1 and 3). This mom was a member of my church, and I was shopping in the Christian bookstore where she worked. I don’t remember what began the conversation; but I recall that I said that being a mother was hard. I am not sure what I expected—maybe some helpful hints, maybe some Godly advice, maybe the assurance that the training would pay off in the long run. But I got none of that. Instead she raised her eyebrows and said, “Oh my. Well if you think it’s hard now, just wait until they get to be teenagers.” At first, I felt ashamed that I had thought life with my sweet babies was hard. But almost immediately, something in my heart said that she was wrong. That right here—these days of initial training and winning their hearts—was where the battle would be won or lost.

So, yes, I believe that life with little ones is hard—full of joy and delight, but hard nonetheless. These are the days when you are establishing authority. These are the days when you are laying down the rails of habit. These are the days when you are laying the foundation of spiritual awareness, and manners, and denying self. These are the days when you are testing some of these same ideas in yourself, for it is indeed an unselfish thing to train a child. It is much easier (at the moment) to give in to them, to make the demands easier, to turn your head at disobedience or a bad attitude. But the unselfish parent will deny her own flesh and lovingly demand what is right.

Those who know my daughter Kristin now may find this hard to believe, but she was such a little chatterbox. She had so very much to say. One evening, as our family walked through the local mall, Ron and I were trying to have a conversation. But we could hardly string together a sentence before Kristin had something (or somethings) that “needed” to be said. Finally, after many attempts at continuing his discussion with me, Ron stopped Kristin and pointed to the Sears anchor store at the end of the corridor. “Kristin, “ he said, “if you will not say a word until we get down to Sears, I’ll give you a quarter.” Little Kristin walked in silence for about four steps...then came to a screeching halt and moaned, “Oh Dad, it’s too hard!”

We have laughed at that many times over the years...but sometimes I have found myself saying to my Heavenly Father about some thing or another that He is requiring of me, “Oh, it’s too hard.” And yet His words to me are, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9)

So to young moms, I would say...yes, indeed, it is hard to train little ones. It requires love, selflessness, wisdom, patience, diligence, and tenacity...sometimes long days and longer nights...often going against others’ advice and against worldly wisdom...always prayer and seeking His wisdom. But it is a job for which He gives His grace...and it is a job that is full of reward.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galations 6:8 NKJV)

***

My duty is never measured by what I feel is within my power to do, but by what God's grace enables me to do.

~ Andrew Murray

Morning Time: Spring Term

Morning Time currently looks something like this...

BIBLE READINGWe are still reading through the Gospels, now in Matthew. (We're not reading that slowly; we didn’t do them in order. :-)

BIBLE MEMORY
We are learning Psalm 90.

Bekah, having memorized the books of the New Testament, is now learning the books of the Old Testament. (After hearing about this learning glitch, my sweet daughter-in-law mailed us a CD with a song for the OT books, which should be a big help!)

SING A HYMN
We are singing “This Is My Father’s World” with Bekah accompanying us on the piano. This is a first as we usually sing a capella, but she wanted to play for us and it is good practice to learn to play while people are singing.

POETRY RECITATION
Kati: “The Pasture” by Robert Frost
Bekah: “Eletelephony” by Laura E. Richards
Mom: “Depth of Mercy” by Charles Wesley

POETRY EXPOSURE
We're enjoying selected poems by Robert Frost and reading Robert Frost: America’s Poet by Doris Faber.

LISTEN TO A PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSICThis term we are listening to the music of “The Waltz King,” Johann Strauss II.

ART APPRECIATION
We are looking at the works of 15th century Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck.

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For further reading about Morning Times, visit:

http://morningtimemoms.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-is-morning-time.html
http://morningtimemoms.blogspot.com/2008/09/little-grains-of-sand.html
http://www.restorationplace.typepad.com/restoration_place/the-morning-stack/

Spring Has Sprung!

I think that there is something about hardship that causes one to be more grateful during the good times. Perhaps that is why the coming of spring feels especially wonderful this year. Here on the East Coast, winter has been shivery and snowy, wild and wooly, and l-o-n-g. (Those who are accustomed to such winters may scorn my reference to it as a hardship, but it was far more ~~wintry~~ than any I can remember.)

So we have been joyfully celebrating the impending arrival of The First Day of Spring this week.

We continued with our Spring Cleaning.

We've been working on the bookshelves...taking the books off the shelves, culling out collections, cleaning each shelf, and even rearranging and reorganizing some. (We also secretly removed some books that were hidden behind the stacks. You know, the ones that the children/grandchildren ask you to read, but ones that you can hardly bear to read because they are boring or lifeless or tedious. Like Ten Green Bottles, for example. Don't tell.)

So now we have two big boxes of books that are looking for good homes...

We enjoyed a Mother/Daughter Springtime Tea Party.

We invited some homeschooled teenage girls and their moms over for some girl time...and it was delightful. In fact, it was so delightful that I totally forgot to take any pictures until everyone had left! But we did have a lovely time of chatting and sipping tea and nibbling teatime treats and laughing and telling stories. An afternoon of refreshment. We need to do it more often.

These are some post-tea pictures...

First-Day-of-Spring Baskets were presented.

We used to do Easter baskets, but several years ago we changed plans. Resurrection Day is such a glorious beautiful day of rejoicing, that it almost seemed to trivialize the significance of the holiday to make a big deal out of chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks. But chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks are such fun, and my children had always received such treats...so Ron and I decided that, as the first day of spring is exciting and something to celebrate, and bunnies and chicks and flowers certainly represent the spring of the year, we would begin the tradition of the Spring Basket.

Here are this year's Spring Baskets (although Kati's "basket" this year is actually a new Martha Stewart batter bowl ;-)...

And then on to Rita's for (free) Italian ice...


How have you celebrated spring this week?

Something to Think About

In A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, Karen Andreola suggests that each day a child should have:

• Something or someone to love
• Something to do
• Something to think about

Bekah's copy work for today was this short poem which certainly provides the "something to think about", wouldn't you say?

Hear ye the Master's call, "Give Me thy best!"
For, be it great or small, that is His test.
Do then the best you can, not for reward,
Not for the praise of man, but for the Lord.

~ S.C. Kirk

What Book Is That?

Bekah (8) is continuing to learn the books of the Bible during Morning Time. The books of the New Testament came rather easily thanks to the old Sunday School song that sings the names. The Old Testament...not so much. We still have a ways to go.

Actually, I thought that Bekah had learned the first eight books of the Old Testament until Sunday. When her dad asked us to turn in our Bibles to Genesis 32, I noticed her flipping pages all through the Bible. So this week during Morning Time, I asked, “Bekah, what is the very first book in the Bible?”

“What letter does it start with?” asked Bekah, searching for a clue.

“G,” I replied.

“Guh...guh...guh,” said Bekah, trying to jog her memory. Then, as if her memory had come through for her, she exclaimed, “Gertrude!”

What?

We all had a round of hearty laughter...including Bekah who very quickly realized that her memory had indeed failed her this time. If laughter is the best medicine, then it was a very healthy day!