Helen Henry asked where she could get a copy of "Awesome God" - the children's worship CD I keep talking about. It's produced by and can be ordered at
Sovereign Grace Ministries. I (obviously) LOVE that CD and think a lot of it speaks powerfully to adults as well as kids! I've taught almost every song to at least one group of students over the last few years.
I also highly recommend "Valley of Vision" and "Upward: The Bob Kauflin Hymns Project" (the first song on "Upward" was one of the things God used to bring me to Thailand in the first place!).
I held up a recorder to show my 1st Graders today and half the class, of course, got excited and had their hands raised wanting to tell me that either a) they own one too or b) their older brother or sister plays that instrument. (I've discovered that enthusiasm for the recorder doesn't wear off until around 5th or 6th Grade!) Virain, one of my Indian students, said, "It's a flute! One of my gods plays that instrument!" The boy sitting next to him thought he said "guard"; no, it was "god". He described it/him to us - he is in Virain's house (I think) and sits on (or is friends with?) a snake and plays the flute. That was one I'm not used to hearing! All I could think of to say was, "Oh really? That's interesting." Then I changed the subject!
Idiosyncrasies?
Kim Cunningham (who has a new blog, btw, now that's she's back in the States: www.mommyscircus.blogspot.com) "tagged" me recently on her blog to share 5 of my "idiosyncrasies." I'm not sure if these are
exactly what she meant by "idiosyncrasies" (sorry, Kim!), but here are a few things that most people would not consider quite normal!
1. I like cleaning. (Meghan would probably say this is one of the weirdest things about me!) That's not to say at all that my apartment or classroom is always, or even usually, spotless, but I do enjoy the process and sense of accomplishment that comes from transforming something from being a dirty, filthy wreck to something beautiful. I've found that it also - along with baking - somehow makes me less homesick while here in Bangkok.
2. During the
freezing cold of North FL winters (like when temperatures drop down to the 40 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit!), I dance around my house, drink mugs of hot water and wash dishes to keep warm. Of course, I never have that "problem" in Thailand!
3. I've always wanted to own a pair of boxing gloves and a punching bag and to take up kick-boxing. : )
4. When given the choice, I almost always prefer to sit on the floor as opposed to on a chair or couch. Comes in handy while teaching my younger students!
5. If I could live anywhere in the world, based solely on location, it would be Chattanooga, Tennessee. I've had a crush on Tennessee for number of years now. I dream of living in a little 2 bedroom house with a front porch (complete with porch swing, of course) on a large plot of land on which my golden retriever would run. And in this dream, I would play either fiddle or upright bass in a bluegrass band.
Now that I've listed a few of the strange characteristics of Catherine Rogers, I would like to tag Melanie and Rhianna to keep the game going and find out more about them!
Jenny, one of my piano students, wrote me a song and played it for me at her lesson today. I video-ed her playing it on my digital camera and if I were more computer savvy, I would post the video. But until I figure out how, here are the lyrics to her composition:
Hello, I want to tell you how I learned piano
It all started with my piano teacher
She was really good at playing piano
And I hope she enjoys my song
I did! : )
I just finished reading
The Christian Mind by Harry Blamires. It is an excellent book on Christian world-view - how a Christian should think and look at life. I have written down so many quotes from it, but a couple I read today I thought I'd post...
“The Romantic principle is far different. It gives rein to individual fantasy and passion to a degree which opens the door to lawlessness, intemperance, and disorder. But the door which opens to lawlessness, intemperance, and disorder, offers at the same time a clear path to the exploration of limitless yearning and aspiration. In opening this door, Romanticism virtually proclaims that there is no final and complete satisfaction for man within the finite. The rejection of the Classical spirit is the rejection of the possibility of achieving stability and perfection at the terrestrial level. The assertion of Romanticism is that man’s profoundest yearnings and aspirations break beyond the bounds of any principle of order or harmony that can be fully manifested within the finite. The works and lives of great Romantic artists, if they testify to nothing else, certainly testify to the Christian belief that man is tortured and delighted by dreams and longings which earthly experience can never realize or set at rest. It is true that few Romantic artists have sensed the full significance of the yearnings which they have nursed and glorified, teased, sharpened, and even worshipped; but this failure in understanding does not invalidate the fundamental Romantic principle that it is right for man to fling his heart to the stars when the inner inspiration cries out for a reality beyond the scope of human fashioning. Instead this failure, like the current distorted romanticism of jiving, sex-ridden, gang-minded teenagers, stands as a challenge to Christian thinkers that they should touch man with the guidance and penetration of a theology at the point where his whole soul cries out that earthly life is not enough. And surely this cry is implicit in the rebellion of the delinquent teddy-boy or of the more educated but nonetheless amoral student, as it is in the tortured self-explorations of a Berlioz or a Baudelaire….
“If the dreams and longings of youth did not lose their edge and their delight, but moved to culmination in a final, though finite, satisfaction, we should have less cause to know our homelessness on earth. Because they lose their intrinsic joy, we know our early dreams and longings for what they are, the pointers to fulfillment and reality; not ends in themselves, but significant disturbers of our peace. Unsatisfied longings must be nourished in us, and the elusive dream of fulfillment dangled before us, or we should never know that we are not here, on earth, in our proper resting-place. Utterly divested of this disturbing inheritance, men’s hearts would never desire the ultimate peace and joy offered by God. The Christian mind makes sense of passionate youthful longings and dissatisfactions as pointers to the divine creation of man and the fact that he is called to glory.” “God calls; and all the vehicles of natural and human beauty are at His disposal in tugging at the soul of man with the vision of the glory. Man responds; and all the richness of human appetite, thrust, and aspiration are at his disposal in either answering obediently or answering rebelliously. He may submit to the discipline inherent in each call to taste and see, making of all things an offering and a self-dedication. Or he may assert the predominance of the grasping, enjoying self in a riot of claimed and plumbed indulgences. The one way leads to peace; the other way to torment.”
Omniscience
I've been meaning to write this for a few weeks now...
The "song about God" that 1st Grade has been working on this past month was "You Are Always With Me" (from
Awesome God - I've telling you, I LOVE that CD!!). I chose it because 1st Grade has been studying the attributes of God in Bible this year and recently learned about His omniscience and omnipresence. This song is taken almost straight from Psalm 139, so it clearly described those attributes.
When introducing the first verse (below), I told the students that I had good news and bad news. The good news is that God knows everything about us: all the things we're good at and do well, everything we're feeling even when no one else understands, etc. The bad news is - God knows everything about us and sees all that we do, even the things we think no one sees and we try to hide from others.
I shared several examples and as I was talking, I noticed the room get very quiet and a sickening look of guilt cross every 1st Grader's face (it might very well have been a reflection of my own expression as I thought about all the things I wished no one knew about me, especially my holy Judge). The whole class was so serious and looked so guilty that I realized - these kids need to hear the gospel in the midst of this terrible news! So I quickly added, "But the good news is, even though God know everything about us, He loves us and sent Jesus to be punished for all of those bad things so that we wouldn't have to be!"
As I was turning on the CD so that we could actually sing that song, I heard Aim (probably the worst behaved student in that class) ask "Does God love when we do bad things?"
I barely heard him before the music was turned on, so I didn't answer right away, but when it was over, I asked Aim to repeat his question. He changed it slightly, asking "Does God love when we are not a Christian?"
We had such a good (and hopefully gospel-centered) class discussion springing from those questions. My students are full of good questions - many of them difficult ones that require me to do some research! It's a very humbling thing as I want so badly to speak the truth to my kids and show them that the Scriptures have an answer to those tough issues. I feel like I have so much to learn still regarding what the Bible even says, what the gospel is and how on earth to communicate that to children, many of whom have no Christian background at all. But I'm so glad they're thinking and feel comfortable enough to ask me.
In another 1st Grade class, after teaching on the same things (God's love and willingness to forgive all the sin that He sees in us), little Sine said, "That
is good news!" : )
You know everything about me
You know when I wake and sleep
You know everything I'm thinking
You know all my secret deeds
You know every word I say, long before I say it
You know everywhere I go and all my ways
You are always with me, Jesus
Where could I go? Where could I hide?
You are always with me, Jesus
You never leave my side
If I flew away to heaven,
Jesus, there I would find You
If I sank into the ocean,
Jesus, You would be there too
Even in the darkest night -
to You it's bright as day
You have laid Your hand on me
It's wonderful!
For You Are Holy
This week I introduced a new song to 1st Grade: "For You Are Holy" (also from
Awesome God). We talked about all the things they've learned about God this year and how no one else
is all those things or quite like God. I let them listen to the music first, telling them that it wasn't like some of the other songs we'd sung that make us want to move around or dance or be excited. The person that wrote this song wanted us to be very still and quiet and think about who God is and how no one else is like Him.
Afterwards Daniel said, "When I heard that song, I started crying because it made me think of God and all the things He did for me to save me from my sin and it made me want to give Him something to Him but I can't because He is in the sky."
