A few weeks ago during a library trip I stumbled across a book entitled “I Wonder as I Wander”. I say stumbled because although I request most of our books, I also allow the children to go in and choose 2-3 books each. While they are choosing (this takes an extrodinary amount of time) I walk down the rows of children’s books and look at the spines. If I come across a title I recognize that we haven’t read in awhile I’ll pull it, if I see a title that seems interesting I’ll pull it as well. The next thing I do is to page through the book to see if it is worthy. By this I mean not twaddle. Which really means, “Is the book interesting to me as well as to the children? Is it a book I will enjoy reading as well?” (I also do this with the books the children select…all their books have to pass inspection too.) The other day (about four weeks ago) as I was walking down a row of books I happened to see this book (see above) and I recognized the title as being the same as the title of a Christmas Song so I pulled it. (I hadn’t heard this song since I was a child – and in French too I might add.) Long story short the book came home with me. Sadly it sat in our book basket for about two weeks before I read it. In the meantime my new TOS (This Old Schoolhouse) magazine arrived with an article entitled “Holiday Songs More Than a Tradition” by Steven Sensenig. I read through the article and thought it was very interesting but other than that I didn’t’ think any more about it. Later that week I finally picked up the book I’d checked out from the library and read it to the children. It is a delightful, but sad story about an Evangelist during the depression that has lost his wife and is left alone to care for his daughter. The book is from the daughter’s perspective and the song, I Wonder as I Wander, is created as she questions her life, the life she leads with her father, and the death of her mother. In short it is a fictional account of how the song I Wonder as I Wander was composed.

The true composer of the song I Wonder as I Wander is not known. During the 1930’s a man by the name of Jacob Niles went throughout the Appalachian’s and collected folksongs. One of the songs he collected was this one. It was being sung by a young girl by the name of Annie Morgan. He paid her twenty-five cents to repeat the song until he had written down all the words. He didn’t ask her where she had heard the song so it is not known whether she composed it or whether she was singing a song composed by another.

Now back to TOS…after I read the book aloud to the children…something clicked in my pregnancy fogged mind and I remembered the article in TOS. Steven Sensenig had written about this song as well. I don’t believe in coincidences. I’m not sure why this song has been reintroduced into my life, but here are the lyrics. I must warn you that once you read the lyrics they will be stuck in your head. They are very simple, but extremely powerful. May you be blessed.

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky,

How Jesus, the Savior, did come for to die

For poor orn’ry people like you and like I-

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus, ‘twas in a cow’s stall,

With wisemen and farmers and shepherds and all.

But high from God’s heaven a star’s light did fall,

And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,

A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,

Or all of God’s angels in heav’n for to sing,

He surely could have it, ‘cause He was the King.

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die

For poor orn’ry people like you and like I-

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

This is the song that has been playing in the background as you’ve been reading (and in my mind off and on since I first read the story and looked up the song). If you would like to learn more about this song check out the book “I Wonder as I Wander” by Gwenyth Swain and the Fall 2007 issue of TOS. More can be found out about Steve Sensenig at www.Homeschoolblogger.com/pianosteve. (Information about this song was gathered from these two sources: The 2003 edition of  “I Wonder as I Wander” by Gwenyth Swain and the Fall 2007 TOS article entitled “Holiday Songs More than a Tradition” by Steve Sensinig. Many thanks to them both.)

blessings,

dani

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

I slipped away from the natives for about an hour or so last Saturday and went over to the library to pick up a few books that I had on hold. Long story short, I ended up picking up a few more books than I’d intended. (Note that this picture does NOT include the books I went to pick up. They were all books for the kids.These books are all mine.)

I have NO idea what I was thinking. The moral of this story is never send a book addict to a place filled with free books.

If you take a book lover to the library, she’ll think she’s in heaven, and she’ll want to check out all the books in sight.

You should see the pile I come home with when the kids go with me. But, I’m sure you all have similar piles at your own homes, so enough rambling.

Actually, this post is not about my addiction to books, or how many I foolishly checked out. It is about a little gem that I discovered.  It’s called The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook by Cybele Pascal. Now, as far as I know, we don’t have any food allergies (except for whatever happened to Mark not long ago – but that was kind of a fluke and I have no idea what caused it) around here, but I was looking for whole foods cookbooks and couldn’t find any so I decided to take what I could find…and I’m so glad I did. It’s a wonderful little cookbook.

Now, please don’t dismiss this cookbook simply because you don’t have any allergies. The recipes are great and easy – no fermenting, or putting things together over night, or sprouting grains, not that those things are bad, but sometimes fast and easy is nice too -and most of these recipes are fast and easy. The only difference between these recipes and the recipes you normally use is that they are made without any major allergy causing ingredients – dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.

The nice thing about these recipes is that they can also be made with whatever you have on hand. For example, if the recipe calls for an egg replacer, you can use a real egg, or if the recipe calls for spelt flour, you can use whatever type of flour you want, same for milk. If you’ve been thinking about trying other flours, such as oat, barley, buckwheat, etc. you can do so easily with this cookbook because Pascal uses a lot of different flours and gives measurements for alternate flours. Yesterday, I made eggless oatmeal cookies with wheat flour (the recipe called for spelt) and they were delicious.  All the recipes are dairy free as well, and use natural sugars like molasses and maple syrup.

One final word, I checked out her blogspot aptly called The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook and although I didn’t read through everything, it looked like she had a lot of GF/CF recipes if that is of interest to you. And if you don’t trust me, maybe you will trust Martha (or maybe not) Pascal was a guest on her show…you can watch it here on YouTube.

blessings,

dani                                                                                 

“Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father…” (James 1:17)

Recently I was searching my bookshelf for a book that was useful to me when I was a “younger” mother – meaning a mother with only a toddler and a preschooler at home and another baby on the way. When I bought the book my husband was working a lot and I needed some encouragement to keep me going. Although the author of the book only had one child and another on the way – she writes about her pregnancy –and I was a little beyond her already - her sweet words of encouragement and prayer ministered to my soul. Anyway, when I found the book on my shelf I thought I would share it with you all…as there may be some of you who are young mothers in need of a little encouragement. The back jacket of the book says, “Calm in My Chaos takes an honest look at a mother’s world and offers practical advice on common experiences including:

·         Being content in every circumstance

·         Modeling God-like characteristics

·         Overcoming cabin fever

·         Making and keeping friends

·         Being the “real” you

Humor, encouragement, and the truths of God’s Word are woven through these brief stores to give encouragement to other moms!” (Calm in My Chaos, Elisabeth K. Corcoran.)

Calm in My Chaos by Elisabeth K. Corcoran.

blessings,

dani

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

I’ve been reading Home-Making by J.R. Miller. What a delightful, wonderful little book!

Some of you who have never heard of Home-Making, may be wondering what it is about? Well, it’s about the wedded life, family, the role of each participant and how we can honor and glorify God in those roles. It is a beautiful, informative, visionary book. This book isn’t five steps to a better marriage…it is a vision of what a family should look like. My heart is charmed by this book. I honestly can’t remember the last time a book about this subject delighted and moved me more.

After reading just a few chapters, I already feel that this book should be required reading for every couple considering marriage and that its principles should be taught in every young adult married class – and maybe a few older adult married classes as well. We are desperately in need of the information in this book. We are desperately, as a Christian society, in need of catching this vision or perhaps I should say - of returning to it.  

Just in case you don’t believe me when I say that this book is both beautifully written and informative I’m going to share a few passages that I find worthy. (There are many passages – the whole book – but I’m only going to share a few. Keep in mind that I’m not even half-way through–in fact, I haven’t even gotten to the section I want to read entitled The Wife’s Part - and it’s all I can do not to skip ahead – so you will have the pleasure of enjoying more of this book with me as I read further.)  Here are a few passages from the book.

On The Wedding Life: 

“Marriage is intended to bring joy.  The married life is meant to be the happiest, fullest, purest, richest life.  It is God’s own ideal of completeness.  It was when He saw that it was not good for man to be alone that woman was made and brought to him to supply what was lacking.” (p.13)

“Perfect harmony cannot be forced in a day-cannot be forced at all-but must come through gentleness and perhaps only after many days.  There must be mutual adaptation, and time must be allowed for this.  The present duty is unselfish love.  Each must forget self in devotion to the other.  Each must blame self and not the other when anything goes wrong.  There must be the largest and gentlest forbearance.  Impatience may wreck all.  A sharp word may retard for months the process of soul-blending.  There must be the determination on the part of both to make the marriage happy and to conquer everything that lies in the way.  Then the very differences between the two lives will become their closest points of union.  When they have passed through the process of blending, though it may for the time be painful and perilous, the result will be a wedded life of deep peace, quiet joy and inseparable affection.”  (p.20)

From The Husband’s Part:

“In home-making each member of the family has a part,…The influence of one gentle and unselfish life may also in time soften rudeness and melt selfishness, and pervade the home-life with the blessedness of love.  Yet still it is true that no one member of the household can make the household life full and complete.  Each must do a part. The husband has a part,…the wife has a part; the children, the brothers, the sisters-each has his own part.”  (p.31)

More later.

blessings,

dani

 “Live in harmony with one another.”  (Romans 12:16)