Category: History

Hymn Study: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go

8/21/2016

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

Lyrics

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

George Matheson is the author is this hymn. By the time he was 15 years old he learned that he was going blind. He was not a young man to be so easily discouraged by this news, and he set out to educated, he graduated at age 19 from University of Glasgow and following that proceeded into theological studies.

As he was finishing his studies he realized that he was rapidly becoming blind. He told his girlfriend at the time what his condition was and she promptly dumped him. This was a terrible heart break for him, but what could he do? He continued on in his life. Going on to become a minister of word. He wrote several books as well. His sister was a great help to him at the time.

When his sister got married, he was left at home alone while the rest of the family went to celebrate the nuptials, the memory of that time of his life came flooding back to him, and in his own words:
"Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high."

He never married. Remaining devoted to God for the rest of his life.

He died of a sudden stroke in 1906, his hymn remaining popular.

Sources: HymnTime. Crich Baptist. BelieftNet. Gospel Coalition. Lectionary.

Gandhi for Kids, a Review

8/20/2016

Have you wanted to help your children understand who Ghandi was?
A man who strove to make a change in his homeland, but to do so by peaceful means.
It was a hard road he walked.
His life is explained through pictures, word and activity in this book by Ellen Mahoney, called Gandhi for Kids.

I have to tell you that this book is just lovely to hold and read. It was a pleasure...it's hard to explain sometimes how sometimes a book appeals just because of how it lies in the hand.

BUT that is not the only reason this book appeals, so let me take a moment to tell you what a treasure trove it is.

134 pages, divided into 8 chapters, with 21 activities. Each chapter is broken into easily read sections.

I had a thorough appreciation for the fact that activities provided were not all the same, there were write a poem, make a speech, make a craft and more.

I didn't get the feeling that the activities were just filler, but were actually meant to help cement the lesson for the child.

As I read and looked through this book I kept thinking it would be a great book to use at co-op or just to teach your students about Gandhi. I could easily see not using the whole book (like just doing the section on working through peaceful means, or learning about the salt-walk) or even taking a semester to learn all you can about this important figure in Indian History.

Black and white pictures scattered throughout, pink boxes with additional information, and easy to read text. There was so much information in contained within the pages, I learned so much, so will your students. :)

This book will be an excellent resource for your studies on India, peaceful protestors, important figures in history and so forth. It was an interesting book to go through and will remain a part of my library.

You can find it at amazon, here's a helpful link:

Six Great Middle School Reads

8/18/2016

More vacation reads! These ones are all review books through from Raincoast, books that I am previewing for my lad before he digs happily into them.

Let Your Voice Be Heard. Do you know who Pete Seeger is? You know, neither did I, BUT I know his music oddly enough. As I read this book and it trailed it's way through his early years, through the rest of his life, it was surprising to me, how many songs I knew that he wrote or popularized.

Mr. Seeger said "I started to paint because I failed to get a job as a journalist. I started singing and playing more because I failed as a painter."

From musical parents he became a musician. But he was more than that. The cares and concerns of the poor working class, the plight of the underdog, these are things that stirred his heart and caused him to write more songs.

It landed him in a lot of hot water during the anti-communism days but he was able to work his way through that difficulty until he was noticed by just the right people and became very popular.

It's a bigger than average book, filled with pictures, and easy reading text. For young people interested in learning more about the music and troubles of this time period, this book is filled with information. It would help round out a study of folk music and how musicians can let their art show their heart.

Captain.   My son was intrigued by this book but wanted me to read it first. His first question when I finished it was "Mom, is it a good book for me to read?".   I told him it was a good book, but it wasn't an easy book to read. That things happen in this book that made me feel sad.

It's the story of an underage boy heading off to battle in the great war (WW1), fighting hard battles in Turkey.   Seeing death and destruction all around him, and meeting a lad with his donkey and the unlikely friendship that happened between them. Hard lessons were learned by both boys, and through it all the donkey Captain was part of their lives. You HAVE to meet the camel though...oh my.. that camel!

The chapters are a good length.
I NEEDED to read the book all the way through. It was just that kind of book.
Would I recommend middle schoolers read it?   Yes, but probably along side their parents so they can talk through the book. It was be an EXCELLENT book to read as part of learning about WW1 and the conditions the soldiers fought in and the supports they needed in order to battle.

Sunker's Deep. This is the second book in the series "The Icebreaker Trilogy". It stands quite well on its own. It's a fantasy with a mystery built and with a good lead in for the last book of the trilogy.

This coming of age book leads us through Sharkey needing to be honest with the people he is leading, needing to learn to give up control and to trust his people. It lead two groups of people together who NEEDED to be together in order to, hopefully in the third book, fulfill their true destiny. Some of the characters are a we bit odd

The Courage Test.   The book surprised me.   I want my son to read this book and I hope that he will enjoy it.   A story of a boy and his dad traveling the route that Lewis and Clark took.   It was a dangerous journey for those men with many pitfalls along the way, and as Will and his father journey, Will has to navigate a hard journey as well.

It was a touching book about how families make things work and how sometimes the decisions parents make actually have reasoning behind it.   Lots of history in this book, even from sources I didn't expect.   It brought to mind some of the history I've learned of this expedition, putting it all together was kinda fun. :)

But as a book for middle schoolers?   For sure.   A book even to read along with your child or tie into your own history study of Lewis and Clark. I liked how the tie made for a good life story.

A Storm Too Soon. This book is an adaptation of a longer novel called a storm too soon. This book is meant for younger readers.

As an adult I found it an interesting read with no strong compelling need to read the adult version.

Based on a true story, it was written by Michael J Tougias. Three men on a cruise when a nasty nasty storm unexpectedly hits.

I found it to be a good read. Enjoyed the book.
As I read it in tried to imagine my 11 year reading it. So as I talked with my son about the book he sounded quite intrigued by it. He asked some good questions so I think it would appeal to him and other children like him.

At the close of the book they had various people give some closing thoughts, I was left wondering why Ben didn't give his thoughts at the end. In the centre of the book, their are a lot of good pictures that show the various people involved, and what the size of the storm they were in was like.

Terror at Bottle Creek. My lad wants to read this book next. He's quite intrigued by the thought of a boy having to help two girls through a horrible storm, with crazy pigs, lots of snakes and an unexpectedly helpful bear. Lots of water, strange mounds in the middle of a swamp, living on a house boat, and more. He's just intrigued, and I have to admit, I actually enjoyed reading this book though I did find all the things that happened felt at times a little bit too much. Watt Key does an excellent job at character development, not only of 13 year old Cort, but of all the surrounding people in his life.

I could FEEL the pain that his dad had with Cort's mom leaving him, the joy he has in being a swamp guide, to Cort's confusion over his future, the love of the dog and the terror the storm brought to a little girl.

Well written, good book.

Hymn Study: All To Jesus I Surrender

8/16/2016

"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

Chorus: I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
2
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
3
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
4
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
5
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!

Born into a Christian home, author Judson W. Van DeVenter (1855-1939), became a Cristian in his late teens. He was a musician through and through, mastering 13 different instruments, as well as singing and composing music. (source)

This song was born from resolving a conflict in his life, as Van DeVenter says

The song was written while I was conducting a meeting at East Palestine, Ohio, and in the home of George Sebring (founder of Sebring Campmeeting Bible Conference . . .). For some time, I had struggled between developing my talents in the field of art and going into full-time evangelistic work. At last the pivotal hour of my life came, and I surrendered all. A new day was ushered into my life. I became and evangelist and discovered down deep in my soul a talent hitherto unknown to me. God had hidden a song in my heart, and touching a tender chord, he caused me to sing. (source)

As an evangelist he travelled throughout the United States, England and Scotland, this hymn is one of 60 that he wrote. When he retired from being an evangelist he worked as a professor of Hymnology for four years. He retired to Florida, staying active in his church.

Dr. Billy Graham wrote a tribute for him, in a book called Crusade Hymn Stories:

"One of the evangelists who influenced my early preaching was also a hymnist who wrote "I Surrender All, the Rev. J. W. Van de Venter. He was a regular visitor at the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity Bible College) in the late 1930's. We students loved this kind, deeply spiritual gentleman and often gathered in his winter home at Tampa, Florida, for an evening of fellowship and singing." (source)

Hymn Study: O Word of God Incarnate

7/31/2016

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14

Lyrics:

1 O Word of God incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky:
we praise you for the radiance
that from the Scripture's page,
a lantern to our footsteps,
shines on from age to age.

2 The church from you, dear Master,
received the gift divine;
and still that light is lifted
o'er all the earth to shine.
It is the chart and compass
that all life's voyage through,
mid mists and rocks and quicksands,
still guides, O Christ, to you.

I found two versions for the third verse:
The Scripture is a banner
before God’s host unfurled;
It is a shining Beacon
above the darkling world.
It is the Chart and Compass
that over life’s surging tide,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands
, to You, O Christ, will guide.

OR this one which we sing in our church
It floateth like a banner
  Before God’s host unfurled;
It shineth like a beacon
  Above the darkling world;
It is the chart and compass
  That, o’er life’s surging sea,
’Mid mists and rocks and quicksands
  Still guide, O Christ, to Thee.

4 O make your church, dear Savior,
a lamp of burnished gold
to bear before the nations
your true light as of old.
O teach your wandering pilgrims
by this our path to trace
till, clouds and darkness ended,
we see you face to face.

Written by William Walsham How who was the son of William Wybergh How. He was born Dec. 13, 1823, at Shrewsbury, and educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (B.A. 1845).

He eventually became a bishop as well as an author of several books such as the Commentary of the Four Gospels and Plain Words for Children.

He was known as the Poor Man's Bishop as he chose to serve among the slums of
London, rejecting offers to serve in prestigious churches.

How wrote 54 hymns altogether. He said, “A good hymn should be like a good prayer—simple, real, earnest, and reverent.” (source)

Hymn Study: Beneath the Cross of Jesus

7/10/2016

His children shall have a place of refuge. Proverbs 14:26

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.

O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven’s love
And Heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was giv’n,
So seems my Savior’s cross to me,
A ladder up to Heav’n.

There lies beneath its shadow
But on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide;
And there between us stands the cross
Two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.

Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken 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 or loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

Elizabeth C. Clephane wrote the words to this hymn. The words were published post-humously in the Family Treasury, a Scottish Presbyterian magazine, in 1872, titled Breathing on the Border.

Ms. Clephane was a Scottish lass, who lived for only 39 years. She was a sickly lass known to have a cheery outlook on life. She was a devout Scottish Presbyterian and in her community was known as "The Sunbeam". She enjoyed writing poetry, unfortunately most of them were published after her death, in a magazine called The Family Treasury. Her parents died when she was young, her father being a sherrif. Along with her sister, she ministered to the poor and needy in her neighbourhood of Melrose.

The publisher of "The Family Treasury" had these words to say in regards to the poem that became the hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus. “These lines express the experiences, the hopes and the longings of a young Christian lately released. Written on the very edge of life, with the better land fully in view of Faith, they seem to use footsteps printed in the sands of time, where these sands touch the ocean of eternity. These footprints of one whom the good shepherd led through the wilderness into rest, may, with Gods blessing, contribute to comfort and direct succeeding Pilgrims.” (source)

Sources:
Cyber Hymnal. Discipleship Ministries. Lectionary. Gaffney Ledger.

Review: Veritas Press Judges to Kings

6/27/2016

Games, people, characters, facts and bible....Tie it all together and you get Veritas Press Bible...my son's all-time favourite bible (or for that matter.. any type of learning other than hands-on science) program EVER. Over the past several weeks my son has been happily reviewing Old Testament 2 by Veritas Press. This Self-Paced Bible online course contains the stories Judges to Kings.

I have to admit, my son got hooked on Veritas Press when we reviewed a history program for them a while back. Since then we've purchased a couple of programs for use as well as the first of the bible series. So to say we are fans is a bit of a understatement. :) Anyways, let me tell you WHY we like this program so much.

Veritas Press is a company that has worked to create materials suitable for a classical education. Like many publishing companies, they started out of a need they had... create a chronological history program that connected the bible to history not recorded in the bible for their own boys. That needed resonated with other families, and Veritas Press was born. Flash cards came to life in the form of the self-paced courses, first with history, then with bible.

So how does it work?
One signs up their student with their own user name and password. This sets the student up with their own dashboard where they can view their courses, grades and what not. You get 128 class periods covering 32 Biblical events, each subscription lasts for a year. All course work is done online and all quizzes and tests are graded automatically.

Clicking on a course opens it up showing what you see in the image below. Every five lessons is a test covering that unit as well as a bit of the previous lessons. This helps the student to retain information learned. I have to admit, he's not doing as well in the Judges to Kings program as he is in the Genesis to Joshua program, but that is due to needing to know dates and as my son says "dates are boring mom".

We love this online bible course because it has interesting characters in the interactive video, the lessons are clear. The set up is that it will quiz with six or so questions to see if you know anything about the subject matter to be talked about, and at the end of unit it will test you on everything presented in the material, plus questions from previous lessons.. focusing on the dates.

Games, activities, questions and answers... presented in different ways. I won't tell you that every game is going to be hit, but there will be sufficient variety to maintain interest. The song is a great way to aid in remembering the order events happen in... he'll hum along when he is struggling to remember the order something happened in.

My son likes doing the maps since they allow him to keep trying until he gets it all right. I like that it forces him to keep trying so he has to remember this important geography. Currently we are reading through a book on Ancient Civilizations and when we are on Israel my son would pop up with "MOM! That town is here and did you know _____________?" As he spills out information he learned through Veritas Press. I LOVE IT! I love how he is learning all this stuff and remembers enough of it to tell me about it. It's great! :)

Our morning routine is get up, take care of the critters, catch up on tablet stuff and have breakfast. My son has taken to modifying this routine in that he gets done taking care of his critters long before I do and he pops into the house to work on Veritas Press. He loves doing it first thing because "Mom, it's fun and I learn stuff!". This is a familiar scene for me....coming in to find my lad sitting in my chair listening and learning.

My laptop is a touch screen which apparently is THE BEST for playing the games.

I've offered to sit with my boy and learn with him, but he has nixed that. "Mom, I like learning it. Then I can tell you later and surprise you with what I know." I do occasionally get called to help him with the odd game though but get told "DON"T answer the questions mom.... I want to!" That speaks volumes to me about how much he likes this online bible curriculum.

My pastor hubby appreciates that they haven't sacrificed knowledge in the pursuit of a fun learning environment. The bible stories and the history around them are presented clearly without fudging details. Scripture references are always included.

Veritas Press Self-Paced Bible courses are available for $179/year. Optional flashcards are $21.95.

VeritasBible.com is another way to do the bible program. For a single student, the monthly price is $9.95, and the yearly price is $99. For a family plan (up to 5 students) the monthly price is $19.95 and the yearly price is $199.

You can learn more about these programs by clicking the link below

Visit Veritas Press on Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Twitter they are @VeritasPress

Field Trip: McCrae House

6/14/2016

With my Sweetheart away this week, and needing to go to Guelph the other day to sell some rabbits, my son and I thought we would make a day of it and see some of the Guelph sites. We chose McCrae House and the river that ran nearby it.

www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields-inspiration.htmJohn McCrae was a Guelph Resident and he was responsible for writing a poem that many people are very familiar with. He was a young artillery officer and military doctor and one of the young men under his command died in the Battle of Ypres.

Depending on who you believe, this young man's death was the inspiration for the poem, or it could have been the poppies growing, or it could have just been boredom speaking. :) Either way, his poem lives on.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The house was beautiful and the grounds were so well kept. It was too bad it was so hot out, it would have been lovely to sit out there for a while and watch my lad look for spiders among the hedges.

Inside the museum we came upon this lovely map. It was SO pretty.. I'm not sure that's the right word for it. But it caught our eyes and we stood in front of it for quite a while looking it over really well.

"Mom, why does it have all these place names?"
"Why doesn't it look like our map at home?"
"Is it a real map or a fake one?".. he then started checking it over, my attention-to-detail lad, and noticed that the creases in the map weren't real creases and realized it was a replica.

Then he noticed all these wavy lines...MOM! What are these for? He read the names and remembered that oceans have currents, so we traced them out, finding out how they bend and swirl around the continents, and they pass over each other (or so it seems) and it was just fascinating to watch him and to see how the currents move all around the world.

John McCrae was part of the army, so we learned what the mess kit looked like.

We discovered and talked about how a man can have a close relationship with his horse and dog..."but mom, he really needed to have a cat!"

It was not a big museum and once we got past the map, we saw everything they had rather quickly. There were other things to see, but these were the highlights for us. If you ever have a chance to visit Guelph, take a peek inside! On a nice day, bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the serene grounds. $5 per person to get in, open Tues-Sun.

When we were done, we headed across the street to sit in the shade of some trees by the river. The lad chased a young robin, and was stunned by the sight of a tree growing through a cement block. He noted how it bent out the concrete. It seemed a strong vigorous tree. The goslings we saw were farther along then ours at home.

It was very restful sitting here, watching the water, listening to the sounds of people in the distance, "mom, would be even better if there was a big row of trees over there, then we wouldn't see the buildings, it would be even nicer then". And it would have been, but it was still nice.

We then headed off to the Civic Museum, which I will post about another time. :)

We Will Not Be Silent

6/12/2016

You know how sometimes you can be given a book and someone says "read this" and you do and you are surprised by what you learn?

Well.. let me introduce to you "We Will Not be Be Silent" written by Russell Freedman.

I was stunned.
Carefully crafted with eye witness testimony.
Filled with black and white historical photographs.

I had never heard of the White Rose Society before. Learning what the Hitler youth groups were all about, seeing the growing disillusionment, until one day they reach this zenith>>>>>> "what in the world are we waiting for? Until one day the war is over and all nations point to us and say that we accepted this government without resisting?"

I have to admit, before I read this book, that is EXACTLY what I thought. Of the German people, so conditioned to obey governmental authorities, that when Hitler said "do this", like a herd of cows they simply set to (except for those who helped the Jewish people escape). I didn't for a moment really think of anyone in Germany fighting back against Hitler and his rule (and agenda).

I can't say it was an easy book to read, but it was a good book to read.
To read of these young people actively fighting a regime that would kill them if it could (and eventually did). BUT their actions made waves. Hearts and minds were challenged to consider what Hitler's actions were doing to the German people. Their love for their country and their fellow man... it mattered and it showed forth in their bravery and determination to do what was right.

"Today, the members of the White Rose are counted among the legendary heroes of World War II." (p.82)

This book will be going back onto my shelf to use with my lad when we study World War II. It was a fascinating book that gave me a different perspective on the German people of that era.

We will not be silent was written by Russell Freedman and is published by Clarion books, 102 pages, softcover books. This is the story of "The White Rose Student Resistance Movement that Defied Adolf Hitler" I received the advanced readers copy. You can find out more about the White Rose Society here. Raincoast Books generously provided me with a copy to read.

Medieval Times Preview

4/21/2016

Exciting News... I'm being given an opportunity to review Medieval Times. I am not not sure if you remember I was able to review them last year, but we get to go again! :)

Just so yo know they are running a promotion and I thought I would share with with you.

Moms get in FREE* May 2nd-8th! Code FBMOM valid 5/2/16 - 5/8/16 for ALL castles. Visit http://goo.gl/AZoxsH to redeem!
To make Mom feel really special, upgrade with to our Mother's Day special package! Upgraded Mother's Day Package includes framed photo of Mom, "Royal Highness" sash, and champagne, mimosa or cider in logo souvenir glass. Over $55 value for only $20! *Visit link for details and restrictions

Medieval Times has been in the Toronto area for over 20 years and are the destination for celebration: birthdays, anniversaries, grad trips and bachelor & bachelorette’s. When you come to Medieval Times you will experience spectacular pageantry, dramatic horsemanship, breathtaking swordplay and falconry while feasting on a four-course medieval banquet. The experience culminates in an authentic jousting tournament between six brave Knights of the Realm.