I'm still here, and I don't intend to let this blog die just yet. :) I'm as busy as can be, but I thought I would stop in quickly to say "hello" and to offer an excuse for my absence: namely, that I've got a new job, working for a friend's roofing business. It's just a part time temp job, but what with work, homeschooling, keeping house, and various other commitments, my days are very, very full.
I take lots of photos that I intend to post, but I don't get to it quickly enough, and as the months tick by, I decide that they are no longer relevant. So when I took this photo just a few minutes ago, I decided to post it right away, before it's too outdated. :) Here's Elijah with a happy smile as he listens to his favorite radio program, StarDate.
He is growing up so fast! And his hair is growing fast too--looks like it's about time his Aunt Mercy cuts it again!
After a very long stretch of time without any psalm sings, we finally managed to arrange a last-minute psalm sing earlier this month. We had a very nice time singing, visiting, and eating delicious leftover birthday cake.
We worked on two tunes: Glenluce and Bloxham. Glenluce is a very old and very simple melody with a very interesting and unusual harmony. You may have heard other recordings of this tune, like this one and this one. We thought it was a good fit for the last half of Psalm 42.
Psalm 42:6-11 to Glenluce
Bloxham starts out just like Colchester, but then heads in a very different direction.
A friend in Scotland has put together a nice website with recordings of psalm singing. He's posted recordings from several different psalters, but they are now sorted so that you can easily listen to just the recordings from your favorite psalter. Here's the link to the recordings from the Scottish Psalter:
If you hit "play" the tracks will play through consecutively, so I like to pull up this site when I have housework to do, or sweaters to unravel.
In other news, we had a very nice communion season earlier this month, with a number of visitors, including a family that stayed with us for two weeks; so it's been a busy but enjoyable month. I would have a lot to blog about, if I had time for blogging. :) I'll try to at least post a few photos some time soon.
...our chief consolation is that this is the cause of God and that he will take it in hand to bring it to a happy issue. Even though all the princes of the earth were to unite for the maintenance of our Gospel, still we must not make that the foundation of our hope. So, likewise, whatever resistance we see today offered by almost all the world to the progress of the truth, we must not doubt that our Lord will come at last to break through all the undertakings of men and make a passage for his word. Let us hope boldly, then, more than we can understand; he will still surpass our opinion and our hope.
--found in The Puritan Hope by Iain Murray (highly recommended!)
Can you guess which author I find most persuasive? As you might have guessed, while I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Beeke, on this point, I agree wholeheartedly with Rev. Eshelman. It seems to me that the argument for voting for Mr. Romney is based in fear and pragmatism, whereas the argument for abstaining (or voting for a third party) is based in faith and confidence. But what do you think? :)
A while back I uploaded two new recordings to archive.org, but I'm just now getting around to sharing them with you here. If you'd like to download them to your own computer, you can do so here.
The first is an older recording of FP congregational singing in Santa Fe. The precentor is Nathanael Smith.
Psalm 40:5-9 to St. Paul
The second was sent to me by a blog reader. This is a recording of Free Presbyterian congregational singing in Glasgow. I checked with Evelyn, and she confirmed that the precentor is definitely her husband, Rev. Jett Smith.
In July, I flew back to my old home state of Indiana to attend the Reformed Presbyterian International Conference. It was a six-day conference with about 2100 attendees, mostly RPs of course, but also a few (like myself) from other denominations. The week was full of public worship services, lectures, classes, psalm singing, and fellowship with friends both old and new.
The conference was an encouraging experience for me. The lectures and classes were edifying, and I appreciated the opportunity, especially given that I come from a small and fairly isolated congregation, to spend some time with like-minded people outside my usual circle.
I got to see some old friends, some of whom I haven't seen in well over a decade, and to make new friends as well. I met some Facebook friends, and some who read this blog. I even met someone who used to be an FP! I was encouraged, challenged, and comforted by the people that I met, and have enjoyed keeping in touch with several of them.
I especially appreciated the opportunity to spend some time with a few other single women around my own age. I also enjoyed visiting the Crown and Covenant bookshop. I saw a lot of interesting titles in the bookshop, but managed to limit myself to two. Oh, and I also picked up a copy of the new RP psalter. I'm tempted to write a review...but probably won't have the time, at least not any time soon. :)
The main speaker was Dr. Beeke. I heard Dr. Beeke preach often when I was a child, as he was the moderator of the (pastorless) congregation I attended in Kalamazoo; so it was nice to hear him again. Here are links to recordings of his lectures at the conference, plus outlines. I really appreciated these lectures, and look forward to listening to them again. Dr. Beeke's Lectures
One of my favorite experiences of the week was the Scottish Psalter psalm sing. It was well attended with 150 or so present. Here's a video of a few of the selections sung. (Can you see me there in the front row?)
Perhaps you're thinking "It's been a while since you've had a psalm sing there in Texas, hasn't it?" And if so, you're right. I'm in the process of trying to arrange something. Hopefully we'll get to do some psalm singing soon!
