Saul

A Treasured son of Israel
Lowly stature, small tribe small clan
Yet chosen by a holy man
On a journey, the Spirit fell
Given power, God's words to tell

Annointed King was meant to wait
His men fled from the battle line
Offering giv'n not in due time
The prophet grieved, arrived too late
Infant kingdom, doom its fixed fate

Valiant Soldier bent not his knee
Empty worship, defiant heart
Silent God stood a world apart
Like their king, rebelled the army
Their pride and evil God can see

The Lord sought a heart to him turned
To follow Him in all his ways
To show his people to obey
Better than an offering burned
Delight in heav'nly lessons learned

A writing on grief

Is Death meaningless or costly?
No payment is ever enough
To keep the decay from turning to dust.
Whose wealth can fill the depths of the grave?
We return to the ground from which we came.
But there is a Grace that draws the poor from death
With riches from heaven that could satisfy God.
His poverty is plenty.
He pays for my life
I am taken to himself.
The ground can possess my dust
But my spirit to Him is bound.
For God who gives the spirit has reclaimed it forever.
My expected demise is exchanged for His eternal reward.

Ode to Gibeon

Royal town of Gibeon; were good fighters, all its men.
The feared fate of Jericho, conqu'ring God they did not know,
Swept though Egypt and through Ai; did King Sihon and Og die.
The Lord's hand, full of power, held Gibeon at that hour.

Gibeon defied defeat; worn, patched sandals on their feet,
Donkeys loaded with old sacks, wineskins mended at the cracks,
Claimed to come from faraway; O God's people did not pray!
Israel believed the ruse, trusted moldy bread as clues.

Bound in treaty, sworn by oath, peaceful life assured by both,
Isr'el found out the deceit, after Gibeon's retreat.
Shocked the traitors lived nearby, whole assembly gave a cry.
Israel forgot God's word, now remembered what they heard:

Do not make an oath with those, in the land for you I chose.
God had warned them not to dare, live with those who would ensnare,
With worship to their idol gods; keep their souls from worthless frauds.
O what trouble, now too late!  Break an oath, a wrathful fate.

So Israel did protest; Gibeon would have no rest.
Escape judgment by the sword, for the altar of the Lord,
Carry water and cut wood, they chose what seemed right and good.
God's mercy shown to his foes; in God's house, He drew them close.

Amorites had no pity, for that important city.
Kings did come to pick a fight, joined forces with a Jebusite.
Gibeon sent a request; treaty was put to the test.
Israel, save your servant!  Their all-night march, quite fervent...

O what wonders did prevail, heav'nly storehouse full of hail,
He reserved for days of war; hurled from the sky, down they pour.
Pray to God to hold the light, lest the kings make their flight.
So the sun was made to stay, in its place for a whole day.

God gave kings into their hands; not one of them could withstand.
Surprise attack, confused men; victory at Gibeon,
Chased, advanced on from the rear; all the armies fled in fear.
Kings brought low from safe places; trapped in caves, lost their races.

Gibeon was not destroyed, no thanks to the tricks deployed.
God, Israel's Mighty One, who established moon and sun,
Majesty, golden splendor; came to be their defender.
Like Rahab, they might be spared; by a God, who for them, cared.

And one might doubt if it's true, God's faithfulness continue,
To Gibeon as years passed, would Israel's strange oath last?
Cruel king would their trust break; zealous Saul, their lives did take.
Benjamite who shared the grounds; Gibeon, the tribe surrounds.

Israel, with famine struck; punishment for three years stuck.
King David sought the Lord's face, justice for the Hivite race.
Saul's sons were the sacrifice; settled accounts, paid the price.
David asked in humbleness, inheritance of God to bless.

God brought into his story, Gibeon, for his glory.
They feared his coming at first, but they were saved from the worst.
Servants brought close to his tent; up against their foes, God went.
When Israel failed to protect; their cause, God did not neglect.

Perhaps you fear the Lord, too; can God cast judgment on you?
Maybe like Gibeon be; seek peace with Him, a treaty.
Serve in his house and be blessed, saved by acts of righteousness,
And when others do you ill, be restored by His good will.

For Joshua and Moses

A servant called by God to lead
Had to run from danger
Avenged a Hebrew with a blow
In Midian a stanger

Another man spied out the land
Brought produce back to show
God's promised land was free to take
Yet Isr'el would not go

For forty years the men must wait
Wilderness and training
Egypt and Canaan's sin complete
God's promise ne'er waning

Take off your shoes on holy ground
Fiery bush and Jericho
Encounter with the Living God
Revealed for them to know

Escape from Pharaoh through a Sea
Pillar of cloud to guard
God's people's flight from slavery
For God it was not hard

Priests march the golden ark across
Flooded river Jordan
God's people witnessed waters parting
Walked on dry ground again

Hold out your staff, your javelin
The victory is giv'n
See wonders so remarkable
Could only come from heav'n

Time and again God's people sinned
They reaped the consequence
The woesome leaders duty bound
Hand down God's sure sentence

But God did not the men forsake
Who served him all their days
His presence constant through it all
Their comfort and their praise

Circumcision and sacrifice
Laws read for all to hear
To celebrate God's faithfulness
Across lands far and near

The Lord your God will be with you
Courageous and strong be
God's pow'r displayed in Joshua
In Moses and in me

Fig Tree

Lord, King of Israel,

Living One who sees me,

Knows, sees Nathanael

Underneath the fig tree.

See the fig tree in leaf

Yet it bears not one fruit.

Hunger has no relief,

Tree, wither to your roots.

Have faith and do not doubt.

By prayer, ask and believe;

Go, cast this mountain out,

Into the sea received!

By truth Jesus tells you

Greater things shall be seen.

God's Son attended to 

By Heavenly beings.

Son of God, Son of Man;

Hear his words, "Follow me."

Believe in him, you can

Bear fruit eternally.

Narration and writing about faith

In our little homeschool, one of the techniques we use for learning and comprehension is narration.  It is the practice of using unpolished language as a means of building knowledge.   I will read a short passage from a book or explain a mathematical concept, then my son will tell back what information stood out to him in his own words.  Narration converts short-term memory into long-term memory.  Well-known educator Charlotte Mason developed this method by observing how small children naturally parrot the words spoken to them by the adults and older children in their family.  Our two year old is clearly in the phase of repeating any one sentence a half of a dozen times with a big grin on his face while watching how Kyle and I react to his ideas.  He's the most verbal two year old we've had the privilege of raising; it's a treat and often quite humorous to hear his vernacular evolve. 

For a more thorough explanation of narration, here is a quote of Charlotte Mason in her own words:

“This, of getting ideas out of them, is by no means all we must do with books. ‘In all labor there is profit,’ at any rate in some labor, and the labor of thought is what his book must induce in the child. He must generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualize, discriminate, labor in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his book is assimilated or rejected, according as he shall determine; for the determination rests with him and not with his teacher.” (Vol. 3, p. 179)

I wish I had grown up with this method in my own education.  I am quite a talker and often chat incessantly with my husband once the kids have gone to bed about all I've learned throughout the day.  I relay information that I've learned while teaching our oldest child, interesting topics from podcasts, highlights from the news stories I've read, and details from an Old Testament book that I had not been ready to appreciate before my most recent reading.    In my early season of motherhood with babies and toddlers, these nightly conversations were one of the most satisfying parts of my day.  They contrasted with the rote nature of changing diapers, feeding every few hours, folding laundry, and rereading Goodnight Moon for the bazillionth time.  I didn't realize that I was continuing my education beyond enjoying the materials I was reading or listening to by talking about them. 

There is another area where I've benefited from narration (whilst ignorant that narration was occurring).  I have had many opportunities in the last couple of years to teach Bible stories to children.  While I thought I was fairly familiar with the Bible, I had difficulty communicating what I knew.  I had never really written much in my Bible studies, and what I had written was primarily for my personal application of the text.  Coming up with how to convey God's word concisely and clearly for children immeasurably sharpened my ability to talk about my faith.  Teaching in Sunday school and at Bible Study Fellowship has helped me greatly when my children approach me with questions about the Bible.  Very rarely do I feel like I lack adequate answers. 

I haven't blogged much in the years since becoming a mother in spite of a continued desire to do so.  Often my mind is full of good ideas throughout the day.  But just as often when I set aside the time to sit at my computer and compose something, I come up blank.  I am a bit envious of the days when I had ample time to read and outline for a long post.  My better writings from younger years have been a hindrance to recording the simple reflecting I am doing now.  But I believe that there is value in what I have learned through narrating the gospel to little ones.  God can be glorified in many ways.  I hope to share more about my faith on the old blog here forward.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel... for in it the righteousness of God is revealed.
{Romans 1:16-17}