I think I'm going to start our day off everyday with some happy Christian songs and a little discussion with the kids what we hope to accomplish each day after breakfast. I'm hoping that this will start off our day right and that I will have more patience with myself and with the kids.
In fact, after the retreat, I implemented a few changes in our homeschool. I have yet come up with a name for our homeschool. The most important one, I think, is we are going to have more prayer time and all of us are going to pray together. Before, only one of us prayed, but now, we take turns and everyone prays. Prime is adjusting to keeping his eyes closed the whole time while everyone (including him) is praying. I'm also hoping we will be able to quote more scriptures; guess that means we will have to spend some time actually reading the scriptures, starting with me. Today, we read a short bible story, then looked up the passage in the bible. Here is....
"O happy day, that fixed my choice" written by Philip Dodridge. (1702 - 1751)
(You can hear it by going to this link. This is a little different from the one I heard, mostly it is because I only heard the chorus. There are other songs also called, O, Happy Day by different artist/composers, but this is my favorite.) We learned how to sing the chorus to the song today.
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.
Refrain
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him Who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.
Refrain
’Tis done: the great transaction’s done!
I am the Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on;
Charmed to confess the voice divine.
Refrain
Now rest, my long divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest.
Here have I found a nobler part;
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast.
Refrain
High heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear,
Till in life’s latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear.
Refrain
The following I copied and pasted from Christian Classical Etheral Library (CCEL) about P. Dodridge.
" Philip Dodridge was born in London, England on June 26, 1702, the youngest of twenty children. His health was so poor when he was born he was not expected to live, and Philip continued to be plagued by ill health all of his life. His parents died when he was a boy, but he was cared for by friends of the family. Recognizing Doddridge's intellectual abilities, one benefactress offered to pay Philip's studies at Cambridge. Philip rejected the offer, however, because he could not accept the tenets of the Anglican church. He went to a non-conforming seminary instead and became an evangelical, independent church leader.
At twenty-seven Doddridge began to pastor the Castle Hill congregational chapel in Northampton, England. He was to continue there for the next twenty-two years. While in Northampton Doddridge offered a theological training school to prepare young men for ministry in independent churches. Over the years Doddridge taught about 200 men, conducting classes in Hebrew, Greek, math, philosophy, Bible, and theology. Because of his many accomplishments, the University of Aberdeen conferred a Doctor of Divinity degree upon Doddridge in 1736.
Doddridge was a prolific writer. His The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul was translated into seven languages. Reading this book led William Wilberforce, foe of slavery, to become a Christian. Besides a New Testament commentary and other theological works, Doddridge also wrote over 400 hymns. Most of the hymns were written as summaries of his sermons and were to help the congregation express their response to the truths they were being taught. None of these hymns were published in Philip's own lifetime, although they circulated in manuscript copies.
At forty-eight, at the height of his ministry, Doddridge was dying of tuberculosis. Friends collected money to send him to Portugal where it was hoped warm air and sunshine might cure him; but it was too late. Philip Doddridge died on this day, October 26, 1751 and is buried in the English cemetery in Lisbon. After his death a friend collected many of his hymns and had them published. Several still appear in today's hymnals, including "Grace! Tis a Charming Sound" and "O Happy Day". The latter is probably Doddridge's most famous hymn. Based on II Chronicles 15:15, the hymn expressed the joy of a personal relationship with God. Doddridge himself titled the hymn "Rejoicing in our Covenant Engagement to God". Baptists and Methodists often use the hymn at dedication services for Christian baptism, while British royalty have used it at the confirmation services for court children."
