Dickens Caroling

I was asked last spring by the Carolina Youth Chorale Director to lead the Dickens Caroling group of the CYC this year.  Last year I chaperoned many of the venues that my kids sang for, so I knew a little about what it took to get through a caroling season.  I knew there was a need, especially administratively, to organize the group and coordinate venues for the teens to sing.  So I became Dickens Director.

Fast forward to today: our Dickens Caroling group has successfully sung at 21 of the 25 scheduled venues; we are in our last week of the season.  I just wrote some comments about each of the venues that I have attended, and I thought I should write something about this job that has been consuming a good chunk of my time this month and last.

I did not attend all 21 venues; but I was responsible for organizing and executing their success.  I've enjoyed serving Carolina Youth Chorale of Charlotte (CHEA Homeschool choirs)  in this capacity.  My kids have enjoyed singing at many of the venues.  We've had an assortment of locations where our carolers sing Christmas carols: hospitals, nursing homes (senior living) , Alzheimer's units of nursing homes, small town squares, neighborhoods, businesses (Chick Fil A), churches, and missions organizations.  Each venue is unique because each group of singers is different, depending on who has signed up to sing.  But they all have one thing in common: they are each a way to serve, bless, and minister to those who hear the Good News sung through Christmas carols.

 The teenagers involved in this group of carolers wear Dickens period (Victorian) costumes.  Sometimes a venue is caroling through a business, or as people pass by, or in a neighborhood.  Sometimes it is an event on a stage with microphones and our name on a calendar of events. The moms of the singers help by chaperoning and leading the venue.  But the kids lead and direct their own singing, allowing a team leader to pick the carols, set pitch and tempo, harmonizing their voices to blend and create without an accompanying instrument (a Capella).

It has been a blessing to hear the Dickens Carolers sing.  It has been a learning experience to organize the group.  They have learned how to sing and work together; I have learned to be confident that the Lord will work out details of arrangements, even up to the last day or hours before a venue.  We've had to work around illness of singers and chaperones these last few weeks.  But there seems to be a replacement ready to step in where and when there is a need. Or the group has learned to adapt, singing with less people, but sharing their gifts still.

I want to post some of my reflections and review of some of the venues.   It has been exciting to see how the kids work together.  It has also been a great blessing to see the response to their caroling.  Overall, Dickens Caroling has been a great experience this year for our family.

A Mother's Prayer

This post is a devotion I gave for a baby shower.  The young mother is waiting for her firstborn to be introduced to this world.  I've blanked out the personal references to her (names).  I thought maybe other moms could relate to that unique experience of becoming a mom for the first time.

There are no written, step-by-step instructions for raising and caring for a newborn.  What you do to stop crying at one time, may not be what is needed or will work the next time.

Every baby is unique.  You will respond to  your child in a unique way that may not be how I would respond, or how your mom would respond, or how your sisters would. You will have an emotional/physical attachment to your baby that is truly unique to you and him; that’s why the old saying has truth in it: mother knows best.

That doesn’t mean you won’t be full of questions, anxieties, or fears about whether what you are doing is best or not.    You are not alone as a mother. You can seek counsel, guidance, old-fashioned help from other women: your mom, your sisters, your church family, even your doctor.

But first, during, and after those questions or anxieties are addressed, ask God to tend to your heart and your needs.   There’s a whole lot of crying that goes on in a house with a new baby, and it’s not just the baby that’s doing all of it!   So when you ask the question to yourself or to others: What do I do when . . .

Accompany and cover your questions in prayer. PRAY!

Pray for yourself and your husband as parents, as I know you are already doing and for your children, even right now as you await the arrival of little ‘Jack’.

Pray for daily grace, energy, peace, patience, wisdom, love—basically, the fruit of the spirit: Gal:5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Pray for your child: his growth physically, his growth spiritually, his life in the Lord, his calling in the Lord, his purpose in your life, his purpose in God’s kingdom.

Nothing is too small or too big to ask the Lord to handle:

One more dirty diaper: pray for perserverance

Loads of laundry threatening to overtake the house: pray for energy and patience

Conflicting needs of your son and your husband: Pray for wisdom, love, and graciousness

Another sleepless night: pray for peace and a quiet heart

Anxiety about the baby: pray for peace and wisdom

Just plain tired, tired, tired: Pray for strength that only God can give.

Pray the Word of God:

 I Peter 5:7          Cast all your anxieties on Him because He care for you.

I John 4:18          There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear.

Psalm 46:1-2       God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives, way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Isaiah 40:29-31  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men(women) shall fall exhausted; But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles;

They shall run and not be weary;

They shall walk and not grow faint.

Matthew 6:34    Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (or, Every day has enough trouble of its own.) (NIV)

Phil. 4:11b-13     …for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the

Secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM WHO STRENGTHENS ME.

When you pray and leave all your fears, worries, frustrations, and troubles at the throne of grace, your perspective changes, even if your circumstances don’t.  You will receive the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and you will be equipped to know what is needed and what you must do.   Jesus says: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30

There are three women in the Bible whom I especially admire and marvel at their sacrificial love for their children.  One of them is Moses’ mother who is only briefly mentioned (and I will only briefly mention her).  I admire her because she tried to save her son, and then nursed him for Pharaoh’s daughter.  She had possibly 3 or 4 years to teach him about who the true God is and who he was as a child of God before he was raised in the Egyptian royal court.  It comforts me to know that the Lord uses every moment we have with our children to prepare them for the life they will be called to live.

 I want us to look briefly at two mothers who prayed to God.  One mother is Hannah, who prayed that she would be allowed to become a mother.  Her longing was fulfilled, her prayers answered.  She gave birth to Samuel, and dedicated him to the Lord as she had promised to God.  She knew her son was not really hers, but given to her by God, to be used by Him for His good purposes. Her prayer was a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the God of Israel who heard her humble desires and exalted her by making her a mother. 

The other mother is Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Her circumstances were very different from Hannah’s.  She did not pray to become a mother; she wasn’t even a wife yet!  But she listened to what God told her she would become, the mother of the Saviour, and she responded in faith and obedience, praying a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, just like Hannah.

Both of these mothers prayed before their children were born and after.  They both accepted that their sons would be raised and nurtured by them for only a short time.  They both knew that God had appointed the birth and life of their sons.  Their sons were not theirs, but God’s.  They both put aside any fears they had (remember that Hannah lived during the time of the judges when ‘everyone did what was right in his own eyes’; and that Mary was visited by angels and told, ‘do not be afraid’; she also throughout Jesus’ life ‘treasured up these things, pondering them in her heart’).

As we read these prayers, notice the similarities between them.  See the themes of praise and rejoicing, the adoration of God as mighty and holy, the attributes of God’s mercy and strength, and the personal feeling each woman expressed as being chosen by God to give birth as they recognized their own humble condition that was exalted by God. 

Hannah’s Prayer

 I Samuel 2:1-10

And Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;

my horn is exalted in the Lord.

My mouth derides my enemies,

because I rejoice in your salvation.

2 “There is none holy like the Lord:

for there is none besides you;

there is no rock like our God.

3 Talk no more so very proudly,

let not arrogance come from your mouth;

for the Lord is a God of knowledge,

and by him actions are weighed.

4 The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the feeble bind on strength.

5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.

The barren has borne seven,

but she who has many children is forlorn.

6 The Lord kills and brings to life;

he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;

he brings low and he exalts.

8 He raises up the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from the ash heap

to make them sit with princes

and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,

and on them he has set the world.

9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,

but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,

for not by might shall a man prevail.

10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;

against them he will thunder in heaven.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

he will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Mary’s Prayer

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55 as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Consider and reflect on these prayers as you pray for your new gift from God and your new calling as a mother.   Remember as these women did, that God is using you for His glory even as He hears your prayers and answers them in His perfect timing and will.

Math Poem

The Higher Mathematics

Songs of Education: G.K. Chesterton

Form 339125, Sub-Section M

Twice one is two,Twice two is four,
But twice two is ninety-six if you know the way to score.
Half of two is one,
Half of four is two,
But half of four is forty per cent. if your name is Montagu:
For everything else is on the square
If done by the best quadratics;
And nothing is low in High Finance
Or the Higher Mathematics.

A straight line is straight
And a square mile is flat:
But you learn in trigonometrics a trick worth two of that.
Two straight lines
Can't enclose a Space,
But they can enclose a Corner to support the Chosen Race:
For you never know what Dynamics do
With the lower truths of Statics;
And half of two is a touring car
In the Higher Mathematics.

There is a place apart
Beyond the solar ray,
Where parallel straight lines can meet in an unofficial way.
There is a room that holds
The examiner or his clerks,
Where you can square the circle or the man that gives the marks.
Where you hide in the cellar and then look down
On the poets that live in the attics;
For the whole of the house is upside down
In the Higher Mathematics.