Christmas falls on Sunday this year, a week from today. So, it's very likely this will be my last post on this blog until 2012. I don't think I have ever posted on this song, but it's been on my mind quite a bit lately.

For me, the first time I heard this song, Tracy Tonkel Furniss did a very powerful version of it at Wells United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. I've wished I had a recorded version of her doing "Mary, Did You Know?" ever since, but, apparently, such a recording does not exist.

Just now, I skimmed the book my sister gave me that also included this song on an audio CD. Indeed, I do not remember reading much of what is in this treasured book, but I bring it out every Christmas season and listen to the CD several times.

On the back of the book, it reads:
"May our hearts, like Mary's, respond with joy in doing God's will. And may we, at Christmas and throughout the year, know that Mary's child was born to save us all."

Thank, God, a version is on YouTube that tells us more about the song.

Second Sunday of Advent

Today is the second Sunday of Advent 2011. Before I went to the animation for this day on the Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar, I did some research.

This is sort of what it was like.

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Here's the words to this poem that became a song.

Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.

And, through all his wondrous childhood,
he would honor and obey,
love and watch the lowly maiden
in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
mild, obedient, good as he.

For he is our childhood's pattern,
day by day like us he grew;
he was little, weak and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew.
and he feeleth for our sadness,
and he shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love;
for that Child who seemed so helpless
is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
with the oxen standing round,
we shall see him; but in heaven,
set at God's right hand on high;
when like stars his children crowned,
all in white shall wait around.

Words: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), 1848

Music: Irby (Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-1876)

Where’s the line to see Jesus?

Each year I seem to become more upset with the extreme emphasis on the commercial side of the Christmas holidays. I think that's why I like this song that came out on YouTube last year.

I have my friend, Mary, to thank for reminding me of the the song this year.

Everything else on this blog post came directly from the description of the video on YouTube, as follows:
Available on iTunes!

For booking and management: Nate 314-650-2121

The true inspiring story behind the music:
"Where's the Line to See Jesus?" While at the mall a few years ago, Becky's then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus"? Becky's sister mentioned this to her father, Steve Haupt, who immediately became inspired and jotted some words down to the song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick home recording, he received a great response from friends. Her father asked if Becky wanted to record the song to see what could happen with it. Becky listened to the song, made a few changes and headed to Shock City Studios.

It was at the studio where Chris Loesch, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goosebumps and emotions high, they all felt like they had something special and recorded the demo in just under 2 hours. 2 weeks before Christmas last year, her cousins decided to do a quick video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day it had 3000 hits and it soared to a million from there! Becky received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over over the world asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, a full version, anything... they had nothing.

After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, the team got serious. They headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here it is today. Getting everything set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. Becky is most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share her music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.

Interesting facts:
• A portion of the proceeds of CD sales will go to Christian Family Services in St. Louis and the good work they do finding homes for children in need!
• The man playing piano in the video is Becky's father Steve who is also the main writer of the song and is the pianist on both recordings!
• Gloria Estefan's bassist, Jorge Casas, is the bassist on this recording!

Recording credits:
Performed by: Becky Kelley
Written by: Steve Haupt & Chris Loesch
Produced by: Chris Loesch
Recorded at: Shock City Studios, St. Louis, MO

Video credits:
Directed by: Chris Benson
Cinematography: Chris Benson
Edited by: Gabriel Reed and Chris Benson
Produced by: Carlyn Graumenz, Chris Benson (Lamplight Films) and Chris Loesch for Shock City Producitons
Cameras and Lights: Heroic Age

Fifth Grade Video Gone Viral

My good friend, Mary, shared this with me today. Hope it stays up on YouTube long enough for you to view it.

75 years ago today

I discovered something that happened 75 years ago today. The above image shows the cover of the first issue of the pictorial journalism magazine named LIFE.

According to my internet research, it is Margaret Bourke-White's (American, 1904–1971)photograph of Fort Peck Dam in Montana from 1936.

You may find it interesting to look at Google's images of

LIFE COVERS -- particularly if you are 75 years old today like I am.

Human Cargo - Black Notes Only

I felt compelled to show these two items on the same blog post. I was very impressed with both of them. The first is HUMAN CARGO exhibit at The Museum of Mobile.

The second is a video.

It's better to be a slow buddy...

...than to be a no buddy at all."



I have always thought of myself as a turtle or maybe a snail because I like to take my time instead of hurry.

Thanks, Mary, for sharing this with me.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

~ Rudyard Kipling

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I have Carrol Don Wallace, a high school classmate, to thank for reminding me of the writings of Rudyard Kipling, a writer who died around the time most of us in the Cleburne High School Class of 1955 were born.

Source for Rudyard Kipling's biography is:
"Rudyard Kipling - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 22 Oct 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1907/kipling-bio.html

Cereal Girl

First presentation is: Cereal Girl
Uh-O -- if you aren't friends or family of carlacarlacarlacarla you can't see the above video

AND, the second one is below.


Keeps one younger to have great-grandchildren

Today was the second day of a three-day trip with tomorrow being for eye appointments for both of us.

What a privilege it was to visit with old-time friends during this visit and attend a couple of churches today.

Sunday School was taught by a friend at Briarwood United Methodist Church in Jackson, MS and then 11 AM worship was at Wells United Methodist Church.

Some of you may know that I continue to following activities at Wells via their website. Only recent sermons are available for download, so I'm telling you if you want to hear the sermon today that we heard, you'll need to check the website soon to listen to it or download it or both. The title of today's sermon was "Walking Out Of Darkness."

Scriptures: Isaiah 9:2-3; Matthew 6:23b and Matthew 5:14
Responsive Read: Psalm 139: 1-12

The Opening Sentences
Leader: It's true: We live in a world with lots of darkness.
People: And all too often, we walk in that darkness rather than in God's light.
Prayer: God, lead us to your light, and cause us to walk in it. In Christ, Amen.

One Hymn was "I Want To Walk As a Child of The Light."

The Special Music was by the Choir: "Oh Glorius Day"
I think I have heard this one at Jubilee Shores UMC also.
The Choir did their usual wonderful rendition with a female solo and male solo and several instruments involved. Just in case you have not heard the song, here is a version on YouTube:


The closing song was listed as "This Little Light Of Mine," but we had already sung it in an informal way, so our last song before the Benediction was this song, with words and music written in 1971 by Andrae Crouch.

For Reflection

Birdsong

As the last slide says:
MY WISH FOR YOU.
BE WITH GOD,
AND MAY GOD BE WITH YOU.

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What this slide show lacks that the one attached to an email from Mary had is background music. Wish I knew how to add it... perhaps it will help to end with this video.

Look what welcomed me back home...

...Inez - Namesake of the Inez Burger.

Today an article appeared in the Jackson, Mississippi, newspaper entitled CS's turns back clock.

It's good to be back home in Alabama from a trip to Texas, but we are so glad to hear the new hours at CS's and can't wait to make it back to Jackson next month.

A post will go up on THE PERPETUAL VACATIONERS blog about our Texas trip just as soon as we can get it together.

Missed out on the “game” gene

I say this from time to time along with "I missed out on the 'gambling' gene."

Today I read this article and can now see why others may have the genes I missed out on.
Online gamers crack AIDS enzyme puzzle

BTW, I also missed out on the "math" gene, if there is such a thing.

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There are two games I like to play, which are really the same game, and I don't mean playing them online. I like sitting at the table with at least four people and having fun with my own object to either game. I'll give you a hint: No one wants to sit on either side of me.

I even received a trophy for my playing of Crazy Eights when I played it during lunch when I worked at the ACBL. The trophy was the back end of a horse.

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Here's the rules to the two games I like to play but not with the object of running out of cards before anyone else playing with me.

Crazy Eights

UNO

What is Jambalaya?

I'm going to bring this blog post forward to 2011 from 2010, because Wendell referred me to a wealth of information on Jambalaya including its history and many recipes for many versions. See what I mean at:
Jambalaya shows both sides of Creole and Cajun influences

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First on the scene, was Jambalaya, a well-known Louisiana Creole and Cajun dish of Spanish and French influence, according to Wikipedia. Seems like the first time I ate the dish Jambalaya, David Mize had made it and brought to a party. Wonder where David is now?

There’s quite a detailed article on Wikipedia about the song also at: Jambalaya (On the Bayou)

Since the article on the song was such an eye-opener for me, I am sharing some of that information I didn't know before researching it. It is apparent that Jambalaya (On the Bayou) took on a life of its own and was recorded by many artists all over the world.

Quoting from the Wikipedia article:

• Hank Williams, Sr., recorded it as a Country version and another, even more popular at the time, version of the song was the 1952 cover version recorded by Jo Stafford, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts (and making the song well known to people other than country music fans). Mitch Miller had originally intended Jambalaya to be recorded by Jimmy Boyd for Columbia Records. Boyd turned the song down and Miller recorded it with Jo Stafford. Years later Jimmy Boyd did record it for Dot records. It was further popularized in a Rock'n'Roll version by Fats Domino.
• There’s a Cajun French version that has been recorded by Cajun bands including Aldus Roger and Jo-El Sonnier.
• The Carpenters featured the song, in an uptempo MOR version with country flourishes, on their 1973 album Now & Then. Their version was released as a single outside the United States in 1974 and sold well in the U.K. and Japan.
• Other artists who have performed the song include Jerry Lee Lewis, Leon Russell, Charley Pride, Jimmy Buffett, Jeff Healey on his 2008 album Mess of Blues, Emmylou Harris included it in her 1976 album Elite Hotel, Moon Mullican, John Fogerty (under the name of The Blue Ridge Rangers), Gerry & The Pacemakers, Brenda Lee, Harry Connick, Jr., Lucinda Williams, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Billy "Crash" Craddock, George Jones, The Residents, Leo Kottke, Wes Paul, Dolly Parton, Andy Kaufman, Professor Longhair, Freddy Fender, The White Stripes, Tab Benoit, and Tommy Funderburk (appearing in the film Steel Magnolias), Van Morrison and Linda Gail Lewis on their 2000 album You Win Again among many others.
• In India, Usha Iyer (now Usha Uthup) recorded a version in 1968 on the HMV label, that became the best selling song until then, by an Indian artist in English.
• International, translated or derived versions do exist at least in Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, Polish, German and Estonian.
• In 2005, two versions of Jambalaya surged in Mexican folk music, one by Banda Limón and the other from the Duranguense group K-Paz de la Sierra. However, in Mexican music, the most famous cover version is by Los Felinos.

Here’s a combo recording video from YouTube of both the Jo Stafford recording and the Hank Williams, Sr. version:

Looking back to my teenage years at Cleburne High School, one of my first memories of Jambalaya was one of my classmates singing it while in the shower after a Physical Education class. I wonder if anyone else recalls that.

During my high school years, I thought Country Music was just hillbilly music, but I've come around on that thinking.

The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum

Towers of Light

Devotional by Rita Snowden

More and more, my blog posts seem to be copy-cat in nature.

Today, I'm even copy-catting myself.

09 09 09

Here's a short biography and a list of her books:
Rita Snowden Bio and Books

I wanted to find a photo of this author to add to this post. I was unsuccessful. That's pretty unbelievable for a woman who wrote 68 books.

Don't that beat all you ever heard of?

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Postscript: Found plenty of photos of Rita Hayworth. Says something about what the world values, doesn't it?

Don't suppose I'm an authority on anything, but I have a VERY SIMPLE technique to avoid worrying. It's so simply that I feel almost ashamed to put it on a post, so I'll save it until I give you the scripture that validates the technique.

Philippians 4:6 AMP
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

If that scripture doesn't come to the point as directly as you'd like, here's Jesus words on the subject.

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

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Now you are possibly going to think I'm switching subjects, but not really.

It concerns all the anxiety associated with making preparations for "the holidays." Do you think it's a bit early to move your thoughts in that direction? Well, I definitely recall a magazine years ago saying you should have it all mapped out around Labor Day, and it is post Labor Day.

I discovered a really good blog by Pastor Tony Faeth entitled
A CAREFREE CHRISTMAS.

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The ever so simple and to the point solution to freeing yourself from worry is to put the right kind of prayer in its place.

Polly Has Good News!

On September 20, 2011, I decided to add this video because it is so good. Hope it stays up on YouTube for you to experience.


Besides that, we have Alabama license plates on our Saturn.

Think you know what that means.

We're Alabamians!

Coincidences?

A friend sent this to me by email. It is from DAILY GUIDEPOSTS 2011 - Sept 4, 2011

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“ Thy word is . . . a light to my path. ”
Psalm 119:105 (RSV)

 On the riverbank in the Hudson River town of Cold Spring, New York, I noticed a small sign:
WARNER SISTERS
VIEW TO CONSTITUTION ISLAND
PRESERVED BY AUTHORS
SUSAN WARNER AND ANNA WARNER
WHO WROTE THE HYMN
"JESUS LOVES ME"
Beyond the forested island I could see the US Military Academy at West Point on its dramatic cliffs across the river. “Jesus loves me, this I know. . . ”Easy words to write, I thought, for a well-to-do woman living in this delightful setting. Then I learned Anna Warner’s story.

She and her sister did grow up in wealth. Their widowed father was a prominent lawyer; home was a luxurious townhouse—servants, grooms, carriage house. But in the stock market panic of 1837, when the girls were in their late teens, all this was lost.

Their father bought a derelict old farmhouse on Constitution Island, fifty miles and a world away from New York City’s high society. The young women learned to cook, clean, wash, sew, keep a vegetable garden. Among many failed attempts to recoup his fortune, their father tried growing rice. I could still see the channels he dug in the marsh between the island and the shore.

To sustain themselves, Susan and Anna turned to writing stories, hymns, novels (some of them best sellers). But because there were no copyright laws, they lived out their lives in poverty. How did they know Jesus loved them? “For the Bible tells me so.” And for forty years they held Bible classes for the cadets at West Point, sharing their love of the book that made their outwardly meager lives rich and joyful.

Speak to me today, Father, through Your written Word.

By Elizabeth Sherril

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Are there “coincidences”?

I immediately thought about the book by Gwendolyn Bounds, "Little Chapel On The River" because it has to be set in the same general vicinity as her devotional story. When I checked her blog, there was another so-called “coincidence” of a visit to Pirates Cove in Elberta, Alabama, very near where I now live. Now, these two narratives are linked in my mind.

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Out of curiosity, I searched for the author "Elizabeth Sherril" and found a wealth of information, which also connected to another well-know book (see the top of this post) in which John and Elizabeth Sherril had a part in telling Corrie Ten Bloom's story.

Elizabeth Sherril's Website.

And, here's one more "coincidence" that brought me back to the place I lived more years than any other -- Jackson, Mississippi. Thank you, Derryl, for the GUIDEPOSTS sharing.