One of the goals I have in working with children, is to teach them songs that they can call upon later in life. Now, you may think they will not remember, and they won’t remember all of them, but, I have had several former students who are in high school or college now that can still sing to me the solos they did when they were in one of my programs, or that we did frequently in class.

Can you remember songs you learned when you were a child or a preschooler? There are several that I remember well. And I can recall almost every word. I am going to list some of them here. While this may not be terribly interesting to you, I do it here as a way to archive these in case, you know, I begin to forget, or start to lose my mind, or go suddenly stupid, as I have been accused of recently.

***WHO CAN MAKE A FLOWER?***
O who can make a ‘flower?’
I’m sure I can’t can you?
O, who can make a flower?
No one but God, it’s true! (May substitute other things God made)

***SUNBEAM***
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam
To shine for Him each day.
In every way try to please Him
At home, at school. at play.

A sunbeam, a sunbeam
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam.
A sunbeam, a sunbeam
I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.

***HE OWNS THE CATTLE***
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
The rocks in every mine.
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The stars and sun that shine.
Wonderful riches more than tongue can tell,
He is my Father so they’re mine as well.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
I know that He will care for me.

***LET THE SUNSHINE IN***
My mommy told me something
A little girl should know.
And it’s all about the devil
And I learned to hate him so.
She says he causes trouble
When you let him in your room
And he’ll never, ever leave you
If your heart is filled with gloom.
So let the sunshine in,
Face it with a grin.
Smilers never lose
And frowners never win.
So let the sunshine in
Face it with a grin.
Open up your heart and
Let the sun shine in.

***FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY***
Have faith, hope and charity
That’s the way the Lord would surely be.
How do I know?
The Bible tells me so.
Do good to your enemies
That’s the way the Lord would surely be.
How do I know?
The Bible tells me so.
Don’t worry about tomorrow
Just be real good today.
The Lord is right beside you
And he’ll guide you all the way.
So have faith, hope, and charity
That’s the way the Lord would surely be.
How do I know?
The Bible tells me so.

***QUE SERA, SERA***
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what would I be?
Will I be handsome, will I be rich?
Here’s what she said to me:
Que sera, sera
What ever will be…will be.
The future’s not ours to see
Oue sera, sera.

As I have tried to remember …these are the ones that come easily to my mind. I think they are probably some others, but these must have been my favorites…along with*** JESUS LOVES ME*** and*** JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN***, of course.

Now there is one I must include that I learned when I was in the Youth Choir at our church, probably in the 8th or 9th grade. This was an anthem, and I am not sure why all these words stay with me, but they are beautiful and I hope I never forget them!

***LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY***
Christ is with me all the way
If I walk with Him each day.
Willing is He to share my load
While I dwell in this abode.
When I’m troubled, tempted, tried,
Then my care to him, I confide.
And I hear His sweet voice say,
“Lo, I am with you alway,
Lo, I am with you alway.”

Christ is all the love I need
And his voice my heart will heed.
None just like Him ever be
He no stranger is to me.
But a trusted friend and true.
My help in all I say and do.
Leading me in ways He trod
Christ the man, and Christ the God.

I know as soon as I post this, some other song will come to mind, if so, I’ll add it later. What about you? What are some of the earliest songs that you remember singing?

Yep, I think this is just about right!

It is Wednesday evening and I have just sat down to rest. I know…I said I was going to sleep all day, BUT…I should have known better!
My program went very well last night. The children sang their best…well, most of them, anyway. A few had to act out, as usual, but overall, I was very pleased. It is strange how from year to year there is a different ‘feel’ to the class as a whole…actually 4 classes. This class has always been a little reserved. And some years, it seems as if they all are high energy. But, whatever, they are all precious. It is a privilege indeed to be able to help guide their steps. Our program this year was called “Follow the Shepherd”. It is one of my favorites. I wrote 3 of the songs and 3 poems for it, and the rest I compiled. After the program, our director, Bonnie, presented me with this beautiful painting! How appropriate…it will look perfect in my new house! And look at that frame! Thanks so much, Bonnie! You, and my new painting, are fabulous!

This is my friend, Debbie, who is my pianist and dear friend! She is a mighty prayer warrior and we seem to see most things the same way…the world is full of ‘crazies’ and they all need to come to us for advice! She is a pastor’s wife, and she would NEVER say that, but I will! Forgive me, Deb. 🙂

This is my new friend, Andi, who has been an aide for me the past few months. She is a breath of fresh air and a boost to my spirit. She has helped me tremendously, as well as shared 2 of her 3 little boys with me! I am blessed by her so often.

So, since I was so wiped out yesterday and last night, I did not finish cleaning out my room. Nor, did I get my things to my car that I needed to bring home. SOOOOO, I had to go in this morning and get that completed. Ian and Adam came by to load it up for me, and finally, I was through.

I managed to get into the car to head home, and our friend, Ron, called to say the new cars were in and my lease was up. I needed to come in today and look. So, Don picked me up and off we went to the Honda dealership. I have been driving a Pilot for several years, but the new ones are larger and it costs so blamed much to put the ‘go juice’ in them, that Don really wanted me to go with something smaller. So, I drove a CRV and then an Accord. I picked the CRV because I am just not ready to give up my SUV and having that extra space. So, tomorrow, I will go and pick up my new car. I had several colors to choose from, but settled on a new, funky green. Haven’t seen any others this color. I’ll show you a pic tomorrow. Now I have to go and clean out all the stuff in the inner recesses of the Pilot. YUCK!

OK…while we were there…Don got a call we needed to go check on something at the house…so, off we went to see about that. Here is a picture of the outside chimney…so you can see the mortar wash. I think it is going to be very pretty, especially when accented with another tone a little darker.

THEN…can you believe there is another THEN?…Ian met us at the new house and was starving! Moving is such hard work. and he has been unloading this truck for 2 days.
He is all moved in, except for stocking his kitchen. But, he and his roommate are leaving on their road trip to NYC Sunday, and all his cash is in lock-down mode. So, off we went for a late lunch. How very handy to live in the same town as Mom and Dad…!

NOW, I am home and sitting on the bed…filling you all in on my day. I will make no predictions on tomorrow…because I would most likely be wrong. But, soon…very soon…I am going to have that ‘day of rest!’

Whew! It’s nice to catch my breath! We had a busy week-end in Birmingham with Ian, and his graduation. I drove his car to Dothan and Don left to go to a meeting in Callaway Gardens. Today, was my next to last day of school, and we had program practice. Kinda had a snafu with practice times, so it threw us all off. The kids were tired, and did not practice as well as I would have liked. Then when school was over, Don called me to go to the new house and we ended up staying there for a couple of hours. We are trying to get the mortar wash right on the brick. I don’t want it too heavy where it looks like stucco, but I don’t want it so light that it looks like painted brick. Trying to explain this to a group of men who do not speak English is not easy! I need my sister-friend Shirley…she has taught Spanish for about forever. Then the man came to talk about the sound system and security system and computer and TV stuff. Why does this have to be so complicated? I would like to just go to Wal-mart and get me a boom box and be done with it! LOL! At least I would know how to work that! Then we had some flooring issues, and some other things to work out. Don and I grabbed a bite to eat and Ian just called and said he’s on the way home with a U-Haul full of his furniture…and it has to be turned back in tomorrow. Tomorrow is my last day of school and my big program is tomorrow night. Then on Wednesday, I think I’ll sleep all day!