The joy of a GREAT hymn!

Wow! Some wonderful hymns were selected for worship in our church this morning. I don't know if I should be thanking our ministers of music (the inimitable Sha, Jonathan, and Emily) or our phenomenal guest pianist (Chris). But whoever made the selections today--I applaud you! I wish that I had NOT been a communion assistant this morning just because I really wanted to sing the songs!!

(Speaking of singing, there was also a pretty little hymn called "You Are the Seed" presented in a lovely solo by Kathy.)

My favorite of the day (and its hard to pick!) is "Earth and All Stars". It's just one of those hymns that gives me joy because the lyrics are SO GOOD and SO TRUE and so much what my heart wants to sing!

"Earth and All Stars"

Earth and all stars,
loud rushing planets--sing to the Lord a new song!
O victory,
loud shouting army--sing to the Lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

Hail, wind, and rain,
loud blowing snowstorms--sing to the Lord a new song!
Flowers and trees,
loud rustling leaves--sing to the Lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

Trumpet and pipes,
loud clashing cymbals--sing to the Lord a new song!
Harp, lute, and lyre,
loud humming cellos--sing to the Lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

Engines and steel,
loud pounding hammers--sing to the Lord a new song!
Limestone and beams,
loud building workers--sing to the Lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

Classrooms and labs,
loud boiling test tubes--sing to the Lord a new song!
Athlete and band,
loud cheering people--sing to the lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

Knowledge and truth,
loud sounding wisdom--sing to the Lord a new song!
Daughter and son,
loud praying members--sing to the Lord a new song!
He had done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

(Words by Herbert F. Brokering, Music by David N. Johnson)

Sing a your new song TODAY!!

Plants! Plants! Plants!

So this morning, instead of working I went to some yard sales and to the garden center with Special K. After 18 years of marriage, its amazing how much fun we have doing simple things together! Found a few things for his classroom (please, please, let him have a classroom soon!!) at the yard sales. Then we hit one of our favorite nurseries in town.

(pictured here is a Blackfoot Daisy, one of purchases from earlier this summer. It's so SWEET!! It's little but doing well!!)



Here's what we bought today!

Salvia Greggii (color: "navajo rose")

















A Bottlebrush Plan (Callistemon)















A purple Butterly Bush (latin name: Buddleia)




















And our MOST EXCITING new purchase...

An Ocotillo plant!!!!

I'll let you know how they do. I'm very excited. Playing in the dirt is WAY more fun than editing my book manuscript!!