Wren and I were asked to play together for the prelude at church tonight. Typically, the cello and the trumpet do not play duets…but we happen to know an amazing composer who was able to provide us with an amazing arrangement (and piano accompaniment). Thanks Nonnie!!
We are so blessed to be in a church that values intergenerational worship. Wren has been participating in leading worship through music since she was 5! I started playing my trumpet in church when I was in Junior High (I didn’t start playing as early as she did). So, it was a real treat to play together – and to have my mom – who teaches us both about worship through music – playing with us as well!!!
Wren is finding some lovely hymns! This is a new one to me too. Give Me the Wings of Faith to Rise. It’s also fortuitous that it has wings in the title…which means I can show you more bird pictures!!
Give Me the Wings of Faith to Rise
Well, maybe you’d at least like to see how much the baby owl has grown!!
Can you believe that Trumpeter Swans were hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century? Their population was as low as 69 individuals in the 1930s. Thankfully this beautiful species has recovered and we occasionally have them visit us in Illinois! The photo was taken near our home in December. The one in the background is young (see the pinkish bill?) Swans are so graceful and peaceful just like the gorgeous cello solo, The Swan by Saint-Saens. This piece is very comforting, so it is Wren’s “hymn” of comfort for today. This was requested by a good friend in Arkansas!!! We hope you love it!!
The Swan from Carnival of the Animals by Saint-SaensTrumpeter SwanNot swans, but just as beautiful!
Honestly, we were a little tired this afternoon, so we are going to remember a past performance. This is Wren’s audition for the Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas. She was chosen to participate in the first orchestra (8/9/10 year olds) and we had a wonderful time in 2018. She auditioned again in the fall for the 2020 orchestra, and we would be going again next week, if things were a little different in the world. The conference/orchestra was postponed instead of cancelled, so we are hoping to go in September! This is Wren in 2017 playing Humoresque by Dvorak.
Wren loves space, so it’s not a surprise that she was drawn to this hymn. Even though she found this in the hymnal I grew up with, I never remember singing this. I really like what it’s saying though…(even though Wren says she doesn’t really understand what it’s about!)
Here are a couple of verses of this hymn:
God of earth and outer space,
God of love and God of grace,
bless the astronauts who fly
as they soar beyond the sky.
God who flung the stars in space,
God who set the sun ablaze,
fling the spacecraft through the air,
let man know your presence there.
God of man's exploring mind,
God of wisdom, God of time,
launch us from complacency to a world in need of thee.
God of power, God of might, God of rockets firing bright.
Hearts ignite and thrust within, love for Christ to share with men.
words by Thad Roberts, Jr.
Honestly, I’m not sure I understand all of the words, but the important part to me is that it will show Wren that God is with us in all we do, and we can be His light to the world in any vocation!
I made these photo composites for Wren last Halloween. She worked so hard on this costume, and it was a fun way to use my star and moon photography! We enjoyed using our imagination!
I’m so blessed to be a mom and to have an amazing mom! This kid and I have a lot of amazing adventures together!!!
South Dakota
We love that we get to share our adventures with my mom (Nonnie)!!!
Arches National Park – Utah
I’m very thankful for these blessings!!! I’m sure that we will be able to enjoy many new adventures in the future! We will be patient in the meantime. Wren’s hymn of comfort today is My Jesus I Love Thee!
Today is the Global Big Day (of birding). Cornell University is known for its ornithology lab. Any birder knows about this lab and probably uses “ebird” – a place where every birder can log the birds they see anywhere in the world. The lab collects so much data about birds and bird diversity! During our “Shelter in Place” I’ve been working on my birding skills. Honestly, I’ve always been the kind of birder that “real” birders aren’t very fond of – I take pictures to help with identification. However, thanks to having more time at home, I’ve been learning bird calls (the Cornell Ornithology Labs has online courses) and I’ve been working on my visual IDs as well. This morning, I took off early, camera in hand (I’m not giving this up), and went birding to contribute to the Global Big Day. I saw a lot of birds! I was even able to recognize most of the birds I saw while in the field! I’m nothing like the serious birders out there (the top list from today was (the top list today from the United States listed 193 species) , but I do love it! I thought that it would be appropriate for Wren to play His Eye is on the Sparrow today as her hymn of comfort. Photos from my “Big Day” follow!
His Eye is on the SparrowLincoln’s SparrowNashville WarblerBlue-gray gnatcatcherBaltimore OrioleEastern BluebirdsBaltimore OrioleGoldfinchBaltimore OrioleBarn and Tree Swallows
had surgery on her spinal cord. It took 3 years of wondering and seeing Drs. about various gastrointestinal and mobility issues, but in late April of 2012 she was diagnosed with a tethered spinal cord. If you are wondering, “What is a tethered spinal cord?”, you can read about it on my old blog here. If you don’t have time to run over to the other blog, essentially a tethered cord is a “cousin” to spina bifida and she is cared for in the spina bifida clinic at Lurie Children’s. Back in 2012, when we finally had an answer, we were still terrified that we would make the wrong choice about what to do. You see, a year before this diagnosis, a radiologist told us that her cord was tethered, but her first neurosurgeon told us that there was nothing wrong with her “she just walks funny”.
In the year following the diagnosis of “funny walking”, we started seeing an amazing physical therapist. One night at PT, Wren had some very alarming symptoms which ultimately led us to a new neurosurgeon (Dr. Alden at Lurie) who confirmed the radiologist’s findings – a tethered spinal cord. After meeting him so many things happened to affirm his diagnosis. Two nights after seeing Dr. Alden, totally unexpectedly, one of Wren’s teachers at church called me. This Sunday School teacher is a pediatrician, and she was calling me to talk to me about some things that she had noticed at church. She said that she just couldn’t let this go, and she felt that God was prompting her to call me – then she asked if I had ever heard of a tethered cord? That was the first step in God’s provision of peace through this difficult season. A few days later, our chiropractor was adjusting Wren and said “something is wrong with her spinal cord”…”it’s like it’s stuck”. Finally, after the urologist ran some tests (that can only be described as horrific), we knew that Wren had to have surgery. Dr. Alden is the best, she was in good hands!! We had a lot of peace as she was rolled back to surgery on May 8, 2012!!!
Wren’s hymn of comfort today is “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” because, when I think back on that day, I just think about God’s peace. I wasn’t afraid, I knew that there were so many people praying for us and for the doctors that I wasn’t anxious!
Peace Like a River
She’s certainly faced challenges since then, but we are pretty proud of this courageous, kind, and joyful child!
Tonight we saw 7 owls total!! We went to check on the little one we’ve been watching for several weeks. He’s really growing. I’m saying “he” only because Wren refers to him this way. You can’t tell the sex of a great horned owl by looking. I only know which of the adults is the mom because I know which one was on the nest. Also, the mom stays close. We saw dad tonight too, but he maintains a rather aloof distance. Here are some new pictures so you can see how the little one is growing!
mom and owlet (R) – getting close to fledgingowletdad
Here is one of the other 4 owls I saw tonight…another mommy owl! She has 3 owlets.
mom owl at second location
We also enjoyed other migratory birds. We saw a common yellowthroat, a blue-winged warbler and a blue-grey gnatcatcher (one of my favorites!)
common yellowthroatblue-winged warblerblue-grey gnatcatcher
Wren’s hymn of comfort today is the hymn tune “KINGS FOLD”. She wrote the accompaniment.
Kings Fold
We hope you enjoyed our sunset walk as much as we did!!
I always loved this hymn when I was little. As soon as I started singing it to Wren tonight, I could almost hear my Nanny singing. Wren is named after my Nanny (Elizabeth), so this seems fitting. I also love this song because my child was made with a sweet spirit. Here is the hymn of comfort, a photo of my Nanny as a child, and one of my favorite photos of the girl.
Sweet Sweet SpiritElizabeth (Nanny) is standing on the far left.April 2012 (3)
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