Verses for the New Year 2013

I thought I would look up some verses to start off my new year.  I tried to find verses that said something about renewing or being made new to help me focus on a NEW year.  Each day/year is a new beginning, a chance to seek God anew, and to sing to Him a new song!

Isaiah 42:10a Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth.

Lamentations 3:22-26 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Psalm 98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Psalm 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 149:1 Praise the Lord.  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Ezekial 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Yearly Thanksgiving Trivet

 

This year we are going to carry our yearly stepping stones over into making a yearly Thanksgiving trivet to use on the table.  We will pass it around to write down what we are especially thankful for in the year 2012.  Next year we will make a new trivet to add to the table, and hopefully continue in years to follow so that as we eat our dinner we can remember what we have been thankful for over the years.

 

Another fun dinner activity we did one year at the table was to stencil iced sugar cookies with food coloring markers.  And then eat them.  It was a nice activity to enjoy with the kids and grandparents while we had tea and more dinner conversation.

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Hip Homeschool Hop, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection, and Gratituesday.

Let All Things Now Living

 

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into light.

His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a Song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"

Write a family hymn of Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving hymns.  In fact, the next couple of days I will be posting several Thanksgiving hymns. 

But another idea I wanted to try this year is to write a family hymn of Thanksgiving.  We did this about 10 years ago with my mom when my oldest two were little.  We used the hymn When Morning Gilds the Skies, or as we called it, May Jesus Christ Be Praised.  It is very simple and easy to write your own family verses.  I think we will try that same hymn again, each of us writing a verse.  I wish I could find the copy of what we wrote years ago.  I know it's somewhere in some keepsake box.

Anyway, here's a copy of the first verse to give an idea of how to write a family verse:

When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When you begin the day, O never fail to say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Here's a try:

When Mommy says her prayers and gives to God her cares,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When daddy tucks in bed and with his kids prayers said,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When friends come to our home and we are not alone,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Our table's full of food and all in a good mood,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

My mom likes to write her own verses to hymns on a somewhat regular basis, and she shares them with the family.  Maybe someday I will do that too to express my faith and love for God and what he shows me in this life.

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Hip Homeschool Hop, Flock Together Tuesday, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection, and Gratituesday.

Thankful Verses

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Colossians 3:15

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  Colossians 2:6-7

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy, and I will give thanks to Him in song.  Psalm 28:7

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  2 Corinthians 9:12

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  Psalm 100:4

I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.  Psalm 35:18

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.  Philipians 1:3-4

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;  his love endures forever.  Psalm 107:1

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.  Psalm 7:17

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.  Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  1 Chronicles 16:8-9

Come let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  Psalm 95:1-2

But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.  2 Corinthians 2:14

We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.  Psalm 75:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Give thanks to the God of gods.  Give thanks to the Lord of lords:  to him alone does great wonders, who by his understanding made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters, who made the great lights - the sun to govern the day, the moon and stars to govern the night.  His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1-9

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.  Hebrews 12:28.

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothes me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.  O lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.  Psalm 30:11-12

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Co 15:57

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  2 Co 9:15

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Flock Together Tuesday, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection,
Women in the Word,  and Gratituesday.

Thankful Morning

I'm thankful for the gentle rain this morning ... the quiet house while everyone is still sleeping after a fun day with good friends yesterday ... cuddles with Lila ... summer ... parades with marching bands ... a good night's sleep ... blooming flowers ... my family ... tea in the morning ... good books to read ... prayer ... hopeful adoption ... God, from whom all blessings flow.