I’ve shared before about our tradition of picking a special hymn for each of our children. With Elizabeth, we are so much more mindful of the blessing that a healthy child is. Throughout my pregnancy, I kept reminding myself and Derek that this was not something we could ever take for granted after our miscarriage. As we discussed what hymn this baby would have, we wanted one that had strong theology (when you sing it every night for years, your child will hear it thousands of times!) and a good tune for rocking a fitful child to sleep. Here’s what we’re singing to her at night (and what we’ll be singing at her dedication this summer):
Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
That’s my song for Sam! I used to sing it a lot more than I do. I just used to sing to him, period, a lot more than I do. And it’s what I walked down the aisle to at our wedding. It’s a very special song for me!
A wonderful hymn, indeed! That’s a special hymn for Keith and me. We sang it at our wedding and have often thought of naming a future son, Ebenezer.
I love this tradition & hope to use it with my children some day!
Awww… one of my absolute *favorites* 🙂 I sang it to the little baby I watched this past semester before putting him down for almost all his naps. That and Be Thou My Vision… great naptime hymns!
that is my favorite hymn!