Sing with me.... "and not sit on the kitty..."

100% of the children who enter my home are drawn to the piano. It has the ability to make some pretty loud noises. So much fun for young and old (as long as us old people are wearing ear plugs and don't want to have a conversation with each other). I don't mind at all if the little ones want to play on the piano under a few conditions: there is no one trying to sleep, there are no adults trying to carry on a conversation, and no banging, please -- it is a very girly piano.

Last week, my nephews came over for a little bit and of course played on the piano because no one was trying to sleep and I was the only adult around. The children were very good and did not bang or pound on the keys. Emma is quite particular about the rules and just loves to tell her cousins how to play the piano. The thing I love about boys is that they ignore the talking girl and go about their business. It is insticual. 

Mandy played the piano a little, but quickly got bored with that and went back to the baby on the floor. This was the first time I observed her taking a real interesting in another baby. She pet Josiah like her kitty and blabbered to him in a high voice. It was really sweet to watch, and just like a boy, Josiah ignored her and tried to get the toy behind her.

Their 6 month age difference will matter little in the years to come, but for now Josiah is a little frightened of all that 1 year old action.

The following look says to me: Seriously, kind lady, please put down the camera and protect me from all the flying arms and legs around this place.

Baby Josiah is the sweetest little guy and all 5 of the baby/toddlers/preschoolers got along famously for the short duration.

Speaking of the piano, I was playing earlier and trying to teach Emma a song to sing. She has a lot of trouble remembering things, so I am earnestly trying to work on it with her. I am afraid she got that from me. I've always done quite poorly with memorization. While others in my family can sit down and memorize whole chapters of things in 10 minutes, I can study for hours and still not remember a thing the next day. Since Emma seems to have inherited my memorization challenges, I am hoping she can use music to remember things, especially Scripture. We are working on "Be Still and Know", the song and the Bible verse (Ps 46:10). 

With her short attention span, Emma quickly bored of that song and flipped from one song to the next in my old spiral bound praise book from the early 90's. It was like favorite hymn night at church from 1992. I loved playing through songs like "Seek Ye First," "Cares Chorus," and "As the Deer."

One of the songs Emma requested I play was "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful." I love Keith Green choruses and soaked up the words as I played the familiar tune:

Oh Lord, you're beautiful

Your face is all I seek

And when your eyes are on this child

Your grace abounds to me

Help me Lord to take your word and shine it all around

And when I am doing well, help me to never seek a crown 

for my reward is giving glory to you.

Oh Lord, please light the fire

That once burned bright in me

Replace the lamp of my first love

that burned with holy fear

That song has great words and was a sweet encouragement to me as I sang. My spiritually rich moment was brief as I praised my God, the God I have known for most of my life. I let my fingers fly across the keys on easy notes I almost know by heart. Emma sang her own words to the melody:

Oh Lord, let Mandy obey

And not sit on the kitty

There's no room

no room

no room

no room in the inn

Kitty Baby Blue

Blue

Blue

Let's see, I am sure I can find some way to turn this around to have a wonderful spiritual application. How about this? Find little moments in your day to praise God. And, glorify God by teaching your children Scripture. There you go. 

Now you can go on your way humming, "Oh Lord, let Mandy obey and not sit on the kitty..." to the tune of Keith Green's "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful."