One of my Favorite Hymns

1. 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 God's unchanging love.

2. Here I raise my 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.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now 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.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is one of my favorite hymns and I particularly enjoy this version by singer-songwriter, Sufjan Stevens.  My favorite verse has long been the last one.  The words "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,/ Prone to leave the God I love" have always struck so close to home and my prayer echoes the hymn in desiring for His grace to fetter my wandering heart to Him.

The lyrics, by the way, were written in 1757 by a Baptist pastor at the age of 22.  The tune that we Americans sing an old American folk tune called Nettleton.  The story goes that seventeen-year-old Robert Robinson was told by a an old gypsy woman that he would live to see his children and grandchildren grow up.  At hearing this news, the errant young man thought to himself that if this were true, he must change his ways.  That night he went to see the great preacher, George Whitfield, speak, ostensibly to make fun of him, but Whitfield's words settled into Robinson's heart, and two years later he committed his life to following God's will.

If you were wandering what it means to raise your Ebenezer, it's a reference to the 1 Samuel 7:12 in the Bible.  In that passage, to celebrate a great victory that God had given Israel over their enemies, Samuel takes a large stone and sets it up between two cities.  "...He named it Ebenezer-- "the stone of help"-- for he said, 'Up to this point the Lord has helped us.'"  To raise your own Ebenezer would be, in effect, to do the same thing; that is, to recognize the faithfulness of the Lord and to profess how He has helped you and blessed you.

Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!

Despite the absence of money in my pocket this holiday season, I decided that my new (temporary) apartment here in the city could use some sprucing up for the holiday season. I passed this afternoon with two friends listening to the Sufjan Stevens Christmas album, cutting out REAL paper snowflakes (as opposed to the virtual ones I've been making online as of late), and making Christmas cards. I'm getting into the spirit of things this season, yet you wouldn't know it from our apartment, which is completely devoid of anything Christmas:(


Enter this little Christmas tree that I just bought online at RedEnvelope. It's perfect for Brooklyn-sized apartments (read: small), and even comes with lights and ornaments. How perfect is that? I'm also hoping that my bff, Corrie, and I can pretend to be elves and do a bit more decorating while my roommate, Tim, is out. We want to surprise him!

One of the blogs that I enjoy reading is called Fashionable Yet Frugal. The lady who writes it loves to shop (much like myself), but is also savvy about saving money. One of the things she's always recommending is a website called Ebates.com. You sign up and get a $10.00 gift card (I got mine for Sephora since I do a lot of shopping there), and then as you shop through their partner sites, you earn money. It's that simple: you shop through their site, and when it's all done, they'll cut you a check. It sounds too good to be true, I know, but Ms. Fashionable-Yet-Frugal promises that it works and even says that the checks come very quickly. It's probably not really worth it if you're not much of an internet shopper, however, if you are, it sounds like it could save you money.

If you do sign up, please click here. It'll take you directly to the site, and both you and I will get a $5 signing bonus.