Sunday's Hymn: O Splendor of God's Glory Bright

O splendor of God’s glory bright,
From light eternal bringing light,
Thou Light of light, light’s living Spring,
True Day, all days illumining.

Come, very Sun of Heaven’s love,
In lasting radiance from above,
And pour the Holy Spirit’s ray
On all we think or do today.

And now to Thee our pray’rs ascend,
O Father glorious without end;
We plead with Sovereign Grace for pow’r
To conquer in temptation’s hour.

Confirm our will to do the right,
And keep our hearts from envy’s blight;
Let faith her eager fires renew,
And hate the false, and love the true.

O joyful be the passing day
With thoughts as pure as morning’s ray,
With faith like noontide shining bright,
Our souls unshadowed by the night.

Dawn’s glory gilds the earth and skies,
Let Him, our prefect Morn, arise,
The Word in God the Father one,
The Father imaged by the Son.

— Ambrose of Milan, translated by Lou­is F. Ben­son.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• All Things That On the Earth Do Dwell at Hiraeth
• To the Praise of Mercy Found at Rosemary at Home
• Jesus, Master, Whose I Am at Fieldstone Cottage
• The Lord In Zion Reigns at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 31, 2011 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Voices From the Past - July 31, 2011 at The Upward Call
• Psalm 40 at Daily On My Way to Heaven

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Thankful Thursday

Guess what? I’m going on a road trip. My youngest son and I leave Saturday morning, heading to Minnesota first and then to Iowa for my niece’s wedding. I’m thankful that I have a car to make the trip and a son to help me with the driving. I’m thankful for the opportunity to travel the Alaska highway again. 

I just saw some cell phone photos of my neighbors’ new baby girl. She was born last Saturday, several weeks early, and medivacked to Edmonton immediately. Things were touch and go for a while, but she’s doing very well now and will probably be home within a month. It will be fun to have another baby in the neighborhood. I’m very thankful that God gave her and that he protected her. I’m thankful that her parents will have a baby to take home after losing twins in the same sort of circumstances a couple of years ago.

I’m thankful for fresh broccoli, lettuce, and spinach from the garden. 

(This might be the last post from me for a couple of week. I planned to have a post on the last chapter of Christianity and Liberalism up today but things are crazy around here. Maybe I’ll have it up and maybe I won’t. And maybe I’ll post photos of my trip, but I’m not making any promises there, either.)

Throughout this year I’m planning to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving each Thursday along with Kim at the Upward Call and others.

What to Do with a Reluctant Reader

A tweet by Jules this morning reminded me of this old, old post, and I decided to repost it.

What do I mean by reluctant reader? A reluctant reader is a child who has reached 10 or 12 years old, who can read, but doesn’t enjoy reading on their own, a child who almost never picks up a book to read for pleasure. And yes, avid readers can produce reluctant readers; two of four of my children fell into this category.

Here are a few tips drawn from my experience:

1. Take advantage of the times your child is held captive. Keep good books for children in the bathroom. Stack a few by the bed and make reading the only activity allowed after bedtime. Unless your child is prone to carsickness, take lots of books on a long car ride. Never ever draw attention to these books or suggest that they try reading one.

2. Notice what type of television programs your child likes most. Do they like dramas or are they drawn to documentaries and science shows? It’s my own opinion that many reluctant readers are “just the facts” people who prefer nonfiction to fiction. Try leaving biographies, nature books, science books, books of math puzzles, books on W.W.II, sports books, joke books, books about foreign countries, or collection-of-facts books scattered about the house. If you can’t resist pushing novels, make them factually based novels. 

3. Don’t worry that their reading material is too lightweight. Lightweight is good; dumbed down is not. Your purpose at this point is not to produce a well-read child, but a child who knows that books can be fun and reading doesn’t have to be a chore.

4. Have quiet time at your home and make sure that everyone (Dad, too!) is included. After the supper dishes were done was the time that worked well for us. Only quiet activities are allowed—drawing, homework, paying bills, reading, etc. Half an hour is long enough, but you can try longer if you think you can swing it. Chances are that at some point your reluctant reader will run out of other entertaining quiet activities and open a book.

5. Don’t stop reading to your child. Ask your child to read out loud to you once in a while. Ask them to read a page or a paragraph from the book you are reading to them. Try reading aloud from a really engaging book, but only a chapter or two—just enough to intrigue them—and then be too busy to read for a few days. See if they will continue on their own.

   The all-time best novel for reluctant readers is Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins. It’s easy to read and I’ve never met a kid who didn’t like it. Read a chapter or two to your child and see if they don’t read on ahead to see what happens. Other Scott O’Dell books are good, too, but introduce these after they’ve been hooked by Island of the Blue Dolphins.

6. Tidiness may be a virtue, but being too tidy doesn’t promote reading. A reluctant reader does not love reading enough to go find a book that has been put away. Books strewn everywhere is a good thing when it comes to getting kids to read.

7. Buy appropriate books at garage sales, thrift stores, and used book stores. If you pay the new book price for a book, it’s going to eat at you when it doesn’t get read, and pressure to read a book is counterproductive when you are dealing with reluctant readers.

If you have more ideas, feel free to add them in the comments.