What is adoption?

Adoption is an act of the free grace of God,[1] in and for his only Son Jesus Christ,[2] whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children,[3] have his name put upon them,[4] the Spirit of his Son given to them,[5] are under his fatherly care and dispensations,[6] admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow heirs with Christ in glory.[7]

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Sunday's Hymn: Reader's Choice

Today’s hymn is the favorite of Kara in Kugluktuk, who just welcomed a new son to the household.

My favorite is a Christmas one—Hark the Herald Angels Sing. I could sing that anytime of year!

So I guess we’re having Christmas in July!

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

—-Charles Wesley (Listen.) 

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• My Faith Looks Up to Thee at Above the Clouds
• Come, Christians Join to Sing at Seasonings of the Heart
  
• Lord’s Day 28, 2007 at The Thirsty Theologian
  
• When Comes the Golden Sunset at joythruChrist
• The Collect for the Six Sunday after Trinity at Magic Statistics
• The Lily of the Valley at The Happy Wonderer
• Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing at Thoughts from the Teahouse
  
• O Lord, How Are My Foes Increased? at John Dekker’s Journal
  

Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list. If you’d like to see your favorite hymn featured as a Reader’s Choice hymn, go here and leave a comment. Just tell me your favorite hymn and a little bit about why you like it and I’ll feature your hymn when your turn comes.

Popular Posts from the Past: Potty Training Made Easy

[This is another popular post from my blogging past—probably the second most popular one. It was linked by a baby care site—one I hadn’t heard of previously and don’t remember—that sent me several hundreds hits a day for a month or so. These potty training rules continue to bring people to the old blog, referred from searches for “potty training.”

This is the method I used for training the last three of my children. The firstborn? She’s the kid I fussed over, bungling things up in a big way, and from whom I learned the potty training lessons that I applied successfully to the other three.]

From Rebecca’s Rule Book

I bet you didn’t know I have a rule book, did you? Well, I do. It’s impossible to raise four kids and not have a rule book to show for it. From the chapter on potty training, I give you these surefire steps.

1. Wait until the child is two and a half. Or two and a halfish. If you live where there are four seasons, wait until the spring/summer/nice weather nearest the two and a half milestone.
2. Make a trip to buy several pairs of toddler underwear bearing the likenesses of things beloved to the trainee. Don’t think you can substitute Pull-Ups! Pull-Ups, no matter how many gimmicks they add, can work against successful toilet training.
3. Don’t allow the precious panties to be worn yet. (Admiration, however, is encouraged.) Tell your trainee that these special unmentionables are being saved for that hallmark day when they begin using the toilet (or a tree) like mommy and daddy do.
4. Put the potty chair away. Go straight to more grown up receptacles like flush toilets. Unless, of course, you have some compelling reason to disregard this rule. Like, “But potty chairs are so cute,” or “I really prefer dumping to flushing.”
5. Wake up one day and say to yourself, “This is the day.” It’ll work best if this is a day with weather fine for staying outdoors and a day when you can stay home, but you can also opt for a day when you feel up to tolerating puddles indoors.
6. Dress the trainee in the cherished underwear and a t-shirt. Any more clothing is counterproductive. 
7. Go outdoors to play and wait for the first accident. Sympathize with the child over the wet underwear. Help the little one change to a new pair of similarly loved undies and have them put the old, wet ones in the hamper. Mention in passing that if the child feels like they need to pee, they can tell you and you will help them go in the toilet so the beautiful undies don’t get wet. Resist the urge to say much more than this, and avoid at all cost the question, “Do you need to go yet?”
8. Repeat step 7 as many times as necessary, for as many days as necessary. You will probably be surprised how few times step 7 needs to be repeated.
9. If your child is male and you have a private yard, feel free to encourage the use of a tree or fence post instead of the toilet. This will add to the potty training ease for you and the fun for him. You can always civilize him later, if necessary. If you do go this route, you may want to mention to the little guy that the parking meters on Main St. are not exactly the same thing as fence posts. And while we’re on the subject of prudent warnings, it’s also best to remind your potty trainee that the demo toilets in Home Depot are not for emergency use. With my own eyes I’ve seen the results of both these misunderstandings, and while they were certainly amusing, most of us would prefer to get this sort of shopping entertainment from other people’s children rather than our own.
10. There isn’t really a step 10. There IS a money-back guarantee of success. If you follow these steps religiously and your child still goes to kindergarten in diapers, please write for a refund.