God, Make My Life a Little Light

I love to sit at the piano and play out of my grandma's old hymn books.
It calms my spirit in a sacred way.
I'm so thankful for those books.

And for the piano.

Last night I stumbled across this gem.
"God Make My Life a Little Light"
(click the link for tune and words)

It makes for the most lovely prayer.
Truly.  Just so sweet and wonderful.

My favorite verse is the final one:

God, make my life a little hymn
Of tenderness and praise -
Of faith, that never waxeth dim
In all His wondrous ways.

The words were written by Matilda Betham-Edwards,
and the tune was by Daniel J Batchellor.

I did a little research on dear Matilda, and I was amazed.
WHAT A GAL!
I LOVE THE INTERNET!

I never would have guessed where my research would lead.
I just thought I'd find a sweet story about a lady who wrote a couple hymns.
Instead, I discovered all kinds of amazing things about Matilda!

She was born in England in 1836 and died in 1919.
Here's her full bio and obituary: Click here.

She was a novelist, poet, and travel writer!
AND GUESS WHAT?  She was friends with Charles Dickens.

She never married, and her name was hyphenated to include her mother's maiden name.

A few other fun Matilda facts:

-She was also FRIENDS WITH GEORGE ELIOT!!!
(aka Mary Anne Evans....the author of Middlemarch, my favorite British novel)
-She loved France

-She wrote many, many children's books
-She was fun

In 2006, a book was published about her.
I've got to get my hands on this book!
(added note: I ordered it through Interlibrary Loan,
and it will soon be delivered to my local library!)

Here's a great quote about her:
"Her writing also showed great interest in public education, opportunities for women,
cultural facilities in towns, and positivism."

So in conclusion,
#1: I love hymns.
#2: I love Matilda.
#3: I love the library.

Matilda

A letter from Matilda.

Easter in Photo Form

Happy Easter. Truly. A very happy, wonderful, joyful, beautiful Easter to you.

In true "lady pastor" form, I spent the morning preaching and sharing about Easter and Jesus and an empty tomb. But instead of writing more words here, I think I'll just share some photos.

This evening, I spent a little time looking for images of Easter in my yard. Here are a few. I hope you've felt the joy of this special day in a lot of lovely ways today.