In Effort to Praise You

I wish I could crash like the waves
Or turn like the autumn leaves
In effort to praise You.

I wish I could smell like the forest,
The fragrance lifting a mighty chorus
In effort to praise You.
In effort to praise You.

But I’m such a limited creature,
And my word can only paint so many pictures.
But somewhere I think I read that I am
Treasured over all creation,
So I know that I must try.

I wish I could roll like the thunder,
To leave the earth below in wonder
In effort to praise You.

I wish I could fall like the summer rain
And every drop would sing Your name
In effort to praise You.
In effort to praise You.

But I’m such a limited creature,
And my word can only paint so many pictures.
But somewhere I think I read that I am
Treasured over all creation,
So I know that I must try.

Gloria! Glory in the highest!
Forever I will hide myself in Thee.

Every breath I breathe,
Every moment in my history
Is an effort to praise You.
An effort to praise You

Gloria! Glory in the highest!
Forever I will hide myself in Thee,

Oh, Gloria
Glory in excelsis deo

Gloria, gloria, gloria
Gloria, gloria, gloria
Send "Gloria" Ringtone to Cell
In Effort to Praise You
by Watermark

The Old Rugged Cross

1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
   The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
   And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
   For a world of lost sinners was slain.
   • Refrain:
     So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
     Till my trophies at last I lay down;
     I will cling to the old rugged cross,
     And exchange it some day for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
   Has a wondrous attraction for me;
   For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
   To bear it to dark Calvary.
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
   A wondrous beauty I see,
   For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
   To pardon and sanctify me.
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
   Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
   Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
   Where His glory forever I’ll share.

---George Bennard

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

---Isaac Watts

Oh, the Wonderful Cross!

Oh, the Wonderful Cross

bids me come and die,

and find that I may truly live.

Oh, the Wonderful Cross!

Oh, the Wonderful Cross!

All who gather here

by grace draw near and bless Your Name!

---Chris Tomlin

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Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day!

"Australia Day, also known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day[1], is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the unfurling of the British flag at Sydney Cove and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.[2]" (from Wikipedia)

We aren't Australian, but I am co-teaching a class about Australia this semester, so we are rather immersed in Australia right now. My kids were excited to learn that today was a holiday, and attempted in vain to get out of doing schoolwork for the day. :0)

The picture above is Sydney Harbour. You may recognize the Sydney Opera House, the funny looking building right on the water. It's really an amazing piece of architecture!

You Disney-ites will recognize this harbour from Finding Nemo. You know, they spend most of the movie looking for "P52 Wallaby Way, Sydney." When they get to Sydney, it is in this harbour.

Christmas Carols

Dora's versions:

"Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.
Round your vermin, mother and child.
Holy infany, tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace."

"O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphal..."

(OK, triumphal could be a word. But it's not.)

Man, I love this kid!

Blog Title

First, I'd like to give credit where credit is due. The name of this blog, Spilled Laughter, comes from the lyrics of one of my favorite Rich Mullins songs, Calling Out Your Name:

Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer

And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
And there's fury in a pheasant's wings

It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
And I've seen love make heaven ring

Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes forever 'til you see
What time may never know
What time may never know

How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward and shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
To run wild with the hope

The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
And I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

Calling out His name from my little corner of America...