As a homeschool family that follows the Ambleside Curriculum, we have thoroughly enjoyed our study of hymns for the past two years. When I was looking for a book that I could us for our study of hymns, I was not sure where to start. Just any book is not ideal to help teach younger children about hymns and help them love them.
Recently I was blessed with a copy of Then Sings My Soul by Robert Morgan, from Thomas Nelson publishers. I was so excited to read through this book and see if it would be a good book for our family to use in the future for Hymn study, and let me assure you, it is perfect!
The first section of the book spends about 55 pages going through different Hymns : Biblical, Ancient, Medieval, German, English and finally Gospel Songs to Contemporary Praise. In this section you will have a chance to really understand where these hymns came from, what inspired the authors of those days to write what they did, also what was going on that would impact the words they wrote. This would be a great section to use with older children to dive in deeper, and have a meatier study.
The next section is “Do you know these Hymns?” There are 60+ Hymns with the words and music and the story. It would be easy to track down each of the songs on www.youtube.com to listen along, as you are studying them. So often after reading the story behind the hymn, it becomes much more sentimental to me, and the story replays in my mind when I hear the hymn. I want that for my kids too, to understand these are more than just songs.
The last part of the book is titled “Six Hymn Stories I love to tell” – and my favorite was West Point, Two Women and the World’s Most Famous Children’s Hymn. What a great story about two ladies who loved God and opened their home to some lonely cadets from across the Hudson River (yes, my alma mater!!). I am not going to give away the sweet details, but make sure you check it out!!
This would make a fantastic tool for any family who wants to dive into Hymns and gleam some amazing messages of Christ in those lyrics. I highly recommend this book even if you are not going to use it for a Hymn study with children. It would make a great “non-traditional” quiet time, devotion book. I promise that reading through the words of these hymns and the stories behind them will fill your heart and soul with the love of God. Seeing how he has worked through the lives of such varied people is always an encouragement to me.
Note : I was offered a copy of Then Sings My Soul, at no cost, in exchange for an honest review, by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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