Challenge....

Today in church we sang the Star Spangled Banner for the closing song. As we sang the song I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes as I thought of our great nation - and the perilous times we are going through. I also thought of how beautiful music has influenced my life and how singing beautiful songs and hymns has increased by 10o fold my testimony of Christ, the gospel and the wonderful land we are blessed to live in. So...I'm going to offer my grandchildren a musical challenge! And I guess this is bribery - or we could call it the reward system :)) I have picked out 5 songs - America the Beautiful, God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle and I am a Child of God. For each verse they memorize of those songs - and can recite the words, grandma will pay them $1 per verse. If their parents can teach them the song in a foreign language (most likely Spanish or Japanese or Portuguese) I will pay $2 per verse. Then sometime in September after school starts, we will have dinner at Grandma's - and everyone can show what they have learned. (I actually am stealing this idea from Carole Knollmiller who does this for books read by her grandchildren and poems memorized). But I think music is also extremely important in a person's life - how empty it would be without it! My mom and dad loved music. I can remember when my mom - who never drove a car - would send me to the record store about 5 blocks from my home to buy her records....the big 33 rpm variety. She loved music - and my dad loved to sing - he had a beautiful bass voice. I loved to sit next to him in church so I could hear him sing :) So beautiful little Cherrington grandchildren....start memorizing! I know you can do it!!!