Teaching Aides for Church

Ever here of Emily Freeman?

She is an LDS Author and Mom. I love to hear her speak and I love reading one of her blogs. She has a blog called Daily Closer to Christ 

She journals thoughts and things she has learned from her daily readings of the Scriptures. She wrote this on her blog today, March 2, 2012. This is a great story and a great learning tool for understanding a song that is dear to my heart and a song my children love as well....

It is also great insight on:

"Here I Raise My Ebenezer"

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Samuel 4:19 – Samuel 10:16

These are Emily's words, story and thoughts.

Almost 25 years ago I was asked to play the piano at a missionary homecoming.  The song was one I had never heard before.  It was titled Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  I was accompanying a vocalist who was a dear friend of mine.  I hate to admit it, but some of the words just didn’t make any sense to us.  Particularly the phrase, “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come…”  We had no idea who Ebenezer was and we figured no one else in the congregation would either, so we changed that part of the song and left out the line entirely.
After the homecoming the missionary approached us to thank us.  We asked him why he had chosen that particular song.  He said it was one of his favorites.  “But,” he said, “You left out my very favorite part.”  We told him it was because the line didn’t make sense to us and asked him what the meaning was.  With a smile he told us we would have to figure it out for ourselves, and hinted that the answer could be found within the scriptures.
I found the answer in the seventh chapter of Samuel.
Just as each of the prophets had done before him, there came a moment in Samuel’s life when he asked Israel to put away their strange gods and turn to the Lord.  This time it was so that they could be delivered from the Philistines.  Samuel asked them to “Prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you…Gather all Israel…and I will pray for you unto the Lord.  And they gathered together…and fasted on that day.”  (Samuel 7:3-6)
Israel was afraid, and they said to Samuel, “Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us.  And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.”  (Samuel 7:8-9)
And Israel prevailed.
“Then Samuel took a stone, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”  (Samuel 7:12)
If you look at the footnote for Ebenezer in verse 12 you will find that the name means the stone of help.  Here I raise my ebenezer; here by thy great help I’ve come.  The stone became a memorial for Israel of a time when the Lord had helped them through a situation they could not have made it through on their own.

She closed with asking do you have an Ebenezer in your home?

I have seen Emily Freeman speak three times. All at Time Out For Women.

This actual youtube video is when I saw her in Seattle at Benaroya Hall in 2009.

Click here to open in new window to view from youtube

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Now you know why I love her! She has great inspiration. She just inspires me to be a better mom! To be all that Heavenly Father wants me to be!

Here's a one minute flash of Emily Freeman in 2010, where "Hope" was the theme for Time Out for Women.

She's so cute!!!