¶ Welcome to Starting Right
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day , so grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right . Good morning , everyone , and welcome to a brand new week right here on Starting Right .
I hope you had a great weekend and I would like to give a special thank you to all the moms as we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday . I hope your family treated you extra special and showed you how much they love you and how grateful they are for you being the mom that you have been all
¶ A Special Mother's Day Tribute
the years . And with yesterday being that special day , I'd like to do something just a little bit different here this morning . Yesterday we got together at my mom's house . There were four generations of our family gathered together to honor their mother , their grandmother , their great-grandmother , and it was really fun to have everybody together like that .
My mom just turned 89 years old . She is an amazing woman . She still lives in the rancher that she shared with dad , who passed away seven years ago , and for the most part she's well able of taking care of herself . She gets in the car to go to the grocery store , to the doctor when she needs to .
But she does have someone come and help her with the gardening and a little bit of looking after the house every now and then . But for the most part my mom is still a going concern . I got to tell you our family loves to play card games and when we get together my mom continues to win more than her fair share . She is sharp , she laughs , she
¶ The Legacy of a Praying Mother
is wonderful and I love her very , very much . But my mother has also been part of providing for our family a tremendous legacy where the vast majority of her family love and serve the Lord . My mom prays , prays a lot .
Every morning she gets up she walks around the house praying for her family and things she's concerned about in her neighbors and for everyone else around her . She prays for a long time . Every day she's praying . She's not shy in talking to us about what the Lord is teaching her or showing her or something that she's heard or read that has encouraged her .
She continues to be a significant influence over her family . That she's been all of her life and I'm so grateful for her . Well , I did call her the other day and I asked her what her favorite hymn was , she couldn't give me an answer . She went through a whole bunch of them . Basically , it's any of the old hymns that the church sang for so many years .
She still plays the piano and the first thing she sits down to play is always Amazing Grace , but she listed a number of hymns that just cause her heart to be filled with just a wonder and awe and a love for the Lord . I know there are many moms out there who are just like my mom .
You love the hymns , you grew up with them , they encouraged you , they inspired you , and every day you spend time before God praying for your children , for your family , that they would come to know Him and serve Him , and that God would bless them and keep them safe .
So , in honor of Mother's Day and all the moms who love the hymns , I dedicate this podcast to you , as today we look at one of the most powerful and beautiful hymns ever written . It falls just behind Amazing Grace in the number two spot of the greatest hymns of all time . It's the hymn how Great Thou Art . And today , mom , this one's for you .
¶ History of "How Great Thou Art"
The hymn originated as a Swedish poem written in 1885 by Carl Boberg . The hymn originated as a Swedish poem written in 1885 by Karl Boberg . He was a sailor who had become a minister and wrote this poem that he called Ostorgut , which means Almighty God .
Although the poem was published , it seemed to have been forgotten , until you jump ahead into the 1930s and somehow this poem that had been put to music had traveled around the world . An English missionary , stuart Hine , heard the song in Russian .
He translated the song to English , he changed the music arrangement a little bit and he published the song as how Great Thou Art . In the 1940s , an evangelist , dr Edwin Orr , heard the song being sung by the native tribal people in Assam , india , and he brought it back to the United States .
And then , in 1954 , the song found its way into the hands of George Beverly Shea , who sang it nearly 100 times during the Billy Graham Crusade of 1957 in New York . In 1959 , it became the official song for Billy Graham's weekly broadcast . In 1978 , the performing rights organization ASCAP named this song as the all-time outstanding gospel song in America .
This song has been recorded over 1,800 times in the last 50 years . It had its origins in this small Swedish town , written by this sailor-turned-lay minister , and it somehow made its way all around the world , becoming one of the greatest hymns of all time . Today I have an acapella version of the song I want to play for you . It's by the group Home Free .
I'll leave you with a clip with it and then in your show notes there will be the YouTube link where you can listen to the whole thing . These guys are incredible and their version of the song is absolutely wonderful
¶ Closing and Home Free Performance
. You will love it . So today , happy Mother's Day , mom , and to all the mothers out there , we will honor you for all that you have done to help shape us to become who we can be , all the sacrifices you made for us , all the love you've poured onto us and all of the prayers you put up to God for us . We thank you and honor you . Have a great day .
Everyone here's Home Free with how Great Thou art .