“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
— Colossians 3:16
His Homemade Hymnal is a labor of love created by the Todd Smith Family. Our main goal is for this to be a resource to facilitate God’s people in meditating on His Word. It is very much a work in progress; you’ll note that the middle name is “Homemade”. Ultimately we’d like to put the entire Bible to music (with the help of others in the body of Christ of course). We are neither theologians nor professional musicians. However, we are children of God and lovers of Jesus Christ. We offer this meager gift, trusting that our Heavenly Father will multiply it for His glory much as He did the loaves and fish. May it assist in feeding those who are hungry for the truth in this day of famine. We've given the copyright of all of the material produced by our family to the Holy Spirit so you are welcome to use it as He leads you (see copyright and usage for more details).
If you scroll down you can read some of our blogs largely about the songs. It is really more of an online journal for our family, but others are welcome to get a glimpse of God's faithfulness in our lives as well.
We publish a periodic newsletter to let people know what has been uploaded recently. We encourage you to pray about signing up. We will not give, sell, or trade your e-mail address (except under great duress or perhaps for large amounts of chocolate...j/k...really, we're joking...really....). Also, please pray before sharing any of this content with anyone else as it is our desire that it serves not only to connect people with God's Word, but with God Himself.
This "album" contains songs uploaded in January of 2021. This snowman was made by one of the Smith children in 2018. Snowmen rarely get bigger than this in our part of Tennessee.
This album contains songs uploaded (or in the case of Phil. 2, recorded) in October, November, and December of 2020. The photograph on the cover was taken of Tevya's hand by a friend.
In January of 2010 when the twins were two, they just decided to sing "Happy Birthday" one day so I caught it on video. It is quite short as it didn't take long for them to get distracted. Funny thing about two-year-olds.
(Romeo and Tikvah sharing Daddy's chair)
In April of 2017 we decided that it was time to get another dog. We’d gone almost two years without one. Tup, who was a small rat terrier type had come home with Todd…
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(Joanna and Brian Rocker with the Smithlets in the background)
The following is the story behind this song as told by the bride and groom. We met Joanna through our good friend Julia Anne Mullen who married her brother Joel.…
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On March 2, 2019 Tiveria and Tikvah were baptized at the Linden Community Center in Linden, TN. Dan Mohler spoke that weekend and invited those who wanted to be baptized to come prepared that evening to do so. Years before,…
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(The above photo was taken on their wedding day in April of 1999.)
KC was one of the first people that I met when I arrived at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa as a freshman in the fall of 1988.…
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(The above photo was taken of us with the Adams Family in the fall of 2017 before we went canoeing together.)
Paula’s journal entry from March 6, 2016 (Sunday): (minor modifications made)
We just experienced the most trying weekend of…
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This song was inspired by the union of my friend Carrie (formerly Bischel) and Joel Jensen in 1998. Carrie and I first met at an orientation banquet for Wisconsinites who had received appointments to the United States Air Force Academy.…
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(In October of 2018 Auntie Elizabeth [my older sister] visited and helped the children learn to sew. Here she is helping Thor.)
This song came to me in 1996 and was inspired by my experience as a children’s leader for…
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(The above photo is of Vicki, the proud Mama, Holly, and Jason, the proud Daddy.)
This song came to me one morning shortly before our neighbor Holly Coon was to leave on her mission adventure earlier this month.…
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(This photo was taken at the house of some friends in east Tennessee. This backdrop was conveniently located on the wall in their game room.)
(Note: This is also referred to as our annual letter which we send…
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The following is an article that appeared in a recent Above Rubies magazine. I told the story to Nancy Campbell in May of 2018 at an Above Rubies Family Camp that we were attending and she asked me…
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