New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is always a surprise for us. We never really make plans, so we often sit at home watching football. Now and then we get invited to a party, so we celebrate there. A few times the girls have had friends over. And 2010 Corinne and I were in LA because the Walton band marched in the Rose Parade. This year is another surprise: friends from California and Pennsylvania are here for the Passion 2013 conference, so we have five extra people. Caty and Corinne each have a friend over, and Carrie and Mike are here.  So, Brian whipped up a mashed potato bar and veggies and his famous cheese puff for snacking, and then built a fire for making s'mores. Good times.....and a pleasant way to bid farewell to 2012.

This song from Holiday Inn has been running through my head all day, so here are the lyrics with a wish and a prayer for a blessed 2013.

One minute to midnight
One minute to go
One minute to say good-bye
Before we say hello

Let's start the new year right
Twelve o'clock tonight
When they dim the light
Let's begin

Kissing the old year out
Kissing the new year in

Let's watch the old year die
With a fond good-bye
And our hopes as high
As a kite

How can our love go wrong if
We start the new year right?

Love. Laughter, and Lobster

Both last year and this my little (okay, younger) brother has gifted out family with an extravagant dinner experience for Christmas: live lobster. This year's guys were REALLY active--had they been less carefully packaged, they just may have made it back to the Atlantic. Happily for us, they only made it as far as our boiling pots of water. The meal is an experience from opening the box through the post meal scientific inquiry. Brian and Corinne both enjoy dissecting the remnants and identifying parts. Of course, such science generally leads to hilarity since the tools are more blunt than true science would suggest, and lobster parts end up all over. This year there was lobster on the wall, the table, and everyone's faces/hair/clothes but mine. Being the photographer does have its benefits.

Thanks for the memories, little brother!

Perspective

I did pretty well with the word for 2012: Connection. I made an effort to be more sociable without denying my introverted self. Hopefully I was able to communicate that, although I am by nature an introvert, I DO care. This extroverted society makes it a challenge, that's for sure!

I think my word for 2013 will be Perspective. I think it's important to remember what REALLY matters: "mere" Christianity in all its perfection.It's really all about Jesus and everything else falls under Him. If I remember that, then the frustrations and challenges and triumphs of my days will take care of themselves. That will be real freedom.

All the little chickens are in the nest...sort of

Tis the season! The college girl and the married girl are both home. The one who actually lives here, however, is still out an about. It will be a while before we actually have all of the children home together again. It's kind of weird to see them growing up, becoming independent, and making lives of their own. Normal is taking on yet a new meaning. We still laugh a lot, make bad jokes, and enjoy hanging out. Hopefully that will never change. Now, however, we never know which subset of Loomises will be around. And that is the way it should be. We give them wings, teach them to fly, and push them out of the nest. We let them go with no expectations except that they will soar. We hope that they return to visit. We hope they choose to build their own nests nearby so that they can fly by for short visits. But we refrain from pressuring them. Once they leave the nest, they fly on their own, making their own choices, living their own lives.

Weird.

Love these girls

For six years I have been Auntie Stephie to Caroline and Abigail. They are precious girls and part of my heart.

First Coming

Unfettered

One Gift

A Good Question

Every time I sit down to read a book by Madeleine L'Engle I find myself first caught up in the pure beauty of her prose and secondly challenged by her questions. Her questions make me think and ponder what I know and what I think I know about the Creator. This particular question, from her book Bright Evening Star, has me considering the impact of the Incarnation on all of the created world:

Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second, and the Word, who had called it all into being, went with all His love into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped their hands for joy?

Did all of creation stop for that one brief moment in response to the greatest single act of love in its history? I don't know, but it certainly seems plausible. Time stopped for Mary in that moment when she said, "Let it be done to me according to your word" to the angel. Time stopped for Joseph when he learned that his betrothed was with child. And then it stopped again when the angel came to him in a dream. Time must have stopped for their families as they reeled in imagined betrayal of faith and the consequences thereof. The angels live outside of time, but surely their heavenly activity ceased for what we call a moment.

One moment to change human history. One moment to demonstrate God's power and His love all at once.

One moment.

Would that I remember to stop and ponder in awe at that one moment.

Book Four

Mere Christianity Book Four from Mrs Loomis @ Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry

Book Three

Mere Christianity Book Three from Mrs Loomis @ Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry

Book Two

Mere Christianity Book Two from Mrs Loomis @ Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry

Why I haven't been blogging lately

My creative time has been spent lately creating PowerPoint presentations for my classes. The most time-consuming--and rewarding--are the ones for my Through the Lens with C.S. Lewis class.  I just wrapped up Mere Christianity and thought I would post my presentations here. The text I am using in class is:

The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics 

• ISBN-10: 0060506083
• ISBN-13: 978-0060506087

Page numbers in the slide shows correspond to this edition.

Mere Christianity Book One from Mrs Loomis @ Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Just a little fun...

Siewart Family Photo Shoot

The Siewarts are neighbors whose pictures I did a couple of years ago. Last week Martha called to see whether I could take a new set of family photos. So Saturday, we spent about 45 minutes and captured a few memories. These are my favorites: