We are so blessed. Thank you Peter!!!

That evening, we watched the League of Grateful Sons which I (Steven) had not seen. In all, it was good to remember those who gave their lives serving our country, and made me glad for the work I have been doing to try to remember and preserve family history, geneaology, stories, photos and so on, for future generations (as the Lord calls).

Speaking of 200, 2,000 or 20,000 year plans, one thought I had while watching “The 200-year plan” last year was this: how do we preserve data for our great grandchildren in this digital age? Hard drives wear out, and as well, file formats change. Well, I have some ideas here- reply if you are interested in discussing it.

The following is from the preface to another document, that is the Westminster Confession, entitled “To the Christian Reader, especially Heads of Families”.

AS we cannot but with grief of soul lament those multitudes of errors, blasphemies, and all kinds of profaneness, which have in this last age, like a mighty deluge, overflown this nation; so, among several other sins which have helped to open the flood-gates of all these impieties, we cannot but esteem the disuse of family instruction one of the greatest. The two great pillars upon which the kingdom of Satan is erected, and by which it is upheld, are ignorance and error; the first step of our manumission from this spiritual thraldom consists in having our eyes opened, and being turned from darkness to light, Acts xxvi. 18. How much the serious endeavours of godly parents and masters might contribute to an early seasoning the tender years of such as are under their inspection, is abundantly evident, not only from their special influence upon them, in respect of their authority over them, interest in them, continual presence with them, and frequent opportunities of being helpful to them; but also from the sad effects which, by woeful experience, we find to be the fruit of the omission of this duty. It were easy to set before you a cloud of witnesses, the language of whose practice hath been not only an eminent commendation of this duty, but also a serious exhortation to it. As Abel, though dead, yet speaks by his example to us for imitation of his faith, &c., Heb. xi. 4; so do the examples of Abraham, of Joshua, of the parents of Solomon, of the grandmother and mother of Timothy, the mother of Augustine, whose care was as well to nurse up the souls as the bodies of their little ones; and as their pains herein was great, so was their success no way unanswerable.

We should scarce imagine it any better than an impertinency, in this noon-day of the gospel, either to inform or persuade in a duty so expressly commanded, so frequently urged, so highly encouraged, and so eminently owned by the Lord in all ages with his blessing, but that our sad experience tells us, this duty is not more needful, than it is of late neglected.

Click to read the rest…

SRLoomis Wedding Slideshow
I say “most of” because two items were missing:

1. 
   Fun, Fun, Fun (because I had already purchased it in plastic, and iTunes apparently no longer lets you create a mix to songs you didn’t purchase through them)
2. God Made Me which isn’t on iTunes, but which you can purchase from BlueBehemoth or judyrogers.com. (Judy herself, however, is actually on iTunes)

Song Name Artist Let Them Be Little Billy Dean God Made Me! Judy Rogers Sweet Pea Amos Lee A Wink and a Smile Harry Connick, Jr. Fun, Fun, Fun The Beach Boys My Wish Rascal Flatts What a Wonderful World (Single) Louis Armstrong While I’m Waiting John Waller Haven’t Met You Yet Michael Bublé I’ve Been Everywhere Johnny Cash Define Dancing Thomas Newman Bless the Broken Road Rascal Flatts First Date Thomas Newman

I named the mix “The Tunes which bring the Tears” for good reason.

We rejoice in the Lord’s goodness as He continues to build us in unity together by His grace. Today, we celebrated five months of marriage by going out to Panera Bread together . . .

. . . And furthermore, we celebrate our anniversary, by announcing that  . . . The Lord has richly blessed us with a little one!!!!!! We are overjoyed at His covenant blessings. Please join us in praying for a safe, healthy pregnancy and delivery this fall. Also, for the Lord to be working in the heart of our precious child, drawing them to Himself.

Practicing playing on the playground where Rebecca played as a little girl, and where we plan to bring our “Little One Loomis” to play in the years to come.

Our 21″ platter was perfect as a dish to share!

We had stumbled across a little Ethiopian market the other day and picked up some Ingera. Tonight, we put together some Amhari (thick veggie stew), Spiced Chard (used this recipe as inspiration, but it was quite different as we didn’t have most of the ingredients . . . we used swiss chard and spinach and no cheese  . . . next time we’ll try the collard greens), and Dorowat (this was delicious; it would be good served over rice too!). With Quofer served alongside (cultured kefired-colostrum from Organic Pastures), it was the perfect meal.

Mmm. A fun way to remember 100 days of marriage! God is so good. : )

Stringing the lights on our tree.

The first ornament on the tree was the first ornament Rebecca received as a little girl.

Decorating our little tree.

A special Christmas Star: our first Christmas decoration purchased as a new family.

After a month of adventures, Steven and Rebecca are back settling in their home state. God is good and we are overjoyed at His goodness. Thanks for your prayers and support making our wedding day so incredibly special!! We continue to treasure your prayers as we set purposeful patterns of a Christ honoring family culture. We are so blessed!