Close Call

We watched as tornadic storms rolled across the northern half of our county this afternoon.  I wish I had a video camera so you could watch these clouds rotate over me. These pictures were taken 2-3 miles north of Loomis.   I might have gotten better pictures if I went closer but I was afraid of getting hit with the hail.   There were reports of this storm producing baseball sized hail before it got to us.  There were numerous tornado warnings but these storms did not touch down until after they passed us.  There are numerous reports of damage in Kearney about 35 miles northwest of us.  For those of you who have watched Storm Chasers on the Discovery channel, I saw 30+ storm chasers go through Loomis including the infamous TIV vehicle.

As they went by the videographer was up in the Turret.   It was really eery watching the storm chasers.  Obviously we were in the center of the action.  The storms have gone by now and we are fine.  In fact it never even rained in town.

A Great Week.

God was at work in Loomis last week.  About 60 kids were challenged to Choose Jesus over everything else.  Each day the children gave an offering.  This year the offering is helping Ralph and Colleen Cole fund VBS in Odessa, Ne.  Every year the Coles offer a VBS to the children of Odessa.   This year, the children of Odessa will be challenged to Choose Jesus through the gifts of the children of Loomis.  How cool is that? 

Family Bible Time...

Recently, we started having a daily family Bible Time after we are done eating breakfast, but still at the table.  Now some of you may be impressed, and some of you may be like, "wow, what took you so long?!"  Nonetheless, thanks to Shawn Bergen, a pastor at our church, for his example and influence to get us started. 

So far, it has been both a joy and a train wreck.  Drew loves it, but doesn't always stay focused.  Tessa is pretty much clueless.  We involve her, and certainly understand that the practice is just as formative for her as it is for Drew.  Tonight, was especially hard.  We have learned the lesson more than once, we have to keep Tessa tied down, oops, I mean strapped in to her high chair if there is any hope of her participating.

What do we do?  3 things...

1.  We read the Bible.  We are using a children's Bible that basically tells a story through a very short story and picture.  After we read, we ask questions of each person to further explain what might be happening.

2.  We pray.  We go around first and ask what each person wants to thank Jesus for or ask Jesus for.  Then we go around and everyone takes a turn to pray.  This was a great idea we learned from someone else.  We find that it helps them think about what they want to tell Jesus, instead of just singing their prayer song from rote memory. 

3.  We sing worship songs.  We sing a song we don't know and a song we do know.  The other night Drew wanted to sing, "The Wheels on the Bus."  I was quick to point out that that song was not a worship Jesus song.  He quickly responded..."yes it is Daddy, because Jesus made the buses!"  We sang the song.  A song that "we" didn't know was "the Doxology".  Even though we sang it for a week, Drew wouldn't sing.  Shy or something?  Last night, I was trying to get Tessa to sing with me because Drew wouldn't, and all of a sudden he announced he knew it.  He sure did, every word.  Amazing how quickly he learns...

Here is a little fruit of our labor...

Rob

Loomis VFD

I thought the kids might like to see these pictures of a house we burned down last night.  

 

Happy Birthday Toby

The State of Nebraska is nuts.  They give learner's permits to 15 year olds.   Actually many of Toby's class mates have been driving alone on a school permit since they turned 14.  Unfortunately for Toby this is only available for those who live more than one mile from the school.  For the next year Toby is stuck driving with an adult.  Or are we stuck?