7 celebratory quick takes
As we move back into the liturgical calendar with the season of Advent, this will (probably) be my last 7 Quick Takes post for the year. Thanks for reading along through the archives (and the rest of the internet!) with me each week, friends.
(1) Alex & Rebekah visit!
We just had a lovely visit with Alex & Bekah. We hadn't seen them since April, and they hadn't been to our new place yet so we squeezed in a 3 day visit over the weekend. They seem to be doing well, and it's always so good to just be able to hug them. Natalie and I have been in a bit of mourning since they left Sunday afternoon, but Christmas will be here soon. Between now and Christmas, though, both Alex and Natalie will celebrate birthdays.
Alex and Natalie birthday posts from the archives (most of the time tucked in with Thanksgiving and our anniversary like this one!)
2015 - Why we give new names to our kids on their 21st birthdays (also, Happy 22nd Birthday, Alexander!)
2015 - {pretty, happy, funny, real} in a season of abundant celebrations, part 3 & part 2
2013 - a photo diary of feast days + a remembrance
2012 - a photo diary from a festive three weeks
2011 - what my son taught me about parenting cliches
2010 - Alex is 17 & ...and Natalie makes four...
(2) Farewell to Audrey
We said good-bye to a dear friend last week. In our short time in Connecticut Audrey Gilbertie endeared herself to us in so many ways (as has her whole family). I continue to be amazed at the way those who are close to death are able to persevere in relationship - in both giving and receiving acts of love - up until their last moment in this life. Audrey was like that, and Brian enjoyed each pastoral visit with her. On Tuesday, her family eulogized her so beautifully, and I was reminded that it's the small and tangible acts our family will recall when we are gone: the hugs, laughter, shared meals, and stories we tell that make up the most substantial part of our legacy.
Farewell, Audrey. We will meet you again soon.
Brian's last visit with Audrey.
(3) Thanksgiving Day in Binghamton (and the rest of our kids in Austin)
Thanksgiving posts in the archives:
2016 - Thanksgiving Daybook: Hallelujah, the bounty has come
2014 - Thanksgiving party-in-a-post
2012 - Thanksgiving party in a post
2011 - the sacrament of the unnecessary & mostly grateful & 7 quick takes! (preparing for our first Thanksgiving away from our NY family)
2008 - all is safely gathered in
(4) Our 27th Anniversary
Our anniversary gift to each other this year was a photo session with our friend Adiel Dominguez Photography. He helped us feel a bit more comfortable than we generally do in front of a camera, and we ended up having so much fun traipsing in the Connecticut woods. We tried to recreate one of my favorite wedding day photos from 27 years ago. (Brian has a much better haircut this time!)
2017
1990
Here's a few more of the photos from Adiel:
Anniversary posts from the blog archives:
2014 - Paying Attention (22): celebrating monotonous monogamy
2011 - twenty-one
2010 - I'm going to stop blogging for awhile because I need.... (a sappy photo slide show for our 20th)
2009 - i wanna marry you all over again & recession-proof romance
2007 - a delicious taste of the Big Apple; moving; Dot Rama's big lesson (Celebrating our 17th in NYC)
2006 - respite (Our 16th - exhausted - anniversary.)
(5) Christ the King Sunday
Tomorrow marks the final Sunday in the Church calendar. I hope I never stop delighting in the profound meaning of beginning the year with Christ in the womb, and ending the year celebrating His entire rule and reign over every square inch of the universe. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Here are some previous meditations from the archive:
2016 - Sabbath Daybook: Christ the King Sunday
2015 - {pretty, happy, funny, real} in a season of abundant celebrations, part 1 (Including Brian's ordination to the Anglican Diaconate!)
(6) Advent is coming!
Advent begins on Sunday, December 3 is the first day of Advent this year, which makes it a shorter season than other years. (Don't tell anybody I said this, but it also means we get a full week between Thanksgiving and Advent to watch some of our favorite Christmas movies before entering the contemplative weeks of Advent!)
As in the previous few years, I'll be sharing a daily meditation of art, music, Scripture, and spiritual practice. It also means you'll see my name show up more often in your inbox or blog feed (every day through the 12 days of Christmas). I hope that I'll be an encouragement to you as we enter into the waiting of the Christ who has come and will come again. Please feel free to let me know if there's any way I can improve the Advent Daybook series for you.
In the meantime, I've written quite a lot about Advent in the archives!
2016 - A few simple ways to decorate for Advent
2016 - Our favorite TV episodes during Advent
2016 - Our favorite Advent & Christmas books (for all ages)
2016 - Our favorite Advent music (for all ages)
2013 - You're not too late: five ways to celebrate Advent starting anytime
2010 - Advent gifts from the church, ancient and contemporary & uneasy Advent
2009 - we are expecting!
2008 - anguish
(7) links re: liturgy, art, and relationships
An End to 'Realistic' Love: Real love requires real imagination by Aarik Danielson - A beautiful, insightful piece by a new writing colleague. "Love is specific. No bumper-sticker theology—even the greatest, truest bumper sticker you can think of—can convey what it means to be for someone else. Only presence can do that. Only tenderness working from the inside out." | via Fathom Magazine
Every Moment Holy: New liturgies for daily life - Added to the top of my Christmas wish list! The good crew at the Rabbit Room have collected 100 of McElvey's prayers for everyday realities and occasions into a book that can be ordered here. | via The Rabbit Room
Episode 11: The Art of Criticism with Alissa Wilkinson - Grateful for the work Allissa is doing in the world of film criticism, and enjoyed this conversation so much! | via Image Journal podcast
Advent Readings from a Modern Martyr (Óscar Romero) - 25 excerpts from Plough's free ebook The Violence of Love. | via Plough
Responding to sexual abuse will take years—and it should - "The process of taking care of problems that have been avoided for decades will itself take decades." | via America Magazine
Krista Tippett - Top 10 episodes of On Being! - In honor of Ms. Tippett's Birthday. Many of ERB's picks overlap with my own. | via Englewood Review of Books
What Flannery O'Connor's College Journal Reveals - Published for the first time in the current issue of Image, an arts and faith quarterly—[the journal] covers just 40 days from December 1943 through February 1944, and was written during O’Connor’s sophomore year at what was then Georgia State College for Women.| via Atlantic Magazine
May your week ahead include true, good, and beautiful things.
p.s. This post may contain affiliate links because I'm trying to be a good steward, and when you buy something through one of these links you don't pay more money, but in some magical twist of capitalism we get a little pocket change. Thanks!
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