There is a wait if you want to sign up for the tennis class that Madison is in. You can only get in if a slot becomes available when someone drops out - we're not sure again how we got into this class with such a demand, but we're certainly not dropping out. Madison enjoyed it once again this afternoon, running drills and working on her swings. It's indoors, so the rain hasn't stopped classes - and neither will cold weather. During practice, she does a backhand swing and a normal swing, moving from position to position in an attempt to hit the ball. When she's not swatting the ball back at the instructor, she's collecting the balls that others have hit (just as all the other children do while Madison is hitting the ball). Her big thing at this point is holding the racket right, perpendicular to the ground. We'll practice this at our local court - in fact, we'll be heading to a new sporting goods store here soon. There is a store called "Dick's" that is opening in Gainesville at Lakeshore Mall.
It opens next month, in an interesting attempt to rejuvenate a sad little mall. We've commented before here about the pathetic state of Lakeshore Mall, and the memories of what it used to be. We remember seeing "Batman" there, or eating at Ruby Tuesday, and shopping at all these stores. It was so crowded back then. Now, as Daddy walks Madison down the mall, he's singing Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" to himself.
Of course, there's no reason to walk Madison down there right now: they took a wrecking ball to the 80's mall expansion - the part that had the carousel. That is now replaced with a large sporting goods store that connects Sears to JC Penny, two other places that Madison doesn't exactly need to frequent. We'll see how things pan out with this latest attempt to draw customers. Everyone will show up for the grand opening - in fact, Mommy has a coupon and we'll go to Dick's to buy a whole bunch of tennis balls for Madison. Maybe we'll see some other things there too.
Speaking of "sports," this Friday, there is a fund-raising drive. It's called the "Fund Run," where we can sponsor the students to run on the track during school time. It occurs to me that this will be Madison's first official track meet - we'll get her in some intense training tomorrow for the big run! Or not - this isn't a huge deal. She is competitive, and likes to run, so this might be something to consider for the future. Daddy isn't much of a runner, nor is Mommy. But there are all kinds of running events out there that look like fun. For example, the Zombie Run, where there are zombies running and survivors fleeing for their lives. There's also a Krispy Kreme run, where runners go a couple kilometers on foot, straight to a Krispy Kreme doughnut store. And, of course the neatest race of all - the one at Disney World. If it's something Madison is into, why not? Daddy will have a hard time keeping up, obviously! Unless the race is to Krispy Kreme, in which case it will be a lot closer.
Today we had another onslaught of rain. Buckets poured down all day long. I didn't see any cats and dogs falling from the sky, but if someone said it was raining cats and dogs, I would have believed them. Once again, the ground is saturated. There was an accident nearby our house that shut down Browns Bridge Road (again), pretty much putting a fork in the day as far as that goes. It was the kind of day that people would say is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.
But it was still a decent day for us. Daddy did some filming, some work too. We were safe as we traveled, and at night, we were all together. Daddy said goodnight in person to Madison this evening - we read some more from the Bible, from the book of Acts. The Pharisees were questioning this guy who was healed - and they were so close-minded that they missed out on the obvious that was staring them in the face. This sort of reminds me of another very similar moment in the Bible:
Tonight, Madison enjoyed hearing Daddy reading to her. She once again wanted to hear theses stories from the Bible, which is exciting to know. Afterwards, we briefly sat and talked about her day, and snuck downstairs afterwards - each of us turning in early for the night. We're a little under the weather today, but still grateful for the rain and the blessings we have.
It opens next month, in an interesting attempt to rejuvenate a sad little mall. We've commented before here about the pathetic state of Lakeshore Mall, and the memories of what it used to be. We remember seeing "Batman" there, or eating at Ruby Tuesday, and shopping at all these stores. It was so crowded back then. Now, as Daddy walks Madison down the mall, he's singing Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" to himself.
Of course, there's no reason to walk Madison down there right now: they took a wrecking ball to the 80's mall expansion - the part that had the carousel. That is now replaced with a large sporting goods store that connects Sears to JC Penny, two other places that Madison doesn't exactly need to frequent. We'll see how things pan out with this latest attempt to draw customers. Everyone will show up for the grand opening - in fact, Mommy has a coupon and we'll go to Dick's to buy a whole bunch of tennis balls for Madison. Maybe we'll see some other things there too.
Speaking of "sports," this Friday, there is a fund-raising drive. It's called the "Fund Run," where we can sponsor the students to run on the track during school time. It occurs to me that this will be Madison's first official track meet - we'll get her in some intense training tomorrow for the big run! Or not - this isn't a huge deal. She is competitive, and likes to run, so this might be something to consider for the future. Daddy isn't much of a runner, nor is Mommy. But there are all kinds of running events out there that look like fun. For example, the Zombie Run, where there are zombies running and survivors fleeing for their lives. There's also a Krispy Kreme run, where runners go a couple kilometers on foot, straight to a Krispy Kreme doughnut store. And, of course the neatest race of all - the one at Disney World. If it's something Madison is into, why not? Daddy will have a hard time keeping up, obviously! Unless the race is to Krispy Kreme, in which case it will be a lot closer.
Today we had another onslaught of rain. Buckets poured down all day long. I didn't see any cats and dogs falling from the sky, but if someone said it was raining cats and dogs, I would have believed them. Once again, the ground is saturated. There was an accident nearby our house that shut down Browns Bridge Road (again), pretty much putting a fork in the day as far as that goes. It was the kind of day that people would say is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.
But it was still a decent day for us. Daddy did some filming, some work too. We were safe as we traveled, and at night, we were all together. Daddy said goodnight in person to Madison this evening - we read some more from the Bible, from the book of Acts. The Pharisees were questioning this guy who was healed - and they were so close-minded that they missed out on the obvious that was staring them in the face. This sort of reminds me of another very similar moment in the Bible:
In John 9, Jesus healed this guy
who was blind all his life. Later,
the Pharisees, full of knowledge and wisdom, spoke to the ex-blind man and
asked him, “What do you think about this Jesus?” The guy hadn’t a clue.
All he knew was that he was blind but now he sees. So he told the Pharisees how he was
healed and that Jesus must have been a prophet or something. Of course, the Pharisees, full of
knowledge and wisdom, didn’t believe a word this guy said. So
they asked his parents, as if this was going to get a better answer. And his parents said, “He was blind and
now he sees. Why don’t you ask him
about it?” So the
Pharisees, full of knowledge and wisdom, brought back the formerly blind man
and asked, “You can’t have been healed by Jesus, because Jesus is a
sinner.” To which the man said, “Look, (you see, I can do that now) I don’t know who this guy is – but as I told you before, I once was blind but now I see! “We see,” said the Pharisees, who
evidently didn’t, “and how did he do that?” The guy answered, “I just told you! Do you want to hear it again? You must want to become disciples or
something!” This was evidently the
wrong thing to say. The angry
Pharisees said, “Look, you, we’re disciples of Moses – we don’t even know this
Jesus guy!” To which this man
responded, “Well, duh! You don’t know this guy – and yet, I know I’ve probably said
this before some time today, he healed my eyes. That
convinces me right there – this guy’s from God.”
Who
seems to be the smarter one in this story? What’s funny about this is that this common ordinary man
lays the smack-down on all these Pharisees. There was not a thing they could say that could change the
fact that he was blind and now he sees.
It trumped all arguments!
An ounce of experience with Jesus outweighed anything those
knowledgeable and wise Pharisees had to say. You see, with all that knowledge the Pharisees probably had,
nothing they knew was more important than knowing Jesus. The same could be said for you, but I’m
sure you know that. You’re not
blind!
Tonight, Madison enjoyed hearing Daddy reading to her. She once again wanted to hear theses stories from the Bible, which is exciting to know. Afterwards, we briefly sat and talked about her day, and snuck downstairs afterwards - each of us turning in early for the night. We're a little under the weather today, but still grateful for the rain and the blessings we have.
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