Ups and downs

Friday - the start of another ONE Conference here at the church.  Couples from around the country are coming in to enjoy a retreat for couples.  There's a lot of set-up and a lot going on.  We're not quite as involved in the children's ministry as we were last year:  that was the "month of the circus," where we had Big Top going on down at KidPak to match the overall theme of the conference, and then the trip to the circus at the end.  We sort of overdid the circus theme a bit last year, so we're pulling back on visits to the circus this time around.  We did have plans to see a Chinese circus here - it was to be a Chinese New Year celebration of sorts, but the snow cancelled those plans.  No worries.

We did get tickets to the upcoming "Mary Poppins" show that the Gainesville Ballet Company is doing.  This is the ballet that Madison is involved with, so she got a little discount there.  We also got the same seats this time as we did for "The Nutcracker," right in front on the balcony - so Madison can see fine.

Tonight was Friday, of course, so when Daddy got home a little later, Madison and Mommy were still up.  Madison and Daddy even played some games late into the night, where we got a few more Lego characters open, including Drax and Ghost Rider.  Drax is a new one to Daddy, just one of the Guardians of the Galaxy.  That movie comes out later this year, although it might not be appropriate for Madison quite yet - the preview seems a little more edgy than other Marvel entries.  Still, we'll check it out - hopefully the Disney influence will keep it more in line with the other movies that they've been releasing lately.

We did have a bit of piano practice - doesn't this sound like a broken record sometimes?  It'll just go to show later on down the road how much Madison sat behind that keyboard, repeating certain songs over and over again.  She's getting better, and as said earlier, Daddy needs to practice more himself just to keep up!

Daddy has another deal with her for drawing too:  ten more drawings will get a prize of some sort.  I've got a stash somewhere, and there are still a few decent prizes left to reward her good behavior.  So we'll get her drawing more and more, and hopefully we'll see her skills increase there as well.  She really enjoys drawing - it comes naturally to her, and she wants to do it.  Sometimes she's in a hurry to do things, but other times she'll sit there and dedicate a whole lot of time to the small details of a fine drawing.

Yesterday morning, we got a call.  Madison's Great Aunt Linda passed away in the night, a victim of cancer.  It's been a two-year battle, one with ups and downs like many others.  Mommy faced this same battle not long ago, but in this case, it was time for my Aunt Linda to go.  It was a heartbreaking call, and we started the day with heavy spirits.  Nana and her mother (Madison's Great Grandmother) will be making the trip to Texas this weekend to attend a memorial service.  Our prayers are with them for the journey, and for a reconciliation of sorts.  Nana got to see her sister one last time a year ago, as she drove her mother out to see our ailing aunt.  Things did not seem as bad then, but that's just the way this battle can be.  Ups and downs.

How blessed we are to have Mommy here with us this day.  How lost I would be without her.  She survived the attack.  And this week, we'll be praying and grieving for our family members who are experiencing this profound loss.  Cancer isn't fair.  We despise it.  Some day, our society will conquer this beast.  I hope we see that in our lifetimes.

And so that was our day.  It ended as things have lately, with Mommy and Daddy watching some more of the Olympic games.  And along those lines, here is yet another devotional entry that follows the theme from Sochi.  This one is about biathletes.  We've been watching all kinds of sports lately - haven't missed a single one this time.  No penalty laps for us:

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28 NIrV

     You want to talk about self-control?  Imagine taking a shot at a gold medal – literally.  Your target is one hundred and sixty feet away.  How big is this target?  Sometimes smaller than five inches – other times smaller than two inches!  If you move the barrel of your gun even the slightest, you’ll miss your goal, and spend a lot of time going in circles doing penalty laps.

     

     This is the biathlon.  You race on your skis, and then you shoot.  Then you race on skis again.  When aiming your rifle, you’ve got to be perfectly still before taking your shot.  That can be tough because all biathletes have been skiing hard just to get to the rifle range. 

      Still, this intense self-control is not enough: a large percent of the problems come from battles in the mind.

      As Christians, we can completely relate with this.  Self-control is an issue that all of us have to deal with.  When it comes to taking care of our physical bodies, we have choices to make each day.

     Your mind has to be clear.  What thoughts are you allowing in?  What things are you dwelling on? In Philippians 4:8, Paul had a solution that was right on the mark.  He wrote, “Always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.”  Though a battle may rage inside your mind, this one verse is the ammunition you need for getting self-control.