Shadoobie, Shattered!

This was a lightning strike we saw tonight.  Just amazing, really - we were at the Gwinnett KidPak service when another storm came rolling through, feeding off the energy of an unusually hot day.  There were two services at the Gwinnett Campus tonight, one at four and one at six - both were special services, which took place after the two services we already had in the morning.  So that made four services total today - quite a stretch.  But the storm struck during the first one, and the wind was ferocious, torrents of rain dumping out from above and all the trees swaying back and forth, bending and twisting with the wrath of the storm.  The lightning and thunder were intense, but there's always that one ultra close crack of thunder that makes everyone jump.  And this one sure did.  It was so close to us, the lightning just punishing a tree right outside the church.  This poor tree is right there next to the road, in front of the church, and it was just split - large splinters scattered all over the ground around the tree.  Pretty impressive stuff - we took a look at the tree in between services.

This morning's service didn't feature any thunder or lightning, but it did have a lot of magic!

Here are just a few of the actors on the set, holding their puppets.  The set looked great, as do the costumes.  That's a jellyfish in between the two fish, and to the right is a seahorse costume.  The puppets were perfect for what we needed, and hopefully we'll have a few more before the end of the week.  Really, that second service was something special.  I always feel - and I do not exaggerate - that we have simply the best children's service there is, and today was no exception.  We always shoot for the moon, with elaborate plans that sometimes fall a little short, but never fail to inspire or make kids laugh.  Today was a special one - Daddy will always remember that second service, as everything just simply fell into place in a wonderful sort of way.  One note about the skit above is that Madison named the characters.  The purple queen is named Rosie, and the seahorse is named Louie.  Madison sat in the audience and saw the services two times today, not complaining at all.  She loves to go to church, and today's entire flow was a really good one that we're very proud of.

It was a long day though.  As mentioned earlier, there were four KidPak services.  Two were in Gainesville, and two were in Gwinnett.  Daddy took Mommy and Madison home, and together we had a quick lunch and a small nap even.  And then it was time for Daddy to head down to Gwinnett.  Cue the action music, because once again there was another storm.  Add to this the fact that Daddy had to drop by to pick up pastor's saxophone stand and get it to the church on time.  But that he did, and soon the service was off and running.

It was a long day away from Madison.  She had a good morning at church, with a double portion of KidPak.  And afterwards, there was a bit of "My Little Pony" to watch.  Soon homework will start requiring more time - and piano classes too.  But for now, the pony marathons can go on.

Madison went to bed before Daddy got home tonight, which is somewhat depressing.  And Mommy hasn't been feeling 100% either, which is equally unsettling.  Hopefully we'll get to a doctor and figure out this new symptom, all related to her GI track, as usual.  But at least we figured out the allergy part.  Now is something new, which hopefully God will give us wisdom to discern what to do next.

Until then, it's time to go bed.  Long day, but a memorable one!