RocketMan

After work tonight, part of our "research" was watching this gem of a movie.  Madison has never seen it before, but Mommy and Daddy have - and we love it.  Film critic Roger Ebert gives it three out of four stars, so don't look at me like I'm crazy:  this movie is really fun.  I'll go ahead and say it is probably the best movie involving Mars out there.  The list of Mars movies is pretty short, obviously.  But still!

Madison really laughed a lot at this movie.  We had the obligatory popcorn, and laughed at pretty much all of it.  Again, we're simple people.  But we had a nice night together.

Daddy worked today, preparing tomorrow's message about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Each turtle will represent an attribute:  Courage, Learning, Joy and Leadership.  I'll let you figure out which turtle represents which value.  As you're doing that, here's the deal about the service:  we'll have movie clips showing the different characteristics, and of course we'll share scriptures and generally have a good time with it.

The strawberries are not quite ready yet.  We were going to check that out this morning, but they aren't ripe yet.  Almost there though!  It wouldn't have mattered because - get this:  it rained.  Yeah, I know that's old news.  Rain just keeps coming in, nearly each day.  Rain, rain and more rain.

It did clear up a bit, although things remained overcast for most of the day.  But the ground was once again saturated.

Madison practiced piano today, and read more from her books.  But her biggest accomplishment was a 300 piece puzzle that she did all by herself!

She was so proud of it that she had Daddy take a picture when he got home.  It'll stay together for a bit, at least until tomorrow afternoon.  The puzzle came from the library, by the way.  They have a take-a-puzzle, leave-a-puzzle program there.  You can bring in a puzzle and trade for another one, so Mommy got one with all these cats on it.  Daddy is itching all over just thinking of it!  But Madison loved this puzzle so much, she spent a good deal of time putting all the pieces together.  And again, she did pretty much all of it by herself!

So tomorrow is church, and we don't have long until Summer Xtreme.  Next week, we begin a new series, and there's so much to do.  In fact, right now there's one big thing I have to do:  go to sleep.  We haven't been getting enough lately, so it would be good to get that rest now, right?  That said... goodnight!

----

Oh, wait:  before going, here's the latest element devotional.  This one is dedicated to argon.

Q:  Do you know why the noble gas was very sad?
A:  Because all his friends argon.

“But God chose you to be His people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.“ 1 Peter 2:9 NIrV

ARGON

Ar 18

     Argon is a noble gas, but what exactly is a noble gas?  Here’s your answer:  it’s a family of gases that seem to be content on their own.  What that means is that they don’t combine with other elements too often.  As gases, they float above with higher purpose, not ever getting mixed with things they shouldn’t.

     Noble isn’t just a word you hear in chemistry alone, of course.  The word noble means a person has a higher character and spirit.  And used some ways, the word noble means a person is of royal rank or birth.

     As Christians, we are called to be noble.  We are chosen to be His people.  We are children of the King of kings, so that means we’re royals!  And God wants our character to be higher, and our spirit to be above that tempting sinful behavior. 

     Temptation is tricky, sticking its ugly head in our lives when we least expect it.  Yet just like a noble gas, the best way to avoid that sort of thing is to not associate with it.  You weren’t created to mix with that sort of thing!  You are noble, and you already have everything you need.  Don’t find yourself drawn in to doing bad things, because you hang out with poisonous people or spend time in toxic places.  Soar above that sort of thing, because you have a higher purpose.
     You are God’s special treasure.  He has brought you out of the darkness, and into His wonderful light.  You are a part of the noble family!