Ordinary Orrery

So we learned a new word today, "orrery."  This is, according to the internet, "a mechanical model of the solar system, or of just the sun, earth, and moon, used to represent their relative positions and motions."

I bring this up because we saw the first "Tomb Raider" movie tonight, which chronologically takes place second.  Madison was excited to see Lara Croft again, and despite the snickers about the quality of a movie based on a video game, it wasn't that bad.  It actually looks like a video game in several instances, with "big boss" characters to battle, simplistic ways of dealing with those characters and more.  You simply aim two guns at everything and use your unlimited ammo to deal with the bad guys.  At the end, there is this steampunk design of a orrery, which is just a weird word, honestly.  But it's a real word, so we're going with it.  I kind of want an orrery now, although not that big of an orrery.  Maybe we can put the orrery in the back yard.

From what I understand, this orrery was destroyed, which is a real shame.  It's a real nice looking orrery.  It's not an ordinary orrery, for sure.

Moving on, today was art camp, and Madison had a great time as always with textures and pastels and paints.  She got messy again, yes.  And she also played more games:  today's games featured some role-playing game involving superheroes, creativity, and dice.  Daddy has tried a few role-playing games in the past with others, meeting in dens and going on lengthy campaigns designed by Dungeon Masters or Game Masters or whatever, and honestly... it's not for me.  I can say I tried it though, but I don't entirely see the appeal of it, even with all the creativity at work in the group.  But I'm not going to take away from it in any way from others:  to each their own.  It just wasn't for me.

Madison had a great time trying it out today, although it wasn't something we knew about ahead of time.  There are plenty of role-playing games out there that are not good, but this one didn't seem to have anything bad about it.  You can't toss all role-playing games out the window because of bad ones that exist, any more than you can throw out entire states of the Union because there are corrupt governments within.

See what I did there?  I transitioned to the elections today, which finished up until November.  Today was the run-off for the primaries.  We did early voting a while back, and I think only one of the people we voted for actually won the primary run-off today.  Which is fine - the differences are always subtle, whereas the general leaning is what is more important.  The candidates seemed largely the same, unlike the general election in November, where the differences are more substantial.

Madison did some speech exercises today, and played piano as well.  But she's also working on her drawings at home, working on a fox drawing with some shading.  She's learning to shade things and she's been quite pleased at the end product.  We're happy to see her progressing so nicely with her artistic skills.  This camp she's at has been inspiring her to create, and we're happy to see that.  How great to sit at the table and draw - Mommy gave her some new pencils, each one a different level of darkness.  Madison is exploring the use of these, seeing which ones work best, and trying things out on paper.  This is much better than sitting around, using a handheld device, for certain.

Speaking of which, school is next week.  Crazy, huh?  We're gearing up for that, getting to bed a little earlier than usual.  Tonight we read from "The Hostile Hospital," chapter three.  The Volunteers Fighting Disease are a funny group of cheerful helpers - Madison still remembers their song from the television series.  We said our prayers tonight, and that was largely it, the end of a pretty big day.

Mommy and Daddy got a lot done at church today, including cleaning up some rooms, putting props away, and setting up for another skit tomorrow night on the main sanctuary stage.  Josh and Daddy will be involved with another skit for Dr. Rutland, which is an honor, and lots of fun too.  We'll start rehearsing tomorrow!

Until then, here's the service script for the movie message about "Trolls" we'll be doing tomorrow night at KidPak.  It's what Madison and the other kids will be seeing, and is shaping up to be a lot of fun!

KidPak Adventures: Superflix

“Trolls”

CUE SLIDE:  “Superflix”

HOST:  “Hair up! I got this feeling inside my bones that you know what movie we’re talking about today.  If there’s a place in movies that’s filled with dancing, joy, crazy hair and scrapbooking – it’s just got to where our friends live in the movie “Trolls.”

CUE SLIDE:  “TROLLS”

HOST:  “Here’s where we meet a bunch of happy characters, always ready for a party.  Can you name some of these characters?”

CUE SLIDE:  “BIGGIE and MR. DINKLES”

HOST:  “Biggie and Mr. Dinkles.”

Let audience answer.

HOST:  “Oh, snap!  How about this one?”

CUE SLIDE:  “Cooper”

Let audience answer.

HOST:  “That’s right, Cooper.  How about this one?”

CUE SLIDE:  “Guy Diamond”

Let audience respond.

HOST:  “Guy Diamond!  Now who going to be the ruler of all the trolls?”

CUE SLIDE:  “Princess Poppy”

Let audience respond.

HOST:  “That one’s easy.  Princess Poppy is the happy ruler of these happy trolls, never worried about trouble, and never prepared for anything to ever go wrong.  But does something wrong happen to the trolls?”

Let audience answer.

HOST:  “Yes, you’re right.  It sure does!”

CLIP ONE:  Trouble comes to the troll camp.

CUE SLIDE:  “TROUBLE”

HOST:  “The lives of the trolls are in danger!  And this is the part where Poppy’s dad had some very important words – and our first point!”

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT 1:  NO TROLL LEFT BEHIND

HOST: “No troll left behind. Of course, this is important for us to know as well:  God doesn’t want anyone left behind.  Let me show you a scripture that proves it.”

CUE SLIDE:  “2 PETER 3:9”

HOST:  “The Lord is not slow to keep his promise. He is not slow in the way some people understand it. Instead, he is patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins.”

CUE SLIDE:  “TROLLS TITLE SCREEN”

HOST:  “God wants everyone in heaven.  He wants everyone saved, and He wants your help.  Yet there are many people out there – some even in the church – that don’t do all that much to help save people who are in danger. Crazy, isn’t it?  I want you to meet a troll who is like that – his name is Branch.  All he has to do is one simple thing to help save his fellow trolls from being eaten. You think he’ll do it?”

Let audience respond.

HOST:  “Let’s find out.”

CLIP TWO:  Branch doesn’t high-five

CUE SLIDE:  BRANCH and CLOUD

HOST:  “Branch wouldn’t even do a high five in order to save those in trouble.  And before we get all judgy, we need to ask this question: what are we doing to help out in the church?  If everyone does our what we can, even the simplest things can help save the world.

CUE SLIDE:  TROLLS TITLE SCREEN

HOST:  “Branch wouldn’t sing.  Branch wouldn’t even do a high five in order to save those in trouble.  And yet what are we doing to help out in the church?  If everyone does our what we can, even the simplest things can help help save the world.  God gave you a gift to help others – stop focusing on yourself, and start focusing on others, and you’ll start acting more like Jesus.  Let me share this one scripture that fits people like Branch perfectly.”

CUE SLIDE:  JAMES 2:16-17 NIRV

HOST:  “Suppose one of you says to them, ‘Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.’ And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?  It is the same with faith. If it doesn’t cause us to do something, it’s dead.”

CUE SLIDE:  “BRANCH”

HOST:  “Faith involves doing something.  If we really believe any of this, we have to act.  We have to do something, even if it is something small like giving a smile – or even do a high-five.  Now it’s true that Branch hit some hard times.  But it’s also the truth is that we alldo.  The world may not be all cakes and rainbows, but if we’re going to win, there’s one thing you need to do.  It’s the one thing that all winners do:  get back up again.  Let’s watch someone right now that knows exactly how to do that!

CLIP THREE:  Get Back Up Again.

CUE SLIDE:  “PRINCESS POPPY”

HOST:  “That was so awesome, I think we should make it point two.”

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT 2:  Get Back Up Again.”

HOST:  “Get back up again. The world may not be all cakes and rainbows, but with our Heavenly Father, there’s always a bright side. And with our Heavenly Father, there’s always hope.  There’s something wonderful coming, if you don’t give up.  Let me show you this one scripture in Galatians that’s worth putting in your scrapbook:”

CUE SLIDE:  GALATIANS 6:9 NIRV

HOST:  “Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.” 

CUE SLIDE:  “BRANCH AND POPPY”

HOST:  “The problem with Branch is that he was so hurt that he was unable to focus on anything but his own hurting.  But Poppy kept sowing seeds into his life – you could see he kept all the party invitations, even though he never came. Sometimes you can’t see it on the outside, but when we keep on showing love, and never give up, things will change over time and even the toughest troll – or Bergen - will change.  Becausetrue happiness is closer than you think.  You can have it when you invite Jesus into your heart.”

CUE SLDE:  “TROLLS TITLE SCREEN”

HOST:  “The world is a grey and colorless place without Jesus in it. It’s an unhappy place.  You have to get your heart like our Heavenly Father’s – no troll left behind, and if discouragement comes, just get back up again. In other words, we need to show our true colors.”

HOST:  “In the story of “Trolls,” the main characters are captured by hungry Bergens.  How amazing that when all hope is lost, it’s Branch who finally comes through.  All those times that Poppy kept trying to bring happiness to Branch paid off, and just at the right time – as you’ll see right now.”

CLIP FOUR:  True Colors

CUE SLIDE:  “TRUE COLORS”

HOST:  “Show your true colors.  That’s our third and final point.”

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT 3:  SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS”

HOST:  “In ‘Trolls,’ it’s amazing how one Troll’s song of hope brought color and life to so many others.  He saved the day!  But so can you, when you share God’s light of love.  It can lead others to Him, and bring color to the world.  Let’s look at one final scripture about sharing that light.”

CUE SLIDE:  “MATTHEW 5:16 NIRV”

HOST:  “In the same way, let your light shine so others can see it. Then they will see the good things you do. And they will bring glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

CUE SLIDE:  “TROLLS TITLE SCREEN”

HOST:  “It doesn’t take much to shine your light.  And that means it doesn’t take much to help save the world.  We’re surrounded by people who are hurting, just like Branch was.  Just keep shining that light, because God doesn’t want anyone left behind.  Get back up again, and help others to do the same thing.  When we do that, we’re letting that light shine so others can see it. Then they will see the good things you do.  And they will bring glory to our Father who is in heaven.”

HOST:  “Let us pray.”