Lothal and Saturn

So tonight we binge-watched the rest of season four of "Star Wars Rebels."  It is certainly an instance of "binge-watching," because we watched six consecutive episodes, and the accompanying "Rebels Recon" episodes as well.  Monumental events happened in the very first of the episodes we watched tonight, and therefore we just had to watch the next one and so on and so on.  Madison was up until midnight with us - we don't have to get up tomorrow, so we rationalized!  It was a really late night, so we didn't read tonight.  But it was worth it to Madison, who is really excited about this series again, so much that she wants to start watching the entire thing all over again from episode one.  We just might do that, actually.

So Daddy is sick, but the others are not and that's good.  He did a lot of writing today, but it is hard to focus sometimes when you're not feeling that well.  Madison did well on a test today for her business and computer science class.  We have access to Parent Portal, and can see the grades sometimes before she does.  She's doing well with nothing but A's so far, and feeling pretty good about things.  These online resources are great, because we can keep up with her work and help her keep on top of things.  We're not to heavy-handed, but it's good to know what's going on and what is being taught.  Sometimes it helps in ways that we can further her education, for example with the solar system studies, it might be good to pull out the telescope and give it a try.  I'd love for Madison to be able to see Saturn's rings with her own eyes.  We'll try that soon enough, actually.  About fifteen years ago, Daddy and Mommy were looking through the telescope at different planets, and saw the rings of Saturn, and sure enough:  they're there.  It's not a hoax, people.  The planet actually has rings around it, which is just amazing when you stop to think about it.  I mean, can you imagine a colorful planet with these ginormous rings around it?  Who does that?  God does, of course, and it's just simply amazing.

I'm anxious to set the telescope up now, and hope it all still works.  In the meantime, it's time for some rest.  The medication is setting in, and we'll all sleep in tomorrow - hopefully Daddy will be feeling better, and hopefully nobody else will get sick.

Until then, here's a wistful look back at the past with a devotional I wrote today about the very beginnings of Street Fighter.  We were looking at some current new characters to the game, and remembering the first time we saw the game, quite some time ago, and with a much different configuration than there is today.  Take a look!

“He makes the whole body grow and build itself up in love. Under the control of Christ, each part of the body does its work. It supports the other parts. In that way, the body is joined and held together.”Ephesians 4:16 NIRV

     Not many people remember this, but the very first Street Fighter game in arcades did not have six buttons on it.  Not like today, where there are six buttons for each character.  No, instead, you moved your character with a controller, and how hard you hit your opponents was determined by how hard you slammed your fist down on two pads labeled “punch” and “kick.”
     To this day, I remember one match we played at the arcade.  I was in charge of the “punch” button, and one of my friends had the “kick” button, while the third friend moved the character around. For the entire match, I spent all my energy slamming my fists down on this “punch” pad randomly as hard as I could, while my friend was doing the same with the “kick” pad.
     The end result was an easy loss:  our character was flailing about in this really weird way, punching the air really hard, and kicking at nothing with all his might.  Sure, if we ever hit anything, it probably would have been great. But no, we lost right away.
      Why?  The problem was obvious:  we weren’t coordinated!  Perhaps if we worked together we’d stand a better chance.  Also, perhaps our hands wouldn’t be bruised and sore from all that pounding.
      The point is this:  we’re designed to work together.  We’re all parts of the body.  I was the hand, and one friend was the foot, while the third was the head.  If we worked together as one body, we might have stood a chance.
     We are all parts of the body, and God didn’t design us to go through life alone. You were made to work together with others, as one body.  Don’t worry, you’ll have your chance to make an impact in life, and yes, it’s going to be huge.  But there’s only one way to be a real world champion:  it’s when we work together.