Hawkeye

Daddy and Madison took a little time today to go to Marvel drawing school, at least the home version.  Each month she gets a Marvel magazine that's meant for kids, and inside that magazine is a "how to draw a hero" portion that gives step-by-step instructions on how to draw various superheroes.  One of the more recent ones was the character Hawkeye, so we sat down at the kitchen table to give it a try:

This is Madison's drawing, and it turned out pretty good, actually!  I was hoping she'd learn some new ways to learn about drawing a human face, and this was a great exercise in that direction.  She's been doing other methods as well, and the more the merrier.  It's just a matter of spending more and more time getting the proportions right, and spending more time on the details.  I think this one turned out pretty good, all things considered.  Daddy's turned out okay too, but we like Madison's better!

Daddy has been sick lately, so he stayed at home today while Mommy was out getting groceries for tomorrow.  We're having more guests from the 501st at KidPak, and we wanted to make them feel welcome.  Speaking of which, Mommy had this amazing breakfast made this morning, all on a skillet, sizzling on the table there and absolutely delicious.  Even with a stuffy nose, I could smell all the delicious flavor, and the three of us sat down for a memorable breakfast this morning.

It was a rainy day today, as was yesterday and apparently tomorrow too.  The pool was out of the question today, and with Daddy not doing as well, that's okay right now.  We stayed inside, and Madison practiced her triplets on the piano, as Daddy started to do the work on this board game we're constructing.  It's a paper craft based on the Haunted Mansion, and presently it should take approximately forever to get done.  But we're getting started, one piece at a time.  Hopefully it'll be done by October!

We did a few things related to our service tomorrow, and wrote some video game themed devotional entries, including this one that I rather like, based on the game "Pac-Man."  I used to have Pac-Man bedsheets when I was a kid, and I desperately wanted to be awesome at it - but was instead rather mediocre.  I'm afraid I don't have the patience for it, and yet I still had Pac-Man Fever a bit.  There's so much nostalgia behind that game, one of the grandfathers of video game characters.  There's this magic behind the music and the sound effects, the very essence of arcades in the early 80's, a place that felt like Christmas morning to all of us nerds.  Arcades were quite magical - to this day I remember a birthday party I was invited to where we could play any game at all for one hour absolutely free.  That... was... amazing!

Later on, "Pac-Man" came out for the Atari 2600, and I got to be pretty good at it.  Of course, it was disappointing that it looked nothing like the original Pac-Man.  But we still enjoyed it.  I can still hear those sound effects as well, different from the arcade and a little less magical, but still potent enough to bring a smile to my face these days.

I digress.  Here below is a devotional entry as we close up for the day here.  It's not necessarily about the nostalgia, but more about the actual game itself, the legendary Pac-Man:

This was the pattern to my bedsheets.  True story.

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.” Jeremiah 15:16 NIV

     Waka waka waka waka!  When playing the classic arcade games “Pac-Man” and “Mrs. Pac-Man,” there’s one thing each player does, and it’s pretty simple:  eat.  Pac-Man eats all of these dots found within a maze, and that seems easy enough.  That is, until you consider the fact that there are four not-so-friendly ghosts out there:  Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.  These guys would love nothing more than to ruin Pac-Man’s day.
      Fortunately, there’s something wonderful found within each maze:  power pellets.  When Pac-Man eats these, he isn’t chased around by these ghosts anymore.  No, after Pac-Man eats a power pellet, he’s the one that does the chasing.
     Do you ever feel lost, unsure of which way to go to, as if you’re in a maze?  Do you ever feel like those bad decisions you made are haunting you, chasing you around like ghosts from your past?  If so, why not follow Pac-Man’s plan:  eat the right thing.  Jeremiah talked about eating God’s Word, and of course he wasn’t really putting it into his mouth.  He was talking about reading scriptures and hearing from God in prayer.
      You see, the Word of God is more powerful than any energizer!  When we take time to read and consume the words of God in the Bible, amazing things happen.  We find direction, no longer lost or unsure of which way to turn.  It’s much easier to see your way through a maze when you have a heavenly perspective.  And furthermore, when we spend time with God’s Word, we’re empowered.  We’re no longer chased around by problems – no, we’re the ones that do the chasing!  Yes, we can move around in confidence, and be absolute winners!
     Take it from Pac-Man, you can get energized eating the right thing.  Or, to quote our famous yellow hero:  “Waka waka waka waka!”