March Fourth

It's March Fourth, which generally means I listen to a song featured from the Monsters University soundtrack, one by a band called MarchFourth, because why not?  It's March Fourth, right?  Besides, the track is pretty amazing - it's called "Gospel," and it is one of those marching band songs that just gets you moving forward.  Or marching forth at least.

And that's what we did today - I was marching forth in Nashville, at least on the treadmill finishing that up.  The sea monkeys are doing just fine, with little ones still in there flittering about.  The big three are swirling about and doing just fine.  We've got all kinds of birds out there, including this annoying robin.  But the sparrows are wonderful, and so many of them flying in for visits.  The scripture comes to mind always when I see them, and for just a moment our eyes are on the sparrow as well, and it's just sort of a moment there.

Anyway, we marched forth out the door this morning for a few chores at the bank, then to Goodwill where we needed some props for this week's filming for the Easter production.  While there - get this - I found a comic book with the Exodus story in it.  I snatched a few up right away, one for KidPak, and one for myself!  We did find what we needed for filming, and after that we were off for a few other chores, including getting more bird seed at the tractor supply place.  But we also picked up some potting soil and some small planters so that we can get started on some plants indoors first.  And one other big thing we did today was vote.  Yes, it's a primary season here, and we did some early voting this morning, but there was a huge crew there at the library to welcome us and guide us through - there were only one thing to vote for, and that was President, and by this point it seems pretty decided with both parties, which is to say there's really not much news here.  

This is a very unique election season in that both parties are settled pretty much very early.  Which is not to say things could change drastically between now and November.  Despite the fact that all the delegates for both parties are pretty much going to one candidate for each party, there is very much a potential for either of the candidates to be removed from their chance to run.  One candidate is struggling with issues related to the perception of his ability to perform at the age he is, and there are concerns he can make it through this election season.  And the other candidate was even blocked by a court ruling in Colorado, by just one judge who wanted to remove the candidate for an alleged crime, which is to say there was no arrest, indictment, trial, and obviously no conviction.  Today the Supreme Court decided in a 9-0 decision that this wasn't the way to go about things - it was kind of a big deal.  So onward we march with these two candidates, and in fact we voted for one of them today, and got our little "we secured our vote" stickers too!  And then we secured a ride home in our car.

Of note is the fact that we have a "zero" year President.  For an older generation like myself, this was a legit fear.  Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush broke that curse, or from what I understand their prayer teams prayed against it.  But as a reminder for those of you that don't know this, every President that won an election in a "zero year," (1840, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940, 1960) died in office.  Growing up, we were worried about Reagan, and of course we all know there was an attempted assassination that was nearly successful.  And again there were even residual fears about George W. Bush.  Of course, those fears were put aside when both flew off from the White House.  And in fact, I hadn't thought about the "zero year" anymore until this year.  One hundred years ago, President Harding's time in office came to an abrupt halt due to the effects of what might have been a stroke.  There are still questions that surround his passing, but the bottom line is that he was likely not assassinated, but rather died from more natural causes in office.  One hundred years later, we have a guy in office who is also surrounded by similar political controversies and there is a perception that he is not quite sturdy enough to withstand the responsibilities and weight of being leader of the free world.  I am sincerely praying for him.

Anyway, moving on.  Mom and I did our next "Exodus" class today, and it's been so good.  Was Pharaoh a first-born, and why was he spared?  Lots of discussions about the Passover today, and about the parting of Red Sea.  We're very much into this series!

Maddie had class too.  She is more confident in her visits to Chestatee now, and she seems to be doing okay elsewhere.  She doesn't talk about school as much, except for the funny moments in her forensics class and occasional stories from the elementary school.  She's looking forward to the prom though - we've got the day marked where she can buy tickets to that.

I've been doing these arm exercises using a kit that Mom got me for Christmas two years ago, and I do that every day to strengthen my shoulders.  It seems to be working too - the cracking, twisting, painful moments when reaching out left or right seem to be getting fewer and fewer as the blood flow in my arms increases and the healing builds up tissue and stops this painful grinding.  It's part of my daily routine.  Along with reading that Perry Stone Bible too - I'm still in Exodus, along with the classes of course.  I'm right there at the Ten Commandments at the moment.

Tonight Maddie had another class or two - she was at taekwondo, of course.  I was in there watching her, and she took a few moments to lead a small class herself, "teaching" others about sidekicks.  There were some things her instructors told her could be better, and then there were plenty of other things that she did perfectly.  She's there to learn, and she's doing just that as she gets better with her own form and gets better with leading and guiding others.

Our movie of the night was "Kung Fu Panda 3," which we had not seen in a while, but we watched it to complete the trilogy and get ready for the fourth movie later on.  We're hoping to see that soon.  Mom's working on costumes as she watches.  She's getting more and more busy.

We read tonight for a little bit, and after that it was time for prayers and bed.  It's been a good day, already the fourth day of March.  We're certainly Marching Fourth!