Jenga

Tonight we had a bit of Jenga going on - Daddy had the camera ready for this big plunge when it was Madison's turn. Yet Madison didn't go with the script! She was able to slide one last piece out and stack it on top - you can see her shock, joy and surprise when she was able to pull it all off. This tower was swaying so much you just knew it was going to topple. And then she puts the piece on top, puts her hand over her heart, and looks at Daddy and goes, "Your turn!"

It was a great moment - although a brief one for Daddy. It's his 'busy day,' with a message tonight that we did in small groups. The series is about board games, and tonight's message is about... you guessed it: Jenga. Here's a brief idea of things below:

"JENGA"

"You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building." Ephesians 2:20 12:12 NIrV

     The concept behind Jenga is simple: build a tower, and build it taller! The challenge about the game is not-so-simple: use only the pieces that are already on that tower! This is one of those games that takes nerves of steel. Each player takes a turn carefully sliding a piece of the tower out of its place, and then cautiously, slowly, balancing it on top again. How high can it go before everything starts toppling down? That's part of the fun - nobody knows!
     Here's a bit of strategy: leave the bottom alone. That's your foundation, and without it, obviously the entire tower will come toppling down around you. That may be a bit of common sense, but it's important to set up here how important that foundation is. It is the very thing that the entire game rests upon, and without it, everything comes crashing down right away!
We have a foundation in our lives that is just like that. His name is Jesus, a cornerstone, and the most important part of the building of the church. Everything rests on him, and without Jesus in your life, you guessed it: life comes crashing down all around you.
     As you grow, you will go farther and farther! You will go higher and higher, and it's going to be incredible. But you must be sure that you have that most important foundation, the One who your entire life needs to rest upon. His name is Jesus.


The evening was a huge success. Kids just love Jenga! There was such tension in the room, back and forth. So much celebrating when one side or the other was successful with their move! And of course, the message itself was pretty obvious, and pretty clear.

So it's raining again. Just in case you needed to know that. It's been essentially doing that all week long. Madison and Mommy went to ballet tonight, which wasn't a parent-viewing sort of evening, but Mommy was okay with that as she got a chance to do some grocery shopping.

One thing of note: Madison seems to have an increasing amount of homework lately. There is a growing amount of math, reading and comprehension. This week, she's been getting really good at reading this one passage about Paul Revere over and over again. Each time she reads it out loud, she gets better and better. She has one minute to go, and she's gotten further and further. But we're not as concerned about the amount of words she says - we're very pleased with how she says them. She's sounding great.

It's been a great day - a long one, but a great one.  Jenga!