Go the Distance 2016

KidPak started our new series today, "Go the Distance," as we have about a month left until the Olympics start in Rio.

This is the greatest time for sports.  Where else can you find athletes all joined together to compete with hammer throws, synchronized swimming, pole vaulting, judo, and a squillion other sports?  Of course, there are mainstream sports like basketball, running, and cycling.  But it's the variety that is so great, getting to see someone do a shot put, or toss a javelin.

Today's message was about passing the torch, and we had a funny skit about it where Calvin above was getting ready for the big moment when he would be handed the torch to run with.

The tie-in was about us carrying the fire of God's word, the message of hope to all the world.  The shepherds a long time ago at Bethlehem were the first to pick up the torch, and they've been passing it on from generation to generation.  And now it is our turn!

It was a great morning, an Olympic-sized one, in fact.  We went home pretty content with ourselves after all the hard work and fuss over this new series.  The set looks better than ever, and suddenly, we're all Olympic-minded:  Rio is not that far away at all.

The rest of the day, we didn't do as much.  We intended to, if that means anything!  But setting up a new series takes a lot out of you, and so there wasn't much accomplished.  We did so a lot with video games, accomplishing a great deal there, right?  But it just doesn't sound that impressive to say we got Mickey Mouse to level 18 on Disney Infinity, does it?  We also did the LEGO Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and so Madison got to meet some of those characters for the first time.  She's heard Daddy talk about them before, and until now, she's pictured the character Lincoln as a guy who looked like Abraham Lincoln.  This might have made him a more interesting character, I think.

Tonight, we continued our love of Roald Dahl by watching the Danny DeVito movie, "Matilda."  Of course, the story was by Dahl.  We haven't read that book yet, although we just recently found it in hardback, so we had to pick it up.  We've really appreciated his writings as of late, from "BFG" to "Willy Wonka" to "The Fantastic Mr. Fox."  And tonight, everyone enjoyed this movie "Matilda" as well.  We wouldn't put it up there with those other three movies, but it was still good fun, with that typical dark Dahl mischievousness thrown in for good measure.

Before bedtime, we read from our new devotional, one that Daddy wrote a few years ago for the Olympics.  To prep Madison for the reading, Daddy showed her the Men's 4X100 race in Beijing a few years ago, the one where we came from behind to beat France by 8/10 of a second.  Daddy didn't tell Madison who would win, so it was like reliving that excitement all over again.  That was one of the most exciting sporting events I think I've ever seen, one of the greatest come-from-behinds I can remember.  Even the announcers were confident France had it all wrapped up for the gold, this with only a pool length left to go.  Tonight's devotional involved getting the edge, which was a good way to start out this new devotional.

Yes, we read more from Mary Poppins afterwards.  We're currently in the space between the new year and the old year, "the crack," as it is also known.  Nursery rhyme characters, along with Robinson Crusoe and Friday are there, mingling with the children, and as always, paying their respects to Mary Poppins herself, who seems to be some sort of celestial force to be reckoned with at this point.  Seriously, all the creatures of the sea, all the constellations in the heavens, all the workers in London, all the birds in the sky, and the animals in the London Zoo - they all have a deep respect and devotion to her, as if she were the queen of the universe.  Mary Poppins is all powerful, and all knowing too.  And for some reason, she keeps coming back to Cherry Tree Lane.  It's a very interesting series, indeed.  Hmmph.