Elevate

This morning we started out mountain climbing series, "Elevate," and it was a great one.  You can see the results of an avalanche above, or at least a shaking of the ground all cause by Nerdo making one particular noise a little too loudly.  This was Madison's favorite part of the skit.

It was a great morning, and the set looks really good too, as you can see here.  Just picture how dramatic a change it was from last week, where we had jolly old England on stage.  Now we have winter, lots of warmer clothing, and no English accents.

All the writing has come to this, and that was eighty-eight pages in booklets, and then Parenting Matters, a skit, and a sermon for today as well.  And it went very well.  The actors were filled with all kinds of energy, and it's just neat to see us go from mystery to Scrooge to mountain climbing.  The basic idea is that these characters are here at base camp to acclimate for a day or so before climbing  upwards.

Of course, inevitably, something will go wrong along the way to keep them from going up, at least temporarily.  In this case, it's a mix of different things.  The yeti is out there, or perhaps someone dressed up like a yeti.  It's uncertain at this point, but clearly by next week, the kids will have seen a yeti first hand.  Which is always fun.

Speaking of which, Daddy got to speak this morning to the kids, a classic message about climbing upwards.  It went particularly well, especially the second service.  On the whole, it was a great morning, and a great start to a new series.  Madison enjoyed it quite a bit, though she's still not convinced that climbing a mountain is the thing for her.

Perhaps then, it would be making musical instruments?

We went to the Northeast Georgia History Center today, as you can see above.  Madison was dressed in period clothing, and given a guitar to pose in front of a green screen.  They printed a picture and gave it to us, amongst other things.  Madison made a pan flue using straws, and another craft as well, also enjoying a big of apple cider they had for all the guests there this afternoon.  But the fun thing for Madison was the special dancers and musicians.  Here's Madison with some folks from the Roarin Twenties, including a few Flappers.

If the one lady on the right looks familiar, it's because she was dancing with many other folks at the Wren's Nest a few weeks ago before Christmastime.  Now she was a Flapper, and showing Madison how to dance the Charleston!

This was a fun time for us, followed by a relaxing evening.  Tomorrow we'll get back to work with decorations and cleaning up.  But today there was a return to LEGO Dimensions, which featured Madison's first game of Gauntlet, a big moment there.  The game had a Ghostbusters level, and then a video game level - we're enjoying both of these.

Finally, the end of season three of Star Wars Rebels.  Wow, those last three episodes were really good.  Six thumbs up from the three of us, who suddenly want to see "Rogue One" again, and maybe for Madison tomorrow we'll see "Episode III."  You can tell we're in a bit of a Star Wars mode all of the sudden, and it's a good thing we had the book "Ahsoka" to read from.  It's off to a slow start, but it's still got several events coming up soon that look like trouble.  We'll see how things turn out soon enough.

After this, of course there were prayers, and the fasting devotional, something we'll leave you with now:

“Don’t you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is in you, and you have received the Spirit from God. You do not belong to yourselves.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 NIRV

     In order to climb up a mountain, it goes without saying that you should probably stay healthy. Mountaineers that hope to find themselves on top of the peak need to be in pretty good shape.
     Do you think anyone could ever get to the top of any big mountain if all they do is sit around and eat chocolate candy? As great as that sounds, the answer is obviously no.
     This is one of the benefits of a fast. It can be hard to break away from candy and sugar, but when you do, you’re doing your body a big favor. Yes, eating healthy is taking good care of your body. That’s a great thing, because believe it or not, you need your body.
     When we take care of our health, we make ourselves available for God and His purposes. Picture this: God wants Moses to come up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, but Moses says, “Uh... I can’t do that. Maybe Joshua or somebody can carry me up?”
     As ridiculous as that sounds, there’s a grain of truth there. Moses was physically fit, as were all the other heroes from the Bible. And God wants you to be fit as well. This is why a fast is so great for our bodies: it is like hitting the reset button on our eating habits. Once off the fast, you can return to eating a little more of what you did before, but hopefully making healthier choices.
     And once that happens, you’ll be fit and ready to tackle those challenges that come your way. You’ll be on top of the world!