Yearbook Art

Daddy is working a bit on the yearbook for the school, but as you can see above, so is Madison.  This is some of the art she created during an after-school enrichment class that was all about doing artwork for the yearbook.  In fact, she's probably going to be doing more for the yearbook, before all is said and done.  It turned out well, actually!

Tonight's KidPak went really well, even with the service upstairs going on and on and on and on... sometimes the services upstairs get really involved, and those of us with the kids eventually run out of material after an hour and a half, at which point there is usually a bunch of improv/chaos/etc.  Tonight wasn't so bad on that because of the board game we made, which the kids liked playing time and again.  If it wasn't for that, we'd be in a spot of trouble, as it was a really long night with the kids!

Daddy came home and did some reading for Madison and Mommy, also some eating too.  Everyone had a good day, with Madison going to counseling again instead of media and the library.  She was hoping for the library - I'm not sure what the counseling was about, but usually it's about drugs, bullying, and all kinds of topics about growth and human development.  Sometimes Daddy doesn't want to know, right?

Still, you have to be vigilant.  Case in point: the subtle creeping in of social justice agendas in movies, television shows and books.  While this has been nothing new, there are a couple of kids books that Daddy has been reading from Disney, both released at similar times, where on the very last pages they sneak in some sort of content to make parents roll their eyes.  Books are tricky, because to check on these ahead of time, you have to read the whole thing.  So these books here... they put something in for just one sentence, and it's towards the very end of the book.  Rather than come out and just make the book about this or that, they have to sneak it in guerrilla style, which is somewhat cowardly of course.  The blessing is that Daddy is reading the books out loud, and guess what?  I don't have to read that one sentence, do I?  I'm not going to name books here.

Although you'd guess that currently we're reading "Ahsoka," which we've all agreed is a ho-hum sort of book, with not much going on for long, extended amounts of time.  Madison and Mommy agree that it's been kind of slow.  One night, Daddy was reading it, and did about one chapter, just because in a flash, everything that was building so slowly just went away and we were starting over on a different planet again, and ...ugh.  But within the last few chapters things picked up a bit, and then dealt with a villain character in an anticlimactic sort of moment that sort of summed up the book, really.  And this was not before which there was this crazy violent moment that came out of nowhere, and then on top of that another one of those sentences that Daddy chose to not read out loud.  This doesn't sound like the glowing review of a book Daddy wanted for Christmas.  But he did want this book for Christmas, and we all thought it would be fun, as we like the character of Ahsoka a lot.  But the book has been pretty meh, and towards the end of it, even more disappointment.

Ah yes!  The age-old question of what to let in the house and what not to arises here.  Eventually, she'll be exposed to all of this in time, and then there's always the fun statement:  "She's probably hearing it all at school anyway!"  As if that's an all-clear to allow whatever you want your kids to watch in the house.  But nope.  I'm still the gatekeeper, and we'll make judgments for ourselves as to when our child is able to decide for herself about this or that.

That was quite a rabbit trail/rant.   It must be late.  Tonight was a pretty late night, in fact, as described earlier.  This made for a pretty long day at the office.  But it turned out well, and that certainly helps out when you come home so tired.  Daddy was helping with the outreach ministry, preparing handouts for them, and suggesting messages too.  They went with some of the "Master Builders" messages Daddy was working on a while ago.  Here's the handout he made:

They'll have fun with that.  There are good messages in that series!  Anyway, it's been a long day.  So here's the next entry in the fasting devotional, and we wish you all a good night!

“It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.” Matthew 4:4 (MSG)

     Have you heard of the Death Zone? It’s a height that is so far up, there isn’t enough oxygen in the air for climbers as they try to ascend the mountains. Many climbers actually bring tanks of oxygen with them to breath as they enter this world above the clouds. Some attempt the climb without these tanks, but there’s no question that the air is so thin up there that you can’t stay there long.
     The reason is simple: we can’t live without oxygen. But there’s something we all need more than even that: God.
Some time ago, Jesus was fasting, similar to what you’re doing now. Satan came to Jesus at the end of a fast, even taking him up to the peak of a high mountain. During this test, Satan told him to turn some stones into bread. Jesus replied, “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”
     More than bread and even more than oxygen, we are dependent on God. In the bible, Psalm 95:4 tells us He formed the mountain peaks, and holds them in His hands. He is the Rock that we run to, and our salvation. Put simply, He is everything, and without Him we are nothing.
     That’s one reason why fasting is so powerful. When you fast, you’re telling God He’s important in your life. In fact, He’s more important in your life than even food. Your actions prove just that when you set aside food or sweets just to spend time with the Lord, reading or praying.
     And when you’re showing Him that, you can be very sure of this one thing: He’s listening to your prayers very closely.