Friends, Romans, Elevators!

Today KidPak finally met the elevator, and as you can see above, it was somewhat of a party in there. We squeezed almost the entire cast in there for a funny video clip.  We also did a big group shot, although the 

We made our way up to the elevator, just because we were in the mood to do something goofy, and sure enough, you can see all the cast members above inside in their costuming.  The whole gag is that this is a replica of the elevator from the Golden Globes this past year, one used in a bit that none of us had really seen, because we stopped watching awards shows a long time ago because they get so political and a lot of the movies that are nominated are movies we've never wanted to watch anyway. 

So it's funny that we're all wanting to pose in this elevator that we're not quite that familiar with, but let's just go ahead and do it because it's there!

As for the service itself, things went very well today.  We had this big conference this weekend, so there were visitors.  And we also had a lot of microphones to go through this morning, lots of people with lines.  We didn't have the full cast - I think there were about 13 people on stage though.  It's an impressive number, and they all did a great job talking about our bottom line, which of course was being more than a conqueror.

This sort of message is especially important for Madison this morning, as we continue to speak encouragement and self-confidence into her life.  Pastor Lance is very much like a father figure to her, deeply troubled by this weekend's events and even suggesting riding the bus as a personal bodyguard, along with our security man Joseph, who also volunteered.  They deeply love her, as do many of the staff here.

Madison's performance on stage was an Academy Award winning one!  They have a simple part, and it's a funny one that the audience is getting into.  Anytime the Emperor's name is mentioned, Skylar and Madison above call out, "All Hail Emperor Zero!"  And then they blow the vuvuzelas, which aren't exactly the most triumphant sort of instruments to begin with.  The kids in the audience were saying, "All Hail Emperor Zero" together, to the Emperor's great annoyance!

Although he doesn't look as annoyed here!  You can see some of the new characters that Mommy was working on here, some statues that interact with the kids and the actors on stage periodically, although most of the time they're frozen in place.  It's a fun addition to our series! 

We were there at the church a little longer today, talking with a hero.  It was Madison's friend on the bus, the girl who stood up against those eighth grade bullies.  Of course, Madison stood up to them as well, and took the blunt of the attacks afterwards.  But another boy stood up to them too, and we're grateful for these kids doing the job the bus driver should have been doing.  We got a lot of specifics today, mainly because Madison is reluctant to talk about it or relive the experience, but for our purposes here, the important thing is that there were kids standing up with one another against bullies.  Madison stood up for another girl with special needs that was being mocked, and she was verbally assaulted for it.  Others stood up for Madison, and they too received all kinds of taunts. 

Today's message in KidPak rings true:  they are more than conquerors.  What doesn't take you down makes you stronger, and I think that's what we'll be seeing after this weekend.  Madison runs around like nothing happened, and lets it roll off her shoulders.  She gets upset when we talk about it, trying to get details and let her know what's going to happen next.  But she's ready to move on.  

What happens next is now set in motion.  Daddy sent a very detailed letter that was essentially a near script of the entire event, one carefully reviewed by both girls.  There are other witnesses too, and hopefully they can have the courage to step up and verify what happened.

I hate to have to write a letter like that, but what every parent wants is a safe bus ride for their kid.  And I think we'll be hopefully dealing with that this week.  Madison has a lot of friends at church and in the martial arts studio.  Some have offered to meet these boys at their bus stop, and that's of course my first inclination as a father.  But we'll put our trust in the system, and hopefully see a safer bus ride, and severe consequences for these actions.  The thing that is most disappointing of all is the sadness and despair the girls feel when saying, "The bus driver knew all this was going on and did nothing!"

Ugh.  Let's change the subject.  Before moving on, the point is this:  we learned the details of what happened today, and we learned that Madison stood up for someone else in the face of eighth grade boys.  We learned that Madison had friends that stood up for her.  Of course, we learned also that racism is still quite real.  But we also learned, most importantly, that Madison is in fact more than a conqueror.

So it is with that same spirit that we left the church, and our first thought was:  let's go out to eat.  We returned to Texas Roadhouse today, always a risky proposition after church.  There are quite a few people out there, the "after church" crowd.  But we were there a bit later, and we didn't wait terribly long.  We feasted on delicious six ounce medium-cooked sirloins, as Mommy and Daddy always do when we're there.  Madison had her chicken and spicy buffalo sauce, and of course we're going to spoil her and let her drink a Coke.  

Afterwards, we went home.  Madison went to work on Minecraft, while Daddy was crafting a letter to the school system about the testimonies we just heard.  We wanted to make sure we got the details right.  Otherwise, we were pretty restful the remaining part of the day.  It had been a long weekend with the conference and the morning services, so we were already somewhat exhausted.

The weather was clear today though, and in fact quite beautiful this morning.  After such a long stretch of rain, trillions of gallons, we all emerged from our homes to look to the skies in awe.  Mr. Blue Sky has returned!  We don't know God's purpose for so much rain here, but it's okay at least here.  There are incidents of flooding elsewhere - we're seeing images of the rivers running over in Pigeon Forge.  Also, the lake is easily at the highest level that I remember seeing it.  The wetland area near us is surprisingly high, up significantly closer to the road itself that passes over.  The tree trunks all around the lake - the ones closest to the shore - are submerged at the base.  The ground was swallowed up.  

We're safer where we are, but you can see streams of water rushing by in places that aren't usually anything more than a trickle.  

Tonight we watched a movie together, complete with that new popcorn that Mommy makes.  It tastes so much better than microwave popcorn, and despite the effort to prepare it, there's still enough for everyone to have as a light snack while eating.  In honor of our recent "Romans" series, we're watching "Night at the Museum" movies, the thinking is that there really aren't too many "Romans" themed movies that are safe for Madison to watch.  And really, we're not so much into them either.  There's a scene from "Bedtime Stories," but this movie here has a few fun parts with a character named Octavius.  "Night at the Museum" is a fun movie, and coincidentally, the guy who plays Ahkmenrah actually won the Academy Award tonight for best actor.  In a completely different movie, of course.  But that's about the extent of our Academy Award interest tonight. 

That's the thing about the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.  It's not just me, but many folks I know:  we just don't care anymore.  We used to care, and sort of get into it.  But the movies just don't seem to be as good as they used to be.  And everything seems to need some sort of social engineered message in order to win.  Tonight's movie that won Best Picture had a social message too, and it is controversial to some folks because the movie shows people working together and getting along.  Specifically, it's a movie about racism, and about people of different skin colors learning to appreciate each other, stand up for one another, and not judge someone based on the color of their skin.  I haven't seen it yet, but we may watch "The Green Book" before it is all said and done.  

And now I'm back to the bus incident, and about these kids using racist taunts against our daughter.  It's a learned behavior, that much is clear.  They heard it from somewhere else, based on what I've written out.  It's the most ridiculous thing, so ridiculous you can't imagine an eighth grade boy coming up with it.  The only place you can imagine it is in a movie, perhaps, spoken out by some ridiculous stereotype redneck character.  And you think to yourself, "Okay, no one really thinks that way - it makes no sense whatsoever."  But here we are, still thinking about those hurtful words.  

Tomorrow, those boys are going to have a pretty awful day.

But tonight, we're happy at home.  We watched Octavius the Roman and Jedediah the Cowboy learn to get along despite all their differences, and work together to save the day.  It was a happy ending, and a fun movie.  We really like this one, and tomorrow night we look forward to watching Octavius ride the squirrel!

We finished our Neverland book tonight, just because it's okay to spoil your daughter during times like this, reading far too long into the night.  "Just one more chapter," she begs, and how can I resist? We completed another story, and found another happy ending, and with that there were smiles all around as we said our prayers, and went to sleep safe and sound, happy and loved.

Going up!