New Year's Eve Eve

The show must go on, so to speak, and so I had to spend some time thinking about what we were doing at KidPak this weekend.  We came up with a fairly decent three point message about the upcoming year, tied to the Neverland theme that's still on our set.  I think this should be good - Mom started the brainstorming out with a thought about still using Neverland and also doing somewhat of a New Year's Day service.

  

1.  Keep seeking.  Tick-Tock seems is always seeking out Captain Hook, and is rather relentless about it!  If only we could all seek out God in that same way, always looking for Him each day of this new year.  Don’t worry - our Heavenly Father is easy enough to find.  The important thing is to keep seeking with all your heart, and when we knock on His door, don’t worry.  It will be open for us.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIRV

2.  Keep sowing.  Tick-Tock’s constant ticking reminds us all that time is moving by.  This upcoming year, we’ll see exactly 525,600 minutes, and God is seeing what we do with each one.  In our Bibles, He watched a man named Cornelius use his time to serve others, building up a memorial offering before God.  He saw Rebekah serving strangers, He saw Joseph help a prisoner realize his dream, and He saw a starving widow serve food to a visiting prophet.  In every example, these people kept showing love to others, and found out that God will reward those who give - pressed down, shaken together and running over with blessings.

"Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIRV

3.  Keep standing!  This upcoming year may look like a big scary thing, maybe even like Tick-Tock the monster crocodile.  But that crocodile is not after you - he’s only after Hook!  And although the new year may look like something to be afraid of, it’s really not at all.  That’s because God is with you!  So keep standing up and keep standing out.  Be strong and brave, do not be afraid, and do not lose hope!

"Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.” Joshua 1:9 NIRV

Afterwards, we did a few more board games today, including a new one, "Fear Factor."  I got this one pretty cheap a few years ago, and just haven't gotten around to it, but in the end it's a simple little fun game that dives into the whole series that used to be so popular.  Things come in waves, so there may some day be a resurgence, but in the meantime, we were reading different challenges and of course imagining one another actually being challenged to do this or that.  Would you?  In pretty much all cases, the answer was a resounding "NO."  

We also played the Star Wars LIFE games a few rounds, and I'm pretty sure we may play that again soon enough.  Mom was wanting in on the board game action tomorrow, and she may join us for some Avengers Monopoly.

The television was on for Nana, with "Nailed It" playing all day, binge-style.  One episode after the other.  They're funny episodes, and a lot of fun.  Meanwhile, I was going for a walk by the Corn Palace.  That was today's destination on the treadmill, a walk around Mitchell, South Dakota.  

The weather was rainy today, and in fact really suddenly stormy last night.  A violent front swept through late last night, and there was actually a tornado touchdown in Hall County.  More rough weather is on the way this weekend, and it seems like we're having spring weather right  now with the temperatures so warm and the rolling thunder so frequent.  We'll have storms on Saturday and then Sunday too, and after that, we'll actually have a chance of ice and snow.  Odd weather indeed.

Tonight we continued the Spider-thon with "Spider-man 3," which used to be Tobey Maguire's final outing as the webslinger, until this most recent movie.  It's not my favorite of the series, but there are some great characters and moments in it.  I love Flint Marko's character in this one, but I'm not a huge fan of the inclusion of Venom.  Still, it concludes the trilogy and it really ushered in the new era of superhero movies, making way for the MCU and beyond.  And of course there's the fun fact about this particular movie:  while in China, this was the movie playing in the hotel the day we met Maddie for the first time.  While Mom was getting a shower and getting ready to go out the door, I was watching "Spider-man 3" on that television in the hotel room.  Right about the time the movie ended, we were soon out the door and down the street to meet Maddie.  I'll always remember that, I think. 

We read tonight, and we prayed too.  The weather is quieter now, and we're pretty tired too.  We'll sleep in tomorrow, and of course it'll be a late night tomorrow night - we've got to stay up until midnight, right?