video games

On My Radar – FAR: Lone Sails

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FAR: Lone Sails reminds me of a mix of The Final Station (keep moving forward) and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (little guys running a ship). Looks like a perfect game to chill with. Might be an even better Nintendo Switch versus PS4 title?

From Across the Net – “How it feels to release an indie game in 2019”

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Fun to see Nelson on the front page of Polygon.

“I knew that games are built from dreams and tricks, but seeing first-hand how much it hurts a team to not put in a last little detail that might add cohesion to a world because there’s a critical bug elsewhere made me reconsider how I see the rest of the games I play.”

Shadow Parenting

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Over the weekend, my next door neighbor stopped by and asked if Wyatt could come over to his house. Tabitha and I know our neighbor pretty well. Wyatt works for him on the occasion. So we said sure, no problem.

Wyatt went over to the neighbors, sat outside on the front porch, and talked for awhile. Time passed, and he soon came home with a bag of books. Turns out our neighbor had wanted to give him a late Christmas gift. No big, right? Right. It was then that I learned that the entire time Wyatt was at the neighbors, he was being guilted/lectured over the way he spends his money.

Photo by Mathieu Turle on Unsplash

Now imagine an adult that you know from passing conversations. An adult that pays your child to do random tasks for him. Imagine that adult now being critical to your kid over how he spends the money he earns. Telling him that he needs to be more purposeful with his money; telling Wyatt to quit spending his money on smaller things (like LEGOS, video games, etc.) and save just like his son used to.

Wyatt came home upset. When he told us what had happened, I was upset. You see, my kid takes stuff like that to heart… this isn’t the first time our neighbor has had this talk.

Good intentions aside, you never know where criticism, judgement, or even shadow parenting may occur.

 

Loving Enemies With Your Thumbs

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I have been previewing Wyatt’s devotional book we just started for the year. Prereading so that I:

  • Can ask questions for bedtime discussion/prayer
  • Know what he is reading/accountability

The devotional entry for today was titled “It’s all about the Thumbs”. It talks about how we act and ultimately behave on social media. I thought the entry was bit funny as Wyatt isn’t on social media (Facebook has a rule where you have to be at least 13 years old to open an account). I am thankful we have not had to go down that road yet.

Verse of the Day:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. – Luke 6:35 (NIV)

After surveying the entry for today, I wrote down some questions for him to think on/answer before we talk tonight (he writes his answers down in a small notebook):

  • How can you show kindness to others while playing video games (which IS something he does with his thumbs)?
  • What makes you mad when playing video games?

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Having a devotional time with your kids doesn’t have to be long. The key is moving forward and doing something while being intentional. Already, in the few days we’ve been going through this new bedtime routine, I’ve noticed that the discussion questions have given us specific needs to pray over. This is a good thing as I’m often not sure what to pray over with him.

362 days to go. Habits take 2-3 weeks to take hold. Why not start a devotional time, with your own kids, and join me?

Beginning the Odyssey

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Picked up Assassin’s Creed Odyssey via the PSN Holiday Sale last week. I am enjoying what I’ve played so far (Alexios is hilarious). Finished up the Kefalonia quests tonight.

My pal Alexios.

Left my home island tonight. The adventure finally begins with a voyage.

Title screen.