Unknown to me at that time, was that my best-friend's girls (we'll call them "Goddaughter" and "Sister") had just signed up to participate in GA. They studied diligently all summer even at times begrudgingly, but they were faithful and persevered and did quite well. They both placed 2nd in their local bees (they were in different age categories). Since it was the first year of the Bible Bee it was a little bit trial and error and I stand amazed (especially now having almost completely the local part) that Sister learned 500 verses and Goddaughter learned 750 verses! The things they would learn about His Word have changed them and will serve them throughout their lives. The things they learned about studying and the bee have been valuable to us as we have prepared this year.
Fast forward one year and a few months, and we are 3 days away from the local competition. It has been an incredible summer, unlike any we've had. It was definitely more work than we thought, harder than we thought, but God showed up more than we knew. He taught us all, grew us all, and uplifted us all way more than we imagined. The Bible Study time has been great and the kids are really enjoying having that time with Daddy (since normally Bible study has been part of school with Mommy). I want to share with you a bit of our journey, but first a few Bible Bee Basics.
- www.biblebee.org
- 3 Competition Age Divisions, Primary (ages 7-10), Junior (11-14) or Senior (15-18).
- 12 week in-depth study of the book of Colossians.
- Bible memorization: Primary 250 verses (63 passages), Junior 500 verses, Senior 800 verses
- Bookgirl is competing as a Primary contestant.
- Mathboy registered as a Supporting Sibling. He has learned about 15 verses or so, and he has participated fully in the Bible study. He has also supported his sister and helped with preparation.
As we dug in deeper it became fun again (most of the time). Bookgirl and I enjoyed our nightly review sessions in my bed or chair. Some nights we would just marvel at how God put the Bible together, or think how cool something was that we learned from the verses. We loved seeing how God revealed his plan and how inspired and sufficient the scripture really is. If you've never studied a large amount of verses in order before I highly suggest it. It’s completely enlightening. Some nights we'd get off track and it would turn into a giggle session and we would have some great girly time. ♥
Our local Bible Bee chapter has weekly Sunday night meet-ups. These were great. Mr. & Mrs. M, our leaders, and a few of the other families, did a great job preparing games and all for the children and keeping us all informed. There were a few weeks were discouragement was trying to rear its ugly head by Friday or so, and then Sunday night we'd go to the meeting and get refreshed to run the race some more. It reminded me much of the reasoning for our weekly Amway meetings. We are all in this together, fighting the same great fight, facing the same challenges and rewards, and needing that same encouragement. The local group provided that. It pumped Bookgirl back up to press on for this great cause.
You've heard the saying "If you stick your neck out above the crowd, you will get hit with tomatoes". Well the same is true spiritually. Anytime we do something great for God that could truly impact his Kingdom positively, you make the adversary very uncomfortable and attacks will come. We definitely saw that during this summer and I am so thankful that we know the Word enough to combat it, and that we have a group of faithful Prayer Warriors that we can call on. Some things were obvious attacks (demonic dreams and visions, division creeping up between siblings, division on an issue with another believer, Bookgirl fell down an entire flight of stairs). Some were attacks that I believe were fought off by prayer warriors and angels (Little Sponge cracked his head open and had to have it glued, but the damage was small compared to what it could have been, Little Sponge pulled a heavy solid wood bookshelf off the wall onto himself but miraculously wasn't hurt at all, several times one or more of us has been fighting off cold symptoms and got rid of them and on and on I could go) Then there were all kinds of things that could have distracted us (van battery dying, being asked to do all kinds of things, other commitments etc). I called my friend and asked her if she felt under attack when Goddaughter and Sister were studying for the Bible bee and her answer was "OH YES". That reminded me that we needed to press on because this was changing our family and the lives of those we will encounter for eternity.
When we got to week9, all our other summer activities were coming to a close. Swim lessons were over, the summer dance session was coming to a close, and a few of my commitments were done. Bookgirl really desired to "finish" the cards, to get through them all. While the reason for doing this was not to "get through them" it was to learn God's Word and to transform our lives, I still did want to honor the goals she set before her. It was a great opportunity to teach some life skills like goal setting, strategy, persevering, sacrificing for what you want, patience, affirmations and positive attitude. Oh, and hard work! When I sat down to look at what was left and how many days were left, I realized that if she was going to finish the cards and the Bible study there was still some catching up to do and it might get intense. I prayed over what to do and how to reach her goals in the right way. God of course was faithful to answer. First he gave me wisdom to remove 2 particular passages from the stack. Next, he impressed on my heart for us to really dig in for the last 3 weeks, but to make it fun, and to really just focus on Him with all our actions. After more prayer, Mike and I formulated a plan. We completely shut off tv, computer time for the kids and reduced ours, only read books, listened to music, and played games that were focused on God. We studied for the bee quite a bit, but in between doing Bible crafts, playing Bible trivia games, The Armor of God game, Character Concepts with Mathboy and LittleSponge, read missionary stories, and began our hymn study. One weekend we did a family movie night with popcorn and all, and one weekend we played miniature golf. Bookgirl really liked this format and the whole family came together to help her finish strong.
Even with this new plan, at the end of week 11 (one week before the bee) she began becoming very weary again. It wasn't that she didn't like what she was doing. In fact she was still in wonder of God's supremacy and what she was learning. She found joy in learning new things still, and really enjoyed the Sword Study with Daddy, but she was simply tired of working on the verses day by day - weary in well doing. Enter our church family. A few people in our church knew she had embarqued on this journey, and I asked our pastor's wife if they could have the church body pray for her on Sunday. They did that and Pastor Rob also had me give him 5 or 6 verse cards that Bookgirl knew well and he picked 3 for her to recite in front of the congregation. She recited them flawlessly, even when he gave her the wrong passage number! Many people spoke to her after and encouraged her and told her they would pray for her this week. She walked away knowing that all those people were praying, and feeling more confident in her ability to finish. That evening we had our last Bible Bee meet-up and she was once again excited and enthusiastic.
The next day was Monday and she had 4 scripture memory cards left and 2 weeks of Bible study. At one point, she came running down the stairs yelling "REVELATION 1:5!! REVELATION 1:5!!!" She was holding the last memory card and rejoicing because she had reached it! We all did a dance of joy and praising in the foyer. Now it is Wednesday and the bee is this coming Saturday. She is still trying to work on several passages and review the ones she's learned. They have 2 days left in their Sword study and then she can begin reviewing that and letting God speak to her through it. She is in the final days of preparation and she knows that no matter what place she comes in at the local bee, she has already won the greatest prize of all - she's hidden God's Word in her heart. For that we are eternally grateful.
God has taught each of us many things through out this and maybe at some point I'll do an update listing some of those things. For now, I will give you the details of the local bee and ask you to pray for all of the contestants, the parents, and the proctors and judges.
- Saturday August 28th beginning sign ins at 7:30am. This will be happening all across the country at different locations.
- Oral rounds (reciting the memory verses asked for) 10 minutes up to 30 passages - Bookgirl's will be shortly after 9am because of the order.
- Written test - 200 questions in 1hr - Bookgirl's will begin around 11.
- 12:15 break for lunch
- 1:30 Closing presentation and the Final Oral Challenge round - an onstage competition of the top 5 finalists in each age division
If you live locally, and would like to come see the top 5 Final round, it will be done on stage in this church sanctuary beginning at 1:30. Email me for the directions if you want them. I know Bookgirl would feel very special if any of you came. She loves when people love on her ♥
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