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Monday, January 25, 2010

Author: Mary Friedeman

Saturday morning I woke up early to take a road trip with twelve kids. My 15-passenger van was packed with the addition of another parent and a teen helper. Sound like good times?

I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. Sayonara to my one possible day of leisure! All I could think of was a long list of things I really needed to get done (and wouldn’t, not being at home).

So what precipitated this road trip? Our children’s Bible quizzers had a quiz meet in a town several hours away. This year they’re studying Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. For the meet in question, they were responsible for literally hundreds of questions and answers as well as twenty memory verse passages. We complete lessons every Sunday night, but mastering the material requires lots of time outside of class.

The van was remarkably quiet as we set out, considering the number of warm—and potentially wiggly—bodies therein. Then, a little while into the trip, a sound began on the very back row and spread towards the front. My passengers were singing their memory verses, which have been set to music. What a blessing to hear first through sixth graders chanting, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Or how about Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

We drove almost two hours to spend several intense hours quizzing (two 15-question rounds for the first to third graders and two 20-question rounds, with bonuses, for the fourth to sixth graders). After lunch and the awards ceremony, we piled back into the van to drive home.

I arrived in my own driveway over eleven hours after I’d left, truly thankful for a great day. Out of the twelve children who competed, nine received gold medals (90% accuracy) and two were gold-medal all-stars, meaning they didn’t miss a single question. One of our girls had made a huge improvement over last year. The older group is scored as a team as well as individually; our crew came home with first place because each person did his or her part. Their achievements came because they diligently studied God’s Word.

We received compliments about how well-behaved the children were, especially during long waits when it wasn’t their turn to quiz and while the scores were being tallied. All twelve are great kids. Did I say that ten of the twelve are homeschooled?

Watching our children in action, helping each other practice en route to the meet and cheering for teammates as they received their rewards, I was reminded of Hebrews 10:24: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” And I thought I had better things to do with my Saturday!

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