National Bible Bee

This was the 3rd year in a row that Charis qualified to compete in the National Bible Bee Competition, held this year in San Antonio, Texas. There was some angst related to the decision of attending, as she felt rather overwhelmed with her other school activities (which include a competitive speech class with apologetics emphasis). But after much prayer and discussion, she decided it would be worth making the trip.

So, the week before Thanksgiving, we packed up our family of 10, stuffed the van to the gills, and made the day-and-a-half trip to San Antonio, stopping at my friend Karen's house in the Dallas area for the night. We spent 4 nights in the hotel, where the kids took complete advantage of the warm weather to enjoy the water park during our free time. Between that and the Family Fun Area set up, it truly was a vacation of sorts! Charis was much more relaxed this year, having resigned herself to not being as fully prepared as she would have wished, but we are of course still so proud of her for her time and efforts spent studying God's Word.

Like last year, we met up with a number of friends in the area throughout the week, including one family whom we had gotten to know as newlyweds during our first duty station in San Angelo, Texas, from 1997-1998! We've had all our kids since moving away from there, obviously, so it was fun to meet each other's kids in person for the first time. One of their sons qualified for Nationals as well, so that's how we all happened to meet up!

It was a good time of spiritual refreshment and fellowship, plus time to make family memories and set aside some of the current confusion and stress associated with Verity's diagnosis.

Seanin was delighted with the fountains!

Rhema, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with water!

Charis (3rd from right) and the girls in her oral round session.

Charis on stage (not that you can see her, lol, but you can see her
photo on the big screen--the middle one!)

The whole family!

The little boys learn about ancient writing materials

Our family plus the T family, whom we have known all our
married lives! Total of 12 children between us!

Summer Summary

Oh, Summer, where art thou??

I remember...back in the day...when we first began homeschooling, we lived in Las Vegas. It was stinkin' HOT in the summer, and so we happily took our "summer" break in March or April, when it was pleasant outside and we had easily breezed through our school materials. We'd order the next core early and begin another round of school when it was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. With a couple of babies born during our 4 years in Nevada, plus quite a bit of traveling to Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, we enjoyed our free and easy and flexible schedule, pretty much doing school "year-round" but taking breaks whenever we wanted.

But our next few moves happened during summer months (2009, 2012, 2015), with babies also arriving in summer months (2011, 2013, 2015). So it just made sense to keep a more "regular" school-year calendar.

With last summer bringing us back overseas PLUS a new baby, this summer was bound to be less...stressful, I suppose. But it was busy nevertheless! Here's a rundown of some of our summer highlights:

* Charis, Tobin, and Arden attended the Christian Youth in Action training camp the first week in June. Run by Child Evangelism Fellowship, this training prepares teens to share the gospel with children during 5-day clubs held throughout the summer. The kids learned how to completely run a club by themselves, from leading games and songs to teaching Bible and missionary stories, Bible verses, and review and application activities. It was a lot of work, but they all agree they are glad they did it!

* Immediately after this intensive training week, Charis left for a week-long missions trip to a reservation in South Dakota along with a team she has accompanied 4 different times now. She loves those kids and got to specifically use the skills she had just cultivated the week before as she interacted with kids and shared the gospel.

* Kenna, Lucan, and Zaden had swimming lessons the first two weeks in June. Seanin and Rhema and I enjoyed some quality hang-out time.

Zaden loved getting rides in the boat!

Seanin braved the big slide by himself at the park!

* Tobin enjoyed another great week at Camp Cedars with the Boy Scouts! This year was even more fun for him since he actually knew boys in the troop! Unfortunately, he missed out on a family visit...

* We got to spend some time with our CO family when Joel and Sarah and their boys came through for a few days' visit on their way to a family reunion in Kansas (or maybe Missouri, I can't remember). We especially enjoyed an outing together to see the train park and then get some ice cream in the Old Market.

Charis, Anders, Zaden, Arden (before his summer haircut!!), Cade, Lucan, Kenna

* I flew to Salt Lake City (alone! Without children!) to attend the Young Living Convention. I met up with some friends and had a fabulous time learning more about essential oils and the incredible opportunities available to us. I pumped while I was gone, and while Rhema wasn't thrilled about the goat milk she got in a bottle, she did fine and resumed nursing without missing a beat when I returned.

* On June 28, Ted and I celebrated our 19th anniversary! Actually, I think our date night was the next weekend, but we DID get out for a date. And now I can't remember what we did...pretty sure we went to eat at Sinful Burger...oh! I think we saw Finding Dory! And then Ted took the kids to see it during the discounted matinee show the following week.

Charis made this darling baby Dory for me after seeing the movie!

* We had friends come through and stay with us the night of July 4 on their way back home from a trip. We had a relaxed visit over some yummy grilled food and somehow failed to see any fireworks.

* On July 15 our baby Rhema turned one! Charis made a fabulous birthday cake for her and we had a simple family celebration.

* The last week in July Charis attended a Bible camp with some of the kids in the local youth group. Aside from sleeping in a bunk the first night that had bed bugs in it (!!!!!!!)...she says it was a great week. (Mom is trying to refrain from further commentary here...)

* The first week in August our backyard hosted up to 16 kids during the last 5-day Club of the summer. Charis, Tobin, and Arden all taught 4 clubs, which kept us busy several weeks in a row as we drove to Omaha and Bellevue to other host homes. So it was nice that the last one was right in our yard with kids we knew, mostly from church but also a few from the neighborhood.

* On August 8 the kids took the online Bible Bee test, the culmination of 8 weeks of study over the summer, working through their Discovery Journal to dig into John 13 - 15 and also 14 different memory passages.

* August 10 - 14 I took another trip, this time to San Diego for a "Naples Reunion" with a number of ladies who were stationed there at the same time. It was SUCH a blessing to go! I stayed with my dear friend Joyce, co-founder of Missione di Luce with which I was involved during my time in Italy. She, like many of the ladies I met up with, now lives in San Diego. It was a joyous, refreshing few days as we caught up on each others' lives, prayed together, laughed together, and definitely ate good food together. I'm thankful for the opportunity to go.

We spent all day at the beach, people coming and going as their schedules allowed. Sooooo nice to relax and talk!

Sheri opened her home for sushi-making at lunchtime and lots of hang-out time through the afternoon.

I think this is almost everyone who was able to make it!

* August 14 was Seanin's 3rd birthday! Charis made another amazing cake, and we had a family celebration at home.

* We had a local Bible Bee celebration in our backyard August 20. Nine families had registered for the summer study, and while not everyone was able to complete everything, the feedback seemed overwhelmingly positive. We rejoice that kids spent time in God's Word, learning how to study the Bible and memorizing verses that will renew their hearts and minds! Also, we praise the Lord that Charis was able to qualify for the National Bible Bee Competition again this year.

Kenna receives her certificate and chooses a verse to recite (John 13:34-35).

* On August 24 Zaden turned 5! We had a family party for him since his birthday was on a Wednesday. We had to work around a friend's schedule, but we did finally have a friend party on September 2. Hooray! Two cakes, lol!

I took Zaden to get a haircut a couple of days before his birthday. Everyone was very sad at how short his hair is now, but I still think he's a cutie-patootie!!

We have generous friends who let us borrow this inflatable water slide for the friend party! It was a hit!

Brothers and friends!

Aaaaaaand that's the story of our summer! All good things must come to an end, I suppose. We actually kicked off our school year on August 29, so I will try to be better about keeping more remembrances on our blog as the school year gets underway!

Bible Bee Time!

It's that time again, time for the summer Bible Bee study! If you haven't signed up, it's not too late to register, although I advise doing so quickly, as we are approaching the end of week 1! This year we are diving into John 13-15.

Last year the closest local host to our home was actually 3 hours' drive away from us! Needless to say, we didn't attend any local meetings, lol. However, we did make the trip in August for the end of the summer gathering and celebration (it worked out to visit friends in the area and also pick up our Suburban which had arrived from overseas).

This year we agreed that if there were no closer hosts, then WE would host a local group. So we are listed as hosts! It's our first time hosting, and we're pretty excited about it. There are 9 families participating--not bad for a community where this is brand new!

These photos are from our trip to Nationals last November. Charis qualified again to attend Nationals, her second time, and it was a blessing for our whole family to get to travel to San Antonio and cheer her on. We have many, many friends in Texas (I grew up there, ya know!), and it was a blast reconnecting with people not only from my old church youth group, but also from EVERY single assignment we've had in the Air Force except one! The fellowship plus the opportunity to see kids from all over the country who have hidden God's Word in their hearts all made for such an unforgettable experience. We have more kiddos this year who are determined to study hard because they want to make that trip again!

Charis is ready for the written exam!

Kenna enjoys some time in the amazing Family Fun arena! No surprise she scaled this "rock climbing" wall by herself!

Ken and Sarah, dear friends we met in Las Vegas...sooooo fun to catch up with their family and meet each others' newest additions!

Katie, one of Charis's friends from Naples!

Tobin, Arden, and Lucan at the celebration banquet

Ted, Rhema (hidden in the baby carrier!), Charis, and I

Charis, Rhema, and I stayed in the hotel; the rest of our crew stayed with Ted's cousin Missy and her family. COUSINS!!!!

We met more friends at the Alamo! Good thing I've been there a few times, because I was way too busy visiting to even tour the place!

Ryan and Ted holding our latest babies...the P family has 7 kiddos that match up closely with ours!

JJ and Jamie are friends from the first time we were assigned to Wright-Patt!

Bible Bee 2015

For the fourth year (not consecutive) our family participated in the Bible Bee program over the summer. The studies have varied from year to year, from 10 weeks to 12 weeks to, this most recent year, 6 weeks from start to finish (which happened to work beautifully with our overseas-move-and-new-baby kind of a summer!). The older 4 kids did independent work on their Bible studies, working their way through the first 6 chapters of the gospel of John and memorizing 12 passages of Scripture (roughly 50 verses total). I would have liked for our family to have done more study time together, but I was just not able to manage it with the tail end of an exhausting pregnancy, trying to finish unpacking and settling in, and then of course having a newborn to care for.

Still...it was a wonderful opportunity to dig into God's Word more, and though 8-year-old Kenna especially could have benefited greatly from some more specific guidance, it was still a growing experience even for her. This year all the contestants tested online--NO local testing centers or oral recitations to be judged. So we were able to set up our laptops in different parts of the kitchen and test our four kids here at home.

We did invite some folks from church and the neighborhood to come over the evening before so that the kids could recite 6 of the 12 passages before an audience, an on-your-honor requirement in order to qualify for Nationals. It was fun to share with others some of the hard work the kids had invested throughout the summer.

A week after the testing date, folks met at their "local host" location for some Bible Bee activities and to learn who had qualified to compete in the National competition, which was to be held in San Antonio in November. When we registered to participate in the Bible Bee, the "local" host we were assigned was from Kansas City!! It was hard to believe that no one closer to us had volunteered to host! (We plan to be hosts ourselves next year!)

But joining with the group in Kansas City for their local celebration event actually worked out really well for us:

1. Our Suburban, which we had shipped in APRIL, finally arrived in the States (delay due to the ship catching fire and having to return to the original port for inspections, etc.--thankfully our vehicle was not affected by the catastrophe).  The pick-up location happened to be in St. Louis.

2. We have very dear friends, Craig & Mimi H, who live in the Kansas City area!

So, due to the timing of retrieving the Suburban, plus the fact that we could stay with the H family, we planned a little road trip and enjoyed visiting with our friends plus being part of the local Bible Bee celebration, where we learned that Charis had qualified for Nationals for the second year in a row!

It was a fun trip, despite Rhema being pretty high maintenance at that time...due to her stalled out weight at the two-week check-up, I had had to focus almost exclusively on feeding the baby and helping her learn to nurse efficiently, a process that took several weeks and had me on an emotional roller coaster as my milk supply went up and down. But we were still able to travel, and it was neat to see the kids get to participate and meet some other Bible Bee folks.

Kenna recites a passage during the primary optional oral round.

Tobin and Arden with the other juniors.

Charis and the seniors.

The event in Kansas City was August 8. Nationals were the week before Thanksgiving. Qualifiers had additional memory passages plus the next 6 chapters in the book of John to study on their own. Since Charis had also qualified last year--when we were still living in Italy--this was her second year to be able to attend. (She and I flew together and met Ted's mom Rhonda in Orlando, where the event was held last year, and it was an amazing experience! Not only did we three "girls" have a blast spending time together, but we also got to meet up with two different sets of missionary friends!) We really wanted our whole family to be able to attend and worked hard on our budgeting and planning to make it happen. I'll write about that in a separate post...

Bible Bee 2011

One of my prayers regarding Zaden's delivery was that it would happen at a time so as to allow me to attend the Local Bible Bee with the older kids.  I, for one, am thankful that I did not have to attend the Bee while still pregnant!  However, I must confess that I had hoped for a delivery date earlier than Zaden actually came--the day of the Bee was most uncomfortable for me physically, as my milk had come in just the night before and we had a HORRIBLE night.

But God is good.  Despite my extreme exhaustion and the painful feeding sessions we endured, the day was a total blessing in every other way.  And perhaps the activity of the day served to divert my attention from a difficult situation with our little newborn.

So, going on about 2 hours of sleep, I managed to get the kids up and fed and out the door by 8 a.m., no small feat, I might add!  Mom stayed home with Kenna and Lucan, as she and Kenna were recovering from coughs and sore throats.  (Originally we had a sitter lined up to watch the younger two so Mom and I could both go to the Bee.)  We made it to Cedarville University with time to spare and loaded up all the baby supplies in the stroller.  (I brought the boppy to make feeding times a bit easier!)  Zaden was ready to eat during the opening session, so I took him out to a lounge area and worked on that while the kids stayed inside with my friend Cathy and her daughter, Carly, who, like Arden and Lucan, was participating in the Primary Timothy track.

One of the coordinators, knowing our situation, told me that she would make sure the kids' oral rounds were scheduled so that I would be able to go in with them, and she came to tell me that Charis was soon going to be ready.  Perfect timing, as Zaden and I were finishing up in the lounge.  I waved goodbye to Tobin and Arden, who were being taken to the written testing room, and I took Zaden in with Charis (who held on to Flat Daddy) for her oral round.

Some background here:  Charis chose to participate in the National Track, because she wanted to be eligible to possibly qualify for the National competition in November.  Because of this, she had to follow the age guidelines.  Because she will be 11 years old by November, she had to participate as a Junior (ages 11-14) instead of a Primary (ages 7-10), even though she was still 10 years old on the day of the Local Bee.  Junior contestants had 500 verses to memorize, whereas Primary had 250.  So--a considerable difference!  But I was very proud of her.  Even though she didn't memorize all of them, she probably got through at least 2/3 or even 3/4 of the verse cards, a daunting task for anyone.

So the oral round consists of 25 verse cards (each contestant has the same passages to recite), and she passed on probably almost half of them, not knowing them at all.  The ones she did recite, I think she did pretty well on, and she felt she had done her best, which was all we asked.

She and Zaden and I went to the "Family Fun Area," where we were joined by the boys after their written test.  Then it was time to switch.  Charis was taken to do her written test, and I was able to watch the boys' oral rounds.

The boys chose to do the Timothy track in the Primary Division.  This track only involved learning 50 verses instead of 250.  No matter which track you choose, though, everyone does the same Bible study throughout the summer.  We studied the book of 1 Peter, and each age group has their own version of the study, but the same concepts are covered.

I went with Arden first.  My amazing son quoted all 25 passages given to him, without passing or asking for prompts.  I sat listening to him and couldn't help it...tears filled my eyes, and I just thanked God over and over for placing His Word in Arden's heart.  At the end of the round, one of the judges spoke a blessing over Arden, quoting some of the same verses back to him..."Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity," for one, and telling him that God was going to use him in a mighty way.  You can imagine how emotional this mother was after all that!!

Arden was then escorted back to the Family Fun Area while I went with Tobin to view his round.  He did well also, but he did pass on 4 passages that he hadn't bothered to learn!  (He's SO capable, but SO lazy!!  I hope he will become more self-motivated over time!!)

Then it was lunch time, and we enjoyed a picnic under the trees by Cedar Lake while I worked at feeding Zaden again.  (And I do mean "worked."  Sigh.)

At 2 p.m. we gathered in the auditorium for the final portion of the day.  All the Primary contestants got to march on stage, and then they called out the top 5 Timothy contestants.  Oh, the joy!  Arden and Tobin took 1st and 2nd place, respectively!  The boys were positively beaming on stage!  Of course, their excitement had a lot to do with the gift/goodie bags they received along with their trophies, LOL.  But I was so happy that their hard work and perseverance had paid off, especially in Arden's case.  He had begun a lot of the Sword Studies in tears because he didn't feel he could do it...I was there to help him, but sometimes I would ask him to start on his own while I finished something up.  But for verse memorization, he really did most of it on his own!

We then watched the National Track contestants do their final round before moving to the Junior division.  Charis marched on stage with kids that looked way older and bigger than she is, and I was so proud of her for all she had done!  We had talked about the fact that she would likely be one of the very youngest contestants in her category, and while she was disappointed that she hadn't learned more verses, we both agreed she really had done a great deal over the summer and had nothing to be ashamed of.

We both gasped in surprise when she was called forward as one of the top 5 National Track contestants!  She got to participate in the oral round, but not for long...the kids kept having to pass on various passages they were asked, so it went fairly quickly until they got down to the last 2 contestants, who went back and forth for a bit.  And the final ranking found Charis in 4th place for the local contest!  The picture of the top 5 cracks me up...Charis barely reaches the 5th place guy's elbow!

We are so proud of all our contestants!  What a wonderful program.  We have thoroughly studied the book of 1 Peter, which is so appropriate for our family during this season of life.  I'll close this post with a passage I learned just two days before Zaden was born...it became a focal point for me during my labor and delivery, and the words continue to echo in my mind as we face many more challenges during the remaining 9 months of Ted's deployment.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."  1 Peter 1:3-9

P.S.  The final results are in (mostly--there will be some additions after make-up bees are done due to Hurricane Irene).  Nationwide, Charis ranked 237 out of 813 Junior National Track contestants!  So, she did not qualify to attend the National competition in November, but wow, what an accomplishment.

As for the Primary Timothy division, there were 420-ish contestants, and Arden placed 18th!!  WOW!  (And he earned a PERFECT score on his oral round!)  Tobin was 56th.  I'm so proud of ALL my kiddos!

Of course, the best part isn't the numbers or the trophies or the goodie bags.  The best part is having all those Scriptures stored up in the hearts and minds of our children--and me, too!  (I nearly made it through all 250 verses of the National Primary track!  I was a bit shy of the total goal, having to stop Week 12 early due to...having a baby, LOL.)  What a blessing it has been this summer to literally walk in the Word.

The Bible Bee!

Finally, the last post in this series! If I don't type it now, it may never happen! And as an aside, if you'd like to see pictures of our day, you can go here.

So...at the close of the last post, we were on Cedarville University's beautiful campus. The opening assembly began with a couple of worship songs to focus our hearts and minds on Christ. Then the kids were separated according to age group. The primary kids were seated in order, and the roll was called. Then, two by two, they were taken to the oral examination rooms. Ted went with Tobin, who was called first. I decided to stay and try to go with Charis, given my fears that she would dissolve into tears if she made mistakes during her turn. Praise the Lord, she and Arden were called together! So I was able to walk over with both of them and even got to see both of them do their oral rounds.

Charis was first. Arden waited in the hall, and Ted and the little ones joined him. (Tobin was taken to the Family Fun area after he finished--they were not to come in contact with other contestants prior to everyone finishing.) Charis did very well during her round. She stumbled a little on the third verse, which was an easy verse, and I was concerned that it would throw her, but she pressed on. We weren't allowed to have anything with us in the room, so I had to go by what I knew myself in trying to figure out whether she had missed any words, as the judges were not revealing any information. I did catch that she quoted John 8:56-58 when she was given Luke 1:17 and winced as I sat behind her, wishing she would catch the mistake herself. She didn't until she was given John 8:56-58 as the very next passage! At least she quoted it perfectly both times! She did pass on a couple, and she inserted an additional phrase in Ephesians 4:32, which again made me wince, but overall, she did very well from what I could tell, and she seemed pleased with herself, too.

Arden was next, and it just blessed my socks off to listen to my 6-year-old quoting so many passages of Scripture! There were some longer passages that he was given, but he honestly told them, "I know Ephesians 4:1-3, but not Ephesians 4:1-6!" and "I know Philippians 2:1-7, but not Philippians 2:1-11!" However, when he had gone through all the passages (Timothy track contestants didn't even have 30 passages total, so there were some repeats) and there was time left, they had him quote what he knew at least. I was so proud of him!

Ted said Tobin had done very well on the verses he actually quoted--if he had any hesitations about the passage, he immediately said "PASS!!" That kid better do the National Track next year! He is one sharp cookie!

So then we were in the field house (family fun area) with games and bounce houses set up for awhile. Then the kids were taken to their written testing areas, and Ted and I hung out with Kenna and Lucan, who ran around in glee at such a large area to explore. We enjoyed some grown-up talk time, which was a pleasant bonus. Unfortunately, the written test time went loooooong. I guess they had to wait for a room to clear out that was being used for one of the older groups. Anyway, the written test was one hour start to finish. When they FINALLY got back to the family fun area, we herded everyone to the university cafeteria (which is MUCH nicer than it was when I was a student there, LOL) for a madhouse lunch.

Then it was back to the recital hall where we began the day for the final rounds. Thankfully they began with the primary group! Lucan was getting VERY sleepy by this point but was in no way ready to try to nap, so he was in full wiggle-mode, trying to keep himself awake. We were back and forth with him from our seats to the back of the room, taking turns holding him and trying to keep him quiet.

Anyway, they called up all of the Primary National Track contestants on stage. Then they started with 5th place, calling out the names of those who had scored the highest number of points. When Charis wasn't called for 5th place, I honestly thought she was done. Ted and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and figured, hey, we're proud of her no matter what! The names kept coming, and Charis cheered on her fellow competitors. When the last seat, first place, was the only empty one left, the spokesman said, "Now our first place winner is a real sweetheart." My heart jumped! He had told me, when I picked Charis up after the written test, that our daughter was a real "sweetheart." Could it be? Could our sweet little Charis be the one? Sure enough! "Charis Jacobson," he announced, and my gasp must have been audible enough to hear all over the auditorium! I burst into tears, and Charis laughed with joy on stage.

Everyone else cleared the stage, and it was time for the "Verse off." (I don't know what the official name is for it, but that's the only name I can think to call it!) Charis went first and said her verse perfectly, as did several others. But the 5th place chair on the other side of the stage was filled when the first contestant made a mistake. Several rounds later, Charis and a boy named Kyle were the only ones left. Back and forth they went--either they would both quote their passages perfectly, or they would both make a mistake in the same round, so it went on for a few rounds. Finally Charis quoted Matthew 15:1-9, only missing ONE word in all 9 verses. However, perfection is the goal for this final round, so she took a seat in the 2nd place chair again.

Kyle's passage was Deuteronomy 10:17-22. He immediately burst into song, singing the version that came with the original Bible Bee CD. He was adorable and did a good job, apparently not missing any words, because all of a sudden everyone was cheering for the winner. Charis was enthusiastically clapping as well.

But I have to confess. I was at the back of the room, holding a squirmy Lucan, and all I could think of was...didn't the rules say that the kids weren't allowed to sing the verses?! We had just gone through the FAQs from the web site the night before, and that had stuck in my brain. I quietly asked one of the area hosts about that rule, and she went on stage to check. The coordinator told me that they had talked to the primary students in the morning and told them that for this local contest, it was all right if they burst into song. When I heard that, I said that was fine, and really, singing a passage would not have helped Charis, as she preferred to learn her verses without the song accompanying it. Who was I to steal someone else's joy? Kyle did a fantastic job, and Charis admittedly had had to pass a number of times on passages she had been given. I felt the ruling was fair, and as the announcement had been clear, there was to be no questioning the judges' decisions.

So we rejoiced with Charis--her standing as far as the National Bible Bee went was still first place, based on the scores from the day, and she got a 2nd place trophy for the local competition to boot. All that after a night of trauma thinking she wouldn't remember anything! Our hearts were full of joy.

Moments later, when the Timothy track awards were being called out, we heard Arden's name for 3rd place! And then Tobin's name for 2nd place! Lo and behold, both our boys were standing on stage holding trophies themselves! My cup was running over! Joy flooded over me, a pure, sweet gift from the Lord. HIS grace was sufficient for our family. HIS strength was perfect. HIS blessing was on us and ALL who participated, for we treasure His Word, and it will NOT return void. HE overcame our weaknesses, our failings, our shortcomings, our "if onlys."

I was absolutely overcome with praise and thanksgiving--not that my kids were all holding trophies, though there is a parent's pride and joy in that. No, it was so much deeper than that! I can hardly now even find words to express how thankful I am that GOD made it so clear that HE is the one who is carrying on this work in the hearts of my children...and in my heart and my husband's heart. It wasn't MOM. It wasn't DAD. It wasn't a perfect plan, a perfect schedule, a perfect bonfire time. It was GOD, and God alone. His Holy Spirit has been at work in our family this summer, and the fruit will be borne for years to come. All praise and glory to His name!

The excitement of the day didn't end there. Though we chose to leave early due to frantic little ones who were rapidly approaching the manic stage, we left with singing hearts full of thanksgiving. Cell phones were whipped out, and the children got to share the good news with grandmas living in other states. Little did we know we would have to call them back!

Shortly after we got home, we received a phone call from one of the judges. Apparently there was much discussion amongst the judges after all was said and done. The bottom line was, Kyle had sung his song, and the rules had stated there was to be no singing. Furthermore, their hearts all sank when they had to tell Charis that she was not fully correct--only missing one word--on her loooong Scripture passage, which was the longest anyone had been given in the primary track! So they agreed that they would award dual first-place winners! The kind judge who spoke with me was one who had graded Charis on her preliminaries as well as had been part of the judging panel at the end. She came by our house today to give Charis the first place trophy AND the monetary difference between the 2nd place and 1st place positions.

(Yes--all the kids received money as part of their award packets! We had no idea! God is so incredibly good. What makes my heart sing even more is seeing how excited they are at being able to use the tithe from their winnings to sponsor a verse of Scripture to be translated into a language that needs God's Word!)

So, that's the story of our day at the Bible Bee! We will wait a few days for the posting of the scores, and by September 1 we should know whether Charis scored high enough to attend the National Competition in November. We'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, I hope and pray that reading about our experience may encourage you and your family to participate in the Bible Bee next year. We've already decided we're signing up--whether or not we compete! The study materials are just too rich of a resource NOT to use. We know we'll be moving with the military again next summer, so we're not sure if we can manage everything, but you can bet the Bible Bee will be a summer staple for our family for years to come. Hiding God's Word in our hearts--the best trophy of all!

Preparing for the Bible Bee

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

In my previous post, I explained how the Bible Bee is set up. In this post I will detail our adventures leading up to the event itself. If you are not familiar with the Bible Bee, I encourage you to check out their web site or read my previous post first so this will make more sense!

Our Bible Bee summer began with great intentions, a good schedule, and much excitement. I planned to memorize every verse card right along with the kids--let me say now that did NOT happen! But the first few weeks of summer, we were clipping along merrily. Charis needed to learn 20-21 verses every week in order to stay on track to learn all 250, and she and the boys (who needed to learn about 9 a week) were doing well keeping up. We reviewed frequently, were faithful in our daily quiet times, and felt we were on track.

Then we went to Wisconsin to visit my parents for a week.

A few weeks later, when we were finally catching up, Charis and Tobin left for camp for a week.

After that, it was kind of a free-for-all in some ways. We continued doing the quiet times, but as I got busy with life, Tobin ended up doing a lot of quiet times on his own while I herded Arden along. I neglected to practice verse cards with the kids the way we used to, and more days than not they heard me lament, "You REALLY need to be learning verses!" or "Please get your verse cards and study for a little while!" Charis's shoulders would slump, because she knew how far behind she had gotten, and she would get the "bad-attitude" look on her face that I dreaded. Meanwhile, the boys would merrily go on their way, not seeming at all fazed by the number of verse cards they hadn't even touched yet.

It could have gotten dreadfully discouraging. But then, without fail, I would get an upbeat email from the local Bible Bee headquarters, encouraging us to not become weary in doing good. We WOULD reap a harvest if we would not give up! The folks at the Bible Bee headquarters kept their mission in mind and helped us remember as well--it was NOT about the contest! We were studying the Word of God so we could LEARN it, SPEAK it, and LIVE it! So what if we weren't doing Greek word studies as a family?! Who cared if there were questions left unanswered in our notebooks?! So we didn't have every verse card memorized. Was that reason to slump our shoulders and throw up our hands in despair? NO!

So went the roller coaster of emotions throughout the summer.

YES! We're excited! We can do this! This is incredible and is bringing our family together!

NO! We're behind! We'll never catch up! We might as well quit now! And our boys will NEVER sit quietly through a Family Bonfire time!

YES! New verses learned! Spiritually sensitive questions and discussion! We're making progress!

NO! No one has done their quiet time today, and we've forgotten all the verses we learned yesterday!

You get the idea. As a type A, homeschooling mom, I had a mental picture of how our Bible Bee summer would "look," and the reality was not matching that picture! I struggled with guilt off and on, one moment realizing that there was only so much I could do and knowing that my kids had to take responsibility for learning at some point, and the next moment thinking that if I ONLY were doing X, Y, or Z, we would be SO much better off. If ONLY we were taking time to do practice oral rounds with the kids. If ONLY we could get our act together and do the Greek word studies as a family. If ONLY we had read the rules for the contest at the beginning of the summer instead of halfway through. If only...if only...if only.

Guilt is so overrated.

In a nutshell, our summer efforts went something like this: We did GREAT weeks 1, 2, and 3. We played catch-up weeks 4, 5, and 6. And we simply did the very best we could, working around life and little ones, weeks 7-12.

And so we came to Friday evening, August 27, our last Family Bonfire before the Bible Bee itself. We thought it would be fun to do a practice oral round after reviewing the rules with the kids so they could have a chance to get a feel for what
the next day would bring. The boys had fun and enjoyed the experience. Charis...burst into tears, began sobbing uncontrollably, and couldn't breathe for about a half hour afterward, proclaiming that she was NEVER going to remember her verses.

Mommy guilt was at an all-time high. I had known from the beginning of the summer that, being just like her mom, Charis had set her sights on going all the way to Nationals. There was just no way she was going to be able to compete with all the "stuff" we didn't do. If only I had pushed her just a little more! If only I had reminded her of her goals and had taken the time to work with her just a few minutes every day, or even a half hour once a week!

We sent the boys to bed for a blissful night of sleep (yeah, right--they were awake past the time Ted and I went to bed). I made some hot tea for Charis and myself, and we went through her verse cards with a highlighter, checking to see that she knew the first few words to get her on her way, then marking words that were troublesome for her. Towards the end of the stack there were more and more cards that she miserably confessed she just didn't know. We decided she would just have to say "pass" on those and do the best she could on the rest. We prayed together (again) and tucked her in bed, only slightly more confident than she had been during our practice oral round.

The next morning we ate a good breakfast together as a family, laughing at the silly antics of Kenna and Lucan. Spirits were high as we drove to Cedarville University and talked again about how we were proud of ALL the kids for all the hard work they had done. With final reminders about how we only wanted to see the kids do their best and not worry about anything else, we pulled into the parking lot, loaded up our gear for the little ones (stroller, back pack, diaper bag), and made our way to the registration tables.

The time of preparation was over--the Bible Bee was beginning!

The Bible Bee Explained

Before I launch into a detailed description of our time at the Bible Bee yesterday, I thought I'd take a few moments to explain just what IS the Bible Bee and how we came to be involved with this opportunity. The official web site is here, and I encourage you to check it out and plan to join us next year!

Here is the mission statement as given on the web site:
"The mission of The Shelby Kennedy Foundation is to help families strengthen their personal relationship with the Lord and dynamically impact the world as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. The National Bible Bee seeks to encourage parents as they disciple their children through in-depth study of the Word of God, Scripture memorization, and prayer."

We learned about the program initially through the ads in WORLD magazine (which I also encourage you to check out--news from a Christian perspective! Love it!). I was intrigued and wanted to know more about it, so when I saw a booth at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention, I made sure we stopped by. After hearing more about the Bible Bee, Ted and I were very excited about making it a part of our family plan for the summer.

We registered in May and eagerly looked forward to receiving our materials in June, at which time we would learn which book of the Bible we would be studying. When the box arrived, it nearly rivaled our Sonlight Box Days! It contained, for each participating child, the following:

* A Bible in the version of our choice (NIV, but families could choose from five)
* A "Sword Study" notebook, with 12 weeks of study materials (5 days each week)
* A Bible Bee t-shirt and pin, and
* A box of verse cards.

Also included were:

* Two parent study notebooks
* A Sword Drill game for the computer, and
* The official rulebook.

From the web site:
"Bible Bee 'Sword Study' materials draw a family into God’s Word together through age appropriate studies and Parent Guidebooks that encourage sharing and praying as a family each week. Every contestant has an inductive study guide which takes him or her through a stimulating daily investigation of the Word. The Parent Guidebook provides activities, discussion questions, and other thought-provoking suggestions for Scripture-based family interactions. The format for a weekly "Family Bonfire" of the passages covered helps the parent(s) lead a lively and interesting conversation around God’s Word."

We had 12 weeks to study the book of COLOSSIANS, using the study materials provided. The daily studies included overview readings of the whole book, writing a verse or two each day, word studies, cross references, application questions, and ACTS prayer times, which taught and guided the kids through their own prayer time using the acrostic that stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. There was a memory verse checklist, a prayer journal, and plenty of notes pages. To say it was thorough would be a complete understatement! The materials were incredible! I'll take the time here to confess that I did modify the materials for the boys, since I usually worked with them while Charis chose to have her own study time alone. We skipped a lot of the activities that I felt they just were not going to sit through. Mostly, I had them write the passage for the day, answer the application questions, and do the ACTS prayer time. Then, I also helped with some of the in-depth activities, like cross referencing and "interrogating" each verse, but we did these things orally rather than taking notes.

Knowing how busy parents are, the writers gave us guides that provided a very quick overview of what our kids would be learning that day. Usually the studies for us were no more than two pages--one page with the daily/weekly passage written out for us (how much easier can it get?!), a place to write the verse(s) our kids would be writing that day, questions that mirrored the questions they would be asked, and then one page for a focused time of prayer journaling. I have to confess that I did not complete my whole study, but I did try to keep up with it most of the summer. The days I did do the study, I was also doing my regular quiet time materials, so I appreciated that the Bible Bee studies were easy enough (I thought) to incorporate into my day. Unfortunately, Ted didn't really do any of his--which is understandable, since he does leave for work super early!

A special part of our learning process was our weekly "Bonfire Time." The quick guides in the parent study notebook allowed us an easy time of getting everyone together to talk about the passage we had studied in-depth over the previous week. This allowed Ted to keep up with what we were discussing and made for some wonderful times of bonding. We always closed in prayer, going in a circle and praying a part of the ACTS prayer one at a time. Then we enjoyed microwave s'mores (since it was, after all, a "bonfire" time!). (You can put a large marshmallow on top of a graham cracker and zap for 10 seconds, and it will be perfectly gooey! We used chocolate frosting to smear on the other cracker, and presto, you have a s'more!)

Last, but not least, was the Scripture memorization portion. From the web site:
"The Bible Bee format is similar to a spelling bee, in that contestants are rewarded for their knowledge and memorization skills. However, in a spelling bee, contestants learn words without substance; the Bible Bee contestants learn the living, eternal Word of God! Jesus promises His followers the Holy Spirit, Who will, “…remind you of everything I have said to you.” This implies that we are intimately familiar with what He has said (all of Scripture!). The Bible Bee Competition is designed to recognize diligence in Scripture memorization at all levels, in warm, old-fashioned, family reunion-style gatherings. Your Local Bee Host will provide a Kickoff gathering in June, and one meeting per month in June, July and August as an opportunity for all of your families to review, trial quiz, and play memory games together."

I should note here that while we did attend the kickoff in June, we did not attend any other gatherings, sadly. We probably should have been more on top of things to check the online calendar, but we didn't. However, it would have been a good opportunity for the kids to keep in touch with others who were working hard throughout the summer as well.

There are 3 different age groups:
* Primary, ages 7 - 10
* Junior, ages 11 - 14
* Senior, ages 15 - 18

Additionally, you could choose to have children participate in various ways:
* National Track contestants would be eligible to compete on the national level, depending on their scores the day of the Bee.
* Timothy Track contestants would only participate in local events.
* Supporting Siblings got to wear a t-shirt. :-) (Presumably they were participating in family activities at home, but they did not compete in the Bee.)

While we initially signed Charis and Tobin up for the National Track, Tobin ended up switching part way through the summer and did the Timothy Track with Arden. Here are the differences in what they were expected to learn:

* They ALL did the same Sword Study and were expected to have a good, working knowledge of the book of Colossians.
* Charis had to learn 250 Bible verses; the boys had to learn 100.
* For the written test portion of the day, Charis's test had 200 questions; the boys' test had 100.

So, the Bible Bee event itself had three main parts:
1. The preliminary oral round, during which contestants would individually go before two judges (family members were allowed to watch, sitting behind the contestants) and say up to 30 passages of Scripture in 10 minutes. Each contestant would have the same passages in the same order, but obviously we had no idea going into it which passages would be picked. Contestants could earn up to 10 points per passage, with a point lost for EACH word that was incorrect, added, switched, etc.

2. The written test, which lasted one hour and covered material from the Sword Study (75%) as well as questions about the memory passages (25%). It was multiple choice, done on a scan-tron form.

3. The final oral round. The top 5 scores resulted in those contestants having the opportunity to compete on stage for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies. This round was similar to a spelling bee--when someone did not quote the passage correctly, he/she was eliminated.

I'm trying to resist the urge to add lots more commentary--I'll save that for a separate post. Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what all this has entailed!

Summer, Week 1

It seems as if I always want to begin each post with "Wow, time sure is flying!" And while I hate to be repetitive...it really does seem that time is speeding by. Our first week of summer was a fairly good mix of fun and friends, as well as some work. Our fun included a few bike rides, going to a park with a water play area to picnic and play with friends, visiting the library, shopping at the dollar store, and hosting our family community Friday night. I found myself on the floor playing with Lucan, reading and cuddling with Kenna, playing chess with Tobin and Arden, attempting to play badminton with Charis, and standing just out of sight, watching my children at various times, listening to their sweet voices, marveling at how they've grown in 1, 3, 6, 8, or 9 years.

We fumbled our way through Week 1 of the National Bible Bee study, somewhat figuring out how we want to tackle this huge project. I've learned that while Charis is perfectly capable of (and happy with) independent study--she disappears for an hour to a quiet nook and works thoroughly on her 4 pages for the day--Tobin and Arden need a LOT more guidance. We now work through the first two pages together, all three of us, and then I may or may not have them do the rest independently, depending on how focused they seem to be at the time! The Bible memory passages for last week were:

Genesis 1:1-2 (They've all memorized verse 1 in AWANA.)
Genesis 1:26-28
Genesis 2:15-17
Genesis 12:1-3
Exodus 20:3-12

Charis knows them all, Tobin knows most of them, and Arden knows 5. But it's OK! Arden is doing the Timothy track, which means he is "supposed" to learn 100 verses to Charis and Tobin's 250. And honestly? If they don't get through the whole list, why worry? They are learning God's Word! Any of His Truth that they put in their hearts is bonus, I say! After a whole school year of memorizing various Scripture for AWANA, Sonlight, and my own character education emphases, I know they have a great store of truth already hidden in their hearts. The fact that we are intensely studying the book of Colossians as a family is just exciting in and of itself!

Summer is also, in my mind, a perfect time to ORGANIZE this HOUSE!! Last week we tackled the armoire where the boys keep their school supplies. Much trash was collected and disposed of, and we now have LOTS of space. I'm sure that will not last long, LOL. And while I had hoped to also tackle the school desk (which is currently in my room, sigh) and put away our finished Sonlight supplies, that, alas, did not happen. So it remains on the to-do list, along with organizing my closet (namely the Operation Christmas Child supplies that are stacking up in bags). The kids did get their rooms pretty clean, but since I wasn't directly overseeing that work, it probably is not done to my standards, i.e. I'm sure there are still little (and big) pieces of whatever lurking behind dressers and in closets.

Week 2 of Summer begins tomorrow...and ideally, it will come with a bit more structure. I'm not sure I can handle having kids eating breakfast from 7:00 (Kenna) - 10:00 (Charis, my sleeper-inner)! And we MUST continue with at least some math work. Charis's long division skills are fairly precarious, and I want her to keep working on it so she can be confident in knowing that she can do it. But...we do have a full line-up of fun activities, so we'll see how much work actually happens!

Summer Adventure

This created quite a stir at our house today! Our family is participating in the National Bible Bee, which means we will be doing an in-depth study of the book of Colossians together. Tobin and Charis are eligible to compete in the local bee at Cedarville University in August--the primary group is ages 7-10. As participants, they received their own Bibles, memory verse cards (250!!), t-shirt, pin, and student notebook. Ted and I each got a parent notebook as well. It looks like there are 5 days' worth of quiet times/study times each week, with a family "bonfire" activity to wrap things up before going on to the next week. With 12 weeks ahead of us, it will be a full summer of study indeed!

The kids are beyond excited. I was a little sad for Arden, who actually cried when he realized he didn't have any materials. I guess I should have paid the reduced rate for him to be a participant, but not a competitor--I didn't realize how much he was going to miss out on! I figured he would be able to share and learn the Bible verses with us, read along with us, and so on--I had no idea the kids were getting all this stuff!! It broke my heart to see him so upset, but he bounced back by the end of the evening. I told him I'm giving tickets for ANYONE who memorizes the Bible verses, and I know he'll earn just as many as Charis and Tobin. :-)

More info to come as we begin this adventure!