The best part of the Bible Bee for us was seeing how God used it to influence the hearts of every member of our family. The person most impacted was my son who was registered as a contestant.
Let me share some of the heart transformation we experienced as a result of participating in the Bible Bee. On Day 1 after receiving our box of Bible Bee goodies, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to start. I introduced the first memory verse to my son and which was received with . . . (what shall I say?) . . . . resistance.
By the end of that first day, he had gained a vision of the program. The realization that thousands of children all over the country (and beyond) were participating in the same process gave him a zeal that went deeper than my greatest expectations. Before the day was finished, he was enthusiastically reciting his memory verse over and over without prompting--quite a contrast from the grudging attitude of that morning! He proudly announced that he had read the entire book of 2 Timothy (the focus of the 2012 summer Sword Study) on his own and that he couldn't wait to do it again tomorrow. For weeks, he faithfully dug into his Sword Study first thing upon waking.
At my son's suggestion, we started a new practice that has become a permanent fixture in our home. He requested that an entire wall of his room be made into a scripture wall, displaying all his memory verses. We did this by printing them out of nice decorative paper, displaying them, and will create a beautiful binder of his memory verses for him to review any time he wants. Our family has always valued scripture, but through participating in the Bible Bee, I saw my son reach a new level of treasuring God' Word.
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| Photo: Microsoft Images |
My youngest child is still too young to officially participate in the Bible Bee, but we did start a scripture memory project with him as a direct result of the Bible Bee's influence on our family. During the Bible Bee last summer, he began asking when he can learn verses also. Of course, I can't let a request like this go without acting on it. :) We hung free Bible verse visuals from Bible Story Printables on his wall, had him recite a verse daily, and then saved them in a keepsake binder. A true love for scripture was instilled in the hearts of both my children.
Enthusiasm did ebb and flow throughout the summer. The local events provided by the Bible Bee probably would have helped with this, but unfortunately our family was unable to attend last year. At the end of the summer, my son told me that he wants to participate in the Bible Bee every year until he's 18. He said that he will learn a lot about the Bible through doing the Sword Studies, and he reminded me that "time spent learning scripture is not empty. It has eternal value, even after this life is finished" (Isaiah 55:11).
More posts about the Bible Bee:
Bible Bee: A Family Adventure
Bible Bee's Local Contest Day - A Day of Worship
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