I'll never be able to adequately put it into words, but what
an amazing week.
These are some of the highlights, for me...
I got to spend time with people who molded and shaped me -
and I don't just mean my quizzing abilities, although there's certainly a lot
of that, too. Some of them probably
don't even know it, or don't know the extent
of it, and I'm not going to try to make an exhaustive
list, because I'll miss somebody, for sure.
But I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to mention Pat Turner,
who was around when I was a quizzer, but who really showed up in my life when I
was an adult, struggling through the early 20-somethings... I would
be neither the quizmaster I am, nor the person, without her influence.
And Bill Horning... I
can't say enough. I'm generally pretty
good at expressing myself in writing, but I'm finding myself at a loss. And so, even though there are a lot of things
I could thank him for, personally, what I really loved most about this week was
how he was a part of molding and shaping the next generation of my family. I could not have asked for more than to have
Grace experience his leadership as her coach on the Regional B team. When she missed making the A team by two
points, in May, we were all disappointed.
After having experienced this past week, we wouldn't change it for the
world! This was exactly what she needed.
I knew I would have a good time with old friends at Q, but
what I didn't necessarily expect was to make new ones this time around! It's amazing how this quiz family just keeps
growing!
The Ministry with Others project was definitely a highlight
of my week, and it was meaningful to me that when Seth shared his favorite part
of the week, that was it. I can't think
of anything that is more significant than teaching our teenagers to live out
the Scripture they have learned by loving others like Jesus does. That's what it's all about.
The plenary sessions were amazing. The Trevecca student band, Awaken, had such a
spirit of worship, it was palpable. And
Trevecca chaplain Tim Green brought new perspective to a passage of Scripture
that has been one of my favorites for half my life! I'll have more to share about that at some
point. For now I'm simply focusing on
what it really means to allow God to change my mind.
Something incredible began to form, as we drove home
yesterday. Phil and I have always had
our best conversations while on the road.
I think it's something we've known all along, and something we've
practiced, but maybe we didn't have the words for it before now. Quizzing is about studying and learning the
Scriptures and allowing them to transform our lives. Once we've done that, then we can take a
seat, jump, answer questions, and bring home medals and scholarships. It's not the other way around. It never has been, but sometimes people
outside the quiz world don't seem to understand that. This is not a passive study of Scripture,
where we learn enough to win competitions and then hope it might somehow
permeate (or at least touch) our lives.
That's completely backwards! And
if you think that's what it's about, you've got it all wrong! It's the knowledge and transformation first. Then comes the competition.
And so, with that, let me say that we did bring a few awards
home. And that's fun and all.
It's break time now!
Catch you for Acts in a month or so!
L.
