Life As A Number...

Ah...  Quizzing.

That one word embodies more of my life, memories, personality, theology, world view, etc. then I think even I realize.  Sometimes I like to think I'm a legend.  I'm really not.  If there were a comprehensive book of quizzing history, my  name might show up here and there, from 1994-1998.  If you found my picture, the most likely scenario is that I'd be crying with glitter running down my face.  But someone was kind enough to say these words to me the other day:  "You have stories no one else has to tell - And that's what legends are made of".  And it's true.  I do have those kinds of stories.  I'm not particularly interested in dusting them off, just now, but I know they lurk somewhere beneath the surface... far beneath the surface... and well, what's done is done.

Yesterday, as I was watching Seth and Grace quiz through the windows, and observing the activity all around me in the hallways, it occurred to me that some things never change.  When you quiz well, you often become a statistic (this is probably true when you do anything competitive well).      

When I was a quizzer, there was always a lot of buzz on the district regarding points and win/loss records and standings.  However, a lot of us were pretty good friends, too.  I often think back to one particular day when I passed my friend Robb in the hallway and asked, "How are you doing?"  He answered with his average for the day, and I stopped cold and said, "I meant how are you doing as a person, not a number."  We both kind of chuckled and talked for a few minutes.

There are not too many people out there who are more competitive than I am (although I suppose I might be married to one, and perhaps we're raising a couple more).  So...  let me rephrase that.  There are not too many people out there who are more competitive that we are... our family... that's just how we roll.  This is, of course, one of the reasons that quizzing captured us, so completely, and became an amazing vehicle for memorizing Scripture and applying it to our lives.  But I want this to be fun for S & G (and for "the babies" as they get older, too).  I want them to make friends and to care about people.  I want them to learn about teamwork and goals, winning and losing with grace (uh... the virtue, not the person).  I want them to have so much Scripture crammed into their heads that they can't help but turn to it when a real life situation requires it.  I want this to be transformational for them.  And I think it will be.  And I know it already is.

Back to the numbers for just a moment, though.  Yesterday I had the privilege of coaching Grace in her first Top 16 quiz off.  Truthfully, I am a good coach.  However, I defer this responsibility to Phil most of the time, because he is a phenomenal coach.  But yesterday called for both of us, because Seth and Grace made the top 16.  Grace went in 6th and Seth went in 13th.  In my mind, this put Grace in a pretty decent position to make the Top 10, and it was just going to depend on how things went down with Seth.  If you've ever quizzed or coached in a Top 16, you know that the competition standards escalate dramatically.  Jump aggressively and hope to pull it out.  Score positive points every round.  You might have a chance.  This is the point at which you have to rely on the knowledge you have.  Going in, I knew that Grace had roughly half of all of the material memorized, plus all of the memory verses (and she had, of course, studied the rest, as well).  Seth is harder to read.  He doesn't walk up to me in the evening and just start quoting whole chapters, but if you listen to his answers in practice, you know he has more down solidly than you would guess, because they are often word for word from the Scripture.  He is also not afraid to error, which is a huge asset in high level competition situations, because the kids who are afraid to error just never get jumps.  Occasionally, this backfires on him (and all good quizzers), and yesterday during the morning rounds was kind of like that.  Question selection is key, but he's in 7th grade!  Sometimes I forget this!

After one round, Grace was in 2nd place and Seth had leapt to 4th.  This was encouraging, but there was still much room for caution.  I know, all too well, how easy it is to fall from 2nd place all the way out of a position on the team.  If the butterflies in Grace's stomach were killing her (as she exclaimed), mine felt more like piranhas!     

After two rounds, Grace had slipped to 3rd and Seth to 6th.  Grace had a rough round, a rough call, and a lot of tears.  This mama (who, remember, spent most of my quizzing years crying), had to encourage her to "suck it up", even in the midst of my own escalating blood pressure!

In round three (final round), Grace got up to appeal something, and the attitude that came through just screamed "Lisa, 1995".  At this moment, I thought to myself, "Oh...  I hope the quizmaster and content judge remember that she, too, is a 7th grader!"  As much time as we have spent working on memorization, jumping, making relationships with other quizzers, Bible study, technique, and spiritual formation; we have not had the time to begin to get challenges, rebuttals, and appeals dealt with.  In a few years, I fully expect that Grace (and Seth too) will deliver them beautifully, with accurate information and reasoning, and a whole lot of respect for the authority of the quizmaster.  Patience is a virtue here...  Her appeal was not accepted.  Then, another quizzer challenged a correct ruling, against her, but something finally fell her way, and that one was overruled.

So, after three rounds, Grace had retaken 2nd  and Seth had also retaken 4th.

I am just a little bit amazed by them!  I probably shouldn't be in shock or anything.  They have worked so hard.  And now they have a couple more weeks to cram in some more material and fine tune some skills!  St. Louis, here we come!

L.