Army Men & Game Shows

Outside of Bible Bowl, the kids absolute favorite LTC event is Drama! Again, they have to utilize the LTC theme to deliver a message, but they are free to use their creativity. Abigail’s 3rd-5th grade group’s skit was called, ‘Battle at the Rock.’ She played a war-worn 50 year old Christian.

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Caleb and the other 6th & 7th graders had a game show themed skit called, ‘Rockin’ Rocks.’ Caleb’s character was modeled after Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island. His part required hours of character research via Netflix.

Chorus Performances

Chorus is one of those events that the kids always enjoy! Abigail competed with the 3rd-6th grade chorus and Caleb with the 7th – 12th. Ms. Vyneta always does an amazing job with the younger kids, she sings with the Sweet Adelines just like Jon’s mom and Aunt Cathy! She had the kids perform “I Will Call Upon the Lord,” “Rock of Ages,” and “The Battle Belongs to the Lord.” Of course they took gold; you can’t have that many sweet voice singing and not just be in awe!

Mr. Jordan worked with our older chorus with “King of Kings”, “Mighty to Save,” “Lord Reign in Me,” and “Celebrate Jesus.” Their older more mature voice left goose bumps on our arms!

The kids work so hard in preparation for LTC, and form such close friendships!

Oh, the random picture of Jon and I, well virtually every ‘roll’ of film has one photo Jon takes of the two of us. Even in the digital age, he’s kept up this silly tradition. One day when we’re long gone the kids will find these and smile, knowing their mom and dad loved each other.

The Rock Speech

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This year Caleb also prepared a speech. It’s crazy to think he’s old enough, but he did a great job. He also gave his message at Sunday evening services. I was so proud of him; I forgot to take a picture either time! Fortunately we had friends who video taped it!

Sign Language

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For Sign Language this year, the kids had the choice between a specific song or scripture. Both of the kids learned the scripture, II Samuel 22:31-34. When they enter before the judges they sign their name and then the scripture reference, before sign the scripture itself.

The Artist

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This year was the first year for Abigail to submit an entry in Art. There are several divisions: drawing, painting, mixed media and sculptures. Abigail did a painting of David and Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. LTC’s theme was taken from II Samuel, so there were about 8 events from II Samuel the children could chose to illustrate.

Hospitality Room

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One of the things that make LTC such a family fun event is that the kids compete on Friday night; the families spend the night at the hotel because they will compete again first thing Saturday morning. Our congregation hosts a hospitality suite for the families to hang out between events, get a snack etc. This year’s room had an awesome balcony where the kids could run off some energy between events. Our congregation had 81 kids competing in various events.

Leadership Training for Christ

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Woo Hoo!! LTC is finally here! Our first event was Bible Bowl, a personal favorite :)! Our congregation had 30 youth competeing. Everyone seem to have fun, there were only a couple of question that their coach missed! My favorite part about Bible Bowl is that when they work together as teams, they really build great friendships. LTC is held at 3 hotels in Dallas this weekend, each hosting 2,000+ kids. For Bible Bowl there were 158 teams consisting of 4 players each competeing, so that's 632 kids! It is so cool to see all the kids that have all been studing the same information come together!

Casa Manana's Cinderella

Casa Manana's performance today of Cinderella was fabulous. The performance was Rogers and Hammerstein's classical version. Great humor, amazing singing, even a carriage coming thru the audience! The step sisters were so funny!

We were joined by 30 or so homeschool friends from our homeschool group, that always make these events more fun! If your anywhere near Ft. Worth, Casa Manana's plays are always a hit!

National Bible Bowl

National Bible Bowl is a youth event designed to encourage the study of God’s Word. Youth are brought together for fellowship and testing of their knowledge over the selected Bible text. This is our families third year to participate. Nationals were designed for youth 9th-12th to earn scholarship money to various Christian Colleges. In the past the competition has been held at Oklahoma Christian University and Abilene Christian University. This year the competition was held during the Tulsa Workshop, and sponsored by York College. I have been coaching 16 amazing young people for a little over five months in preparation. The test consists of six separate timed rounds:

Power Round (Closed Bible) 25 minutes/90 Questions
Find the Verse (Open Bible) 25 minutes/40 Questions
Fact Finder (Open Bible) 20 minutes/40 Questions
Identification (Open Bible) 20 minutes/40 Questions
Know the Chapter-Quotations (Closed Bible) 15 minutes/40 Questions
Know the Chapter-Chapter Events (Closed Bible) 10 minutes/40 Questions

In the Elementary Team Division (3rd-6th grade) my three teams took First, Second & Third Place. And in the Elementary Individual Division, my teams took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, & 10th place. Abigail took first place for the second year in a row.

In the Junior Team Division (7th-9th) my team took First Place and in the Junior Team Division the kids took 1st, 2nd & 3rd place. Caleb took first place in this division for the third year in a row.

Winning is always fun, but the fact that these kids think it is fun to work this hard, and that they enjoy studying the Bible absolutely amazes me.

Snow in Dallas . . . again!

Can you believe it?! There is snow, and lots of it in Dallas again. What a beautiful site. The roads are clear, but everything looks like a beautiful white fluffy blanket has been laid over it by the hand of God! The funny thing is, this is the first day of Spring Break for us!!