Lads to Leaders 2017

I mentioned previously that we spent our weekend at a conference at the Gaylord Texan resort. This was our second year to participate in Lads to Leaders, an annual event occurring Easter weekend. We were more involved this year in several ways. Chris and I planned, arranged and set up the meals for the families participating, which was a big success but also a bit stressful and tiring! More importantly, Noah participated in a few more events this year. Just like last year, he prepared a passage from the Bible and read it aloud at the convention on Friday. This year, he was part of a puppet skit with several friends. Because the oldest one in the group is in 4th grade, they were required to compete in the 4th grade division. Noah also earned a ribbon for reciting all the books of the Bible. Finally, he studied and practiced most of the year in preparation for Bible Bowl, which has an individual test in February and then a team component at the convention. Noah was an alternate for the team event since he and his friend Levi are some of the youngest. 

Lads to Leaders has been around a long time and is intended to help churches train and equip boys and girls to become leaders in the church. It has a slew of different events, from mass media and PowerPoint to debate and song leading. Many events are year-round or pre-convention, and several culminate in a performance or event at the convention itself. Every year has a theme and a focus selection from the Bible, and this year's was a doozy: "All that you say to me, I will do" from Ruth. The books we studied for Bible Bowl were Ruth, Esther and Job! It is quite impressive to talk to some of our first & second graders who have a better grasp on Job than most adults.

Our area holds its convention in Grapevine at the beautiful Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center. Our family arrived Friday morning and checked in, then started distributing the breakfast items we had purchased for the other families staying (seven families from our church stayed this year). Noah's first event was Oral Bible Reading, which started after lunch. He and his buddy Levi were in the same room. Since they are in the K-2nd grade division, they are not judged or evaluated but simply commended for their efforts and given a certificate--so it is a low-pressure way to ease them into the competitive side of L2L.

Levi reads his scripture

 My video of Noah reading is a bit misleading, because he actually sounded louder than the camera seemed to pick up, but there's room for improvement! So proud of him. He read 1 Samuel 15:16-23. Funny enough, he got home from the convention and was slated to read a scripture at our evening worship service on Sunday night--no problem for him thanks to the preparation and practice he has had!

Noah and Levi wait for their certificates

 After a swimming break, our two puppet teams performed. This is Noah's group; his puppet is the second from the right. They were so funny and we could hear them pretty well!

After dinner Friday, L2L holds a Parade of Leaders and awards ceremony.

Friday's awards are mostly the year-round events and pre-convention awards. Lots of our kids were recognized for all kinds of things, and trophies and medals abounded. Noah was happy for his friends but a little dejected that he didn't do any of the events that would have earned him some of these awards. There's always next year!

Levi read the entire New Testament. Quite an accomplishment for a first grader! He started reading before he started first grade. Wow!

 On Saturday, after a morning devotional, we went to support Levi, who had written a speech about obedience. He read his speech to a room full of people! 

After lunch... group picture time!

Saturday afternoon was the biggie for me. Lori and I have worked since September helping fourteen kids ranging from 1st through 12th grade prepare for Bible Bowl! As I said earlier, our three teams of four were tested over the books of Esther, Ruth and most of Job. These questions weren't basic who-did-what, plot and character types of questions. I'll give you a few examples of the questions asked:

According to Ruth 4:1, where were Boaz and his close relative sitting?

A. At the city gate

B. At the city well

C. At his home

D. At the threshing floor

According to Esther 5:6, where did the king ask Esther, "What is your petition?"

A. In the royal house

B. In the inner court

C. At the banquet of wine

D. On his royal throne

According to Elihu in Job 33:26-27, after God restores a man's righteousness, what does the restored man look at men and say?

A. I see the light

B. I have been redeemed

C. My reason has returned to me

D. I have sinned

The younger teams, 3-6 graders, answer 40 questions. The older teams answer 60. I should say, this is NOT an open-Bible test... they do it all from memory and with a time limit!

Here's our 7/8 grade team before the event. Our church is small enough that we have three 5th/6th graders but because Myles is in 7th, they compete against 7th/8th grade teams. 

Here is our 11/12 grade team, which is composed of a 7th grader, 8th grader, sophomore and senior.

After Bible Bowl, other kids from our congregation competed in Songs of Praise and Song Leading (girls and boys, respectively) while Chris and I took care of picking up and setting out some BBQ for dinner.

The final awards ceremony took place Saturday night. They start by recognizing all the children K-2nd grade who participate in Lads to Leaders, which is really a sight to see!

Noah and Levi ham it up

 Our church really represented in several categories! One of my favorites was Olivia's reaction when she learned that she won first place in girls' song leading, 8th grade division!

The only thing that topped Olivia's reaction was this sweet series of moments between Sara and Noah, who were recognized as top scoring finalists for the Bible Bowl Individual Tests they took in February. They both had some of the highest scores out of all the K-2nd grade kids!

Noah is SO PROUD of his trophy!

 I was ecstatic that our 3-6 grade Bible Bowl team was a finalist!

...as was our 11/12 grade team! Top 6 is not too shabby.

The icing on the cake for Noah was when his puppet team was selected as a finalist... 

and won 2nd place!

The weekend was packed but so fulfilling. We love spending time with our forever family and serving God by training our kids to serve, to lead and to live godly lives.

Our time together ends on the highest note with an early morning worship service on Sunday, led by high school boys from the L2L events. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Easter!