I forgot to tell yall...

I forgot to mention how we did at the Junior Bible Quiz State Tournament!

...well, we didn't get first place.
but we got second! Twenty points separated us from being the state champions.

Sigh.

This is difficult to explain, but I'll try.

In Bible Quiz, there are a ton of questions. There are 3 sets of questions: 10's, 20's, and 30's. Obviously, 30's are harder. Each question has a "hash" or break off point that the child should know to buzz in. For example:

How many books are there in the Bible? 66.
The kid should buzz in as soon as he hears the B being pronounced. Because there are two other questions that go like this:

How many books are there in the New testament?
and How many books are there in the Old testament?

So, as you can see, 3 questions start out like that. Those are 10 pointers - something that little kids might answer.

In the 20 point set of questions, there are 12 questions that start out with: "What do we mean..."
Ex: What do we mean when we say that God is omniscient?
What do we mean by a calling to the ministry?
What do we mean when we speak of the Antichrist?
What do we mean when we say God is omnipotent?

...etc...

So there we were. In Gold Division. In the 4th round. Our star quizzer (who is NUMBER ONE IN THE STATE, BABY!!!!) buzzes in on "What do we mean?" Right. She has a 1 in 12 chance of getting it.

And she misses :]

The next question was (oddly) ANOTHER "What do we mean?" question. Again, she buzzes in WAY EARLY.. and has a 1/12 chance. And miraculously guesses it right! Ha!!

That isn't why we lost, but it almost made me puke in the back of the room!! Haha.. It makes me sooo nervous to keep score during a match!

Bible Quiz is really tricky. In one question, "Is" is the breakoff point. This means that a child should buzz in as soon as the quizmaster says "Is." Then they must finish the question and say the answer. All questions have breakoff points, which distinguish that question from all other questions. So that's how JBQ works. That's how kids know when to buzz in.

It's insane to watch little 4th graders rattle off scripture like nobody's business!! It's precious.

So what's in store for God's Grace? Why, Regionals, of course! Regionals will be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana! We have to be in the top 5 to make Nationals. We can certainly do it. Since, obviously, we were 20 points away from being the State champs anyhow. (that's ONE QUESTION! one 20 pt question.. argh!! .. or 2 10 point questions, if you wanna look at it that way!)

If you read all of this, I congratulate you! It's really confusing unless you live it. By the way, if you go to LHBC, I reeeealllly encourage you to be a coach of JBQ! I tell you what, there is no easier way to memorize scripture than to hear it constantly through a child! And I'm not just saying that because I am a former quizzer! It's a remarkable program & it allows kids to BREATHE scripture - as they should. Please show me another way to get a child to memorize 567+ Bible facts & scripture! A 10 year old, at that! It's truly amazing. And it sticks for life.

Okay. I'll hop off my podium now. Have a gander at these videos of JBQ! It's much easier to see it in action than hear me rant on and on about it...

Here's an actual meet.. not top notch, but you get the picture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKm91t8Ad2A



And here's JBQ in the news from a local news channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJIf8D78f3Q




..PS: C starts JBQ in the fall! He'll be the youngest one there, but he's ready!