He just represented his school at the New Jersey Geography Bee. Only 102 students were there to represent schools across the state in grades 4-8. He was one of only six kids in grade five, the rest being older.
Our two hour drive down south was a very quiet one. The nerves and anxiety were palpable, and the only thing I knew to do was to pray. My prayer wasn't that he win the contest, but that he would do his best and be able to walk away with his head held high. His tendency in times like this, is to degrade himself and lose his confidence. I wasn't going to fall into the trap of feeding that frenzy, so I kept quiet.
For me, this was more about seeing how he does under pressure, and teaching him to enjoy the ride. It's so easy to focus on the winning, and to see oneself as a failure if you don't win. As a Christian, I want to teach my children to do their best, trust in God and leave the outcome up to Him. Winning is just a bonus! These kind of experiences in life are so rare, and if he merely concentrates on attaining the title of winner, he'll miss the joy of being in the midst of something incredible. Soak it up I wanted to tell him.
How did he do? Turns out he went to the tie breaker round, as he answered 8 out 8 correctly in the preliminary round. In the tie breaker, he missed the second question. He finished 16th overall in the state. Knock me over with a feather.
All three of us stayed to watch the final round. He was jumping in his seat frequently, as he knew the answer to nearly all of them. This kid has the knowledge to make it up there, but not this year. God is going to refine him and prepare him in HIS time. On the day of the bee, he stated he wasn't going to do this next year as he didn't want "to give up a whole day to geography" (the nerves were talking). By the time we got through dinner that evening, he was already mentioning next year's bee.
Thing 28 I love is Geography Bees and how they allow a parent to see God at work in their child.
No comments:
Post a Comment