| The Bible Bee - Getting the Whole Family Involved |
2008-12-29 |
Children may be a heritage from the Lord (Ps. 127:3), but godly grandparents are truly a gift as well. The children of Tammy and Mark McMahan have been blessed with two sets of godly grandparents, but what makes these grandparents important to the Bible Bee is that all of them are helping the McMahans make a Local Bible Contest in their community a reality. Last October, Tammy had just finished homeschooling for the day when she began scanning an e-mail she had received from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). There she read an announcement about the 2009 National Bible Bee Competition, and then followed a link to the Bible Bee website. Tammy says once there, “It took me all of five minutes to get the big picture from the website and pick up the phone to find out more.” Tammy was excited because she realized that the heart of the Bible Bee matched her own desire to ground her children in the Word of God. “I know that God’s Word doesn’t return void. I believe that if [my children] know the Word of God, they will be able to stand.” After talking to a Bible Bee event planner, Tammy knew that not only did she want all five of her children to participate in the competition, but she also wanted to chair a Local Contest planning committee. That same day Tammy and the kids were traveling, and as was their custom, used time on the road to talk with the McMahan grandparents in California. When it was Tammy’s turn to talk, she quickly told Grandpa McMahan about the Bible Bee and the fact that she hoped to host a Local Contest. Grandpa responded,“I’m writing two checks right now; one for the host registration fee, and one to enroll all of the kids in the contest. I’ll mail them tomorrow.” What a blessing! But that’s not all that grandparents have done. Tammy’s parents live in Cleveland and have been involved in outreach ministries their entire married lives. When they heard about the Local Contest Tammy was planning to host, their immediate reaction was “How can we help?” Tammy knows that her parents will be there, supporting her in this endeavor. The Local Bible Bee in the Clarksville/Wilmington area may be one way that God touches the hearts of people in this economically impacted region which is home to the headquarters of DHL, the huge transport company that is now closing its doors. This Local Contest may even reach far beyond Wilmington to the nearby cities of Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Support for the Clarksville Local Contest has already been overwhelming: Three churches in the area have expressed willingness to let the contest be held in their facilities, and Tammy hopes that she and her committee will be able to host 400–500 contestants. What is Tammy’s word of encouragement to any others who may be considering chairing a Local Contest? “The most important thing that you can do is to catch and share the vision. You don’t know when you are first starting out who will come alongside and help you. But I can tell you, God will bring along those who are needed.” |
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