We now interrupt the regular social media curriculum for a point of paternal pride.
As I’ve mentioned previously (here, here and here at least), several of my kids have been involved in an amazing program called Bible Bowl, in which the participants (at least the most dedicated ones) memorize huge chunks of the Bible (last year it was the Gospel of John, 1-2 Peter and 1-3 John) and then compete in a contest similar to the old College Bowl based on that text. You know, buzz in on the toss-ups, and then if you get them you earn the right to answer additional questions for bonus points.
My youngest daughter, Ruthie, has been our most intense Bible Bowler. It’s her sport. When basketball season is over her siblings (Bekah and Joe) will become more actively involved, but they couldn’t go with her this weekend to the first major tournament of the year, the Kentucky Christian University round robin. Until this point in the year the competitions are all in the local round robins, but this tournament had kids from Minnesota, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan, Kansas, Florida and Iowa. (No particular order in the list, but I always like to leave Iowa for last) 😉
Lisa and I couldn’t go to the tournament, but it was fun to watch the results come in online as they were posted to the Bible Bowl site.
As you can see from the final standings and her round-by-round results below (click to enlarge), Ruthie got off to a slow start but came on strong to win in the 23-team tournament.
After the tournament was completed, we also got the pleasure of calling Ruthie to tell her that she had received a letter saying she had advanced to Finalist status in the National Merit Scholarship program.
She was pretty excited about that, too. She said, “Wow! This is my lucky day! Things are going so well, I should go out and buy stocks or something.”
Ruthie’s really smart, but sometimes lacks practical sense. I had to remind her it was Saturday, and the markets were closed.
But at least she’s smart enough that she didn’t say she should go buy a lottery ticket.
As a postscript, we learned early this afternoon that Ruthie took first place in what they call the “Brain Test,” which is an insanely difficult 200-point exam covering the entire text memorized to this point. Ruthie scored a 192.
Ruthie’s the one on the left in the picture below (from last Christmas, when she and her sisters received some family heirloom aprons as part of their gifts from my parents.) Rachel, our oldest daughter (and first Bible Bowler) and the mother of our first grandchild, is in the middle, and Bekah (our lady hoopster) is on the right.
Lisa and I are extremely blessed, and this is only the female half of our offspring!