Awanas Awards Night

This year our family has been fully involved in our church's first year of Awanas. Kate is in Cubbies and Andrew is in Sparks. Josh and I volunteered to be Sparks leaders. We each had a group of 8 kindergarten thru 2nd graders. Our role, other than to keep them under control, was to help them learn their verses each week. Throughout the year each clubber learned over 30 Bible verses as well as the New Testament books of the Bible. Even though Wednesday nights were CRAZY (getting everyone fed and out the door before 6), we are so glad that we participated. A child's heart is so open to God and Scripture and it was a blessing to see these children grow and learn.

The last Awanas meeting was the Awards Ceremony. Each clubber who finished their book was awarded a ribbon and recognized on stage. The Cubbies (Kate) stood up on stage and sang some of the songs they had learned throughout the year. Kate was in the front row and was the most animated one on stage.

Andrew is the exact opposite of Kate when it comes to being on stage. He says being up in front of 'hundreds' of people is the one thing he hates the most. It helped that Josh was his leader, so they were on stage together. It was special for Josh to be the one who gave Andrew his award. I am very proud of Andrew for finishing his book this year. He had a very busy year with starting kindergarten. He had a weekly memory verse, as well as a poem to memorize once a month for school. Add memorizing 2 verses a week for Sparks, and I was overwhelmed. It is really amazing the ability that children's minds have to memorize. The best part is that he has retained everything that he memorized. Here are some pictures of Andrew receiving his certificate and award ribbon .You can see in his eyes how excited he was!