Quiz Nationals

We are in Illinois this week so the girls can participate in the national competition for our denomination's Bible Quizzing program.

On our way here, less than an hour from our destination, we spotted a team from our conference broken down on the side of the road. They had been there 15-20 minutes, stopped by a bad alternator. They were trying to reach a towing service they had been told might be able to fix the car on the roadside when they saw we had stopped. A trip back a few miles to the nearest town, some tools and an alternator purchase later, we were back at their van.

As we realized we had the wrong tool, a Marine named Samson, who had all the necessary tools, stopped and offered his assistance. He and Clarence got it fixed quickly enough that the team was able to make it to registration on time.

This incident was a tangible reminder to all of us that God orchestrates the details of our lives perfectly, usually without our awareness. You see, we had planned to start out at 6 that morning but didn't manage to leave until 6:30. We had a 3-hour window for registration, so we weren't stressed about it. Had we left as we had planned, we wouldn't have been in the right place at the right time to stop and help our friends. We would have missed seeing God work out the details of providing the tools just as they were needed.

Samson accepted only our thanks and asked that we pray for our servicemen. It was a great reminder and now we have one more serviceman to pray for personally.

As for the quizzing-the kids are doing round robin competition yesterday and today. Tomorrow the double elimination tournament will start. They were undefeated yesterday and still are, so far this morning. Tonight they are performing in the talent show. Prayers appreciated as this is stretching their comfort zones a bit!