Awana!

What in the world is an Awana?  It's an acronym that stands for the key words "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" in 2nd Timothy 2:15 (the full verse reads "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.")

Awana clubs have been around in churches for years, teaching kids scripture and helping them to have FUN while learning about Jesus Christ.  We've heard from so many people how beneficial the program is and it really makes an impact on children's lives.  Right now, our church isn't able to offer it, so we've found a program at another area church for Ben and Joey to attend.  We take them on Wendesday nights and so far we have been 3 times.  In that time, the boys have each learned about 3 memory verses.  By doing so, both boys have earned their curriculum books and Ben has earned his vest.  Joey will eventually get one too, and as they continue to learn verses and recite them by memory, they will earn patches and other awards to put on their vests. 

Joey is a Cubbie and will earn this vest and patches.

Ben is a Spark.  He has the vest now but will
continue working on earning patches!

They have been LOVING it.  The boys have been welcomed with open arms by the volunteers and leaders and other kids.  Joey's verses are very short paraphrases of the actual scripture verse, so he might only have to remember 3 or 4 words per week.  Ben's verses are the real deal and he is very motivated to learn them.  We have incorporated the verses into homeschooling.  For handwriting practice, he writes the verse each day.  And for reading practice, I cut up index cards into small squares, and each word of the verse goes on a square.  We mix up the squares, and he has to put them in order.  Then we say the verse over and over, taking away one square at a time until there's nothing left and we BOTH have it memorized!! 

Why would we want to invest so much time into churchy stuff?  Don't we do enough of that on Sundays?  Well, frankly, taking your kids to church every Sunday will not automatically make them solid believers in Jesus Christ.  Here are some factoids that I've heard before, and that the Awana website lays out clearly:

• Over half of all church-going teens abandon their faith after high school.
• As few as one in 10 possesses a biblical view of God and the world.
• Bible knowledge among college students has plummeted to all-time lows.
• The majority of children from Christian homes leave the church by age 19.      

We've seen these stats lived out in real life in far too many cases to count, and we don't want our children to fall into the same trap.  So church attendance doesn't make a huge difference, and even sending them to Awana alone won't make the difference.  BUT, consistent spiritual training from parents is what makes the difference.  And I love that Awana's curriculum is layed out so that we as the parents teach the lessons to the boys first, and Awana reinforces it.  And even more than teaching verses to our kids, they need to see us living it out:  practicing what we preach in every sense of the phrase!!  Why should they believe and behave in ways we ourselves won't believe and behave in first?  Parents are the examples to children when it comes to Christianity, and if we don't set the right example, or we don't teach them that God's Word is the Truth we measure all things against, then why should they bother believing it?

Andrew and I are soooo not perfect at all and unfortunately it took having the structure of Awana for us to get our acts together with training our children, but I'm so thankful we have it now!!!