The end of an AWANA year

I realized half-way through awards night that I should have brought my camera so that everyone could see the awesomeness that is the AWANA program at Bethany.  Award Night is one of my favorite nights (and not only because it marks the beginning of a 3 month break!).  I love seeing the excitement of all the kids as they go up on stage and as they immediately open their awards to see what they look like.  I don't know the exact numbers, but I would guess our AWANA club serves close to 300 kids in Cubbies (3-4 year olds), Sparks (k-2st grade), and TnT (3rd-6th grade).  I work just with the 3rd-6th grade girls and I am AMAZED by them.  They work hard to learn all the verses in their books.  And if they finish their books early, they go back and do the extra credit.  I had three girls working on verse packets because they had completely finished all of their books.  One boy in Sparks (remember, that is k-2nd grade) finished his book and the extra credit work.  So the next step is to memorize about 10 verses in 1 John.  He did that and then memorized the WHOLE BOOK of 1 John.  On top of all these amazing kids, I was also able to mentor a 7th grader as she continued in the AWANA program.  Our church only does AWANA through 6th grade, but there are also programs all the way through high school.  So, this 7th grader worked through a book on her own.  She had to pace herself and do everything on her own.  I was available to listen and sign off on her sections. 

I enjoy memorizing Scripture, but these kids encourage me and challenge me to do more than I am to hide God's Word in my heart!  As much as I love having the summer's off, the end of the year is always a little sad and I will be ready to start again in the fall!