AWANA

I am probably one of the few adults in the world that never seemed to have an organization that was significant enough in my life that I wanted to hand it down to my kids. I hear about dads who want their sons to get into the same college and fraternity they belonged to, or play the same sport that they did.

I didn’t belong to a sorority so there is no pressure there.  And while I attended my parents’ alma mater, it was only for one semester so I can’t very well push that upon my kids either.

There weren’t any sports teams that I grew up rooting for, no secret societies or industrial organizations that I belonged to.  For years I thought I had no significant tradition to hand down to my children, but recently we started attending a new church and I was thrilled to find out they offer AWANA clubs.

AWANA is a Christian organization that I belonged to from first through sixth grades.  The name is an acronym for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed and is taken from the scripture verse II Timothy 2:15. “Study to show thyself approved unto a God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

A child in AWANA gets to sing songs, play games, have contests and parties and various other fun activities, but the real thrust of the program is Scripture memorization. Or maybe I should say, the thrust of the program is learning how to have a relationship with God. And how can one have a relationship with someone if they never hear what the other person has to say?  And so that hearing is accomplished, in part, through memorizing God’s word.

A kid who starts out in preschool and stays with the program through sixth grade will have memorized nearly 500 Bible verses and studied the meanings of hundreds more.

In second grade I memorized, in order, the names of all sixty-six books of the Bible.  I was a Bible quoting machine. In Bible book relays, similar to spelling bees, I was always the last man standing. I even beat out sixth graders.  And not to brag, for yes, I memorized that verse about pride going before a fall, but I could say all sixty-six books in a single breath.  Although, now that I’m nearly thirty-five, it takes two breaths.

So, as you can see, it was with great enthusiasm that I re-discovered AWANA and took my seven year old daughter to enrollment. She is a little old to be a Cubbie, so she will start out on the Sparks level. I loved being a Sparky! It was better than Brownies, Bluebirds and the Mickey Mouse Club all rolled together.

As I was flipping through my daughter’s entrance exam, memories came flooding back. I started singing the theme song, under my breath at first and then a little louder, “Hail, AWANA, on the march for youth. Hail AWANA, holding forth the truth…”

Before I could finish, daughter gave me a grave look and whispered, “It’s okay, Mom. They’ll teach me the song.”

Dutifully reprimanded, I tried to contain my excitement until we got home.

Later that evening, as daughter was relaying to hubby the events of her first night in AWANA, I suddenly remembered something. Rummaging in the dark recesses of the closet, behind my wedding gown and under the sleeping bags, I whipped out a small red vest with gray trim. It was complete with crowns and jewels I had earned for scripture memorization.

Hubby observed, “Wow! She can never find her car keys, but ask about her first grade Sparky uniform and she can locate it in thirty seconds flat!”

A girl has to have her priorities.

We are three weeks into AWANA now. Daughter has nearly finished her entrance booklet so she can get her very own red vest and start earning awards.  I am thrilled to say that my enthusiasm has caught on and she is eagerly looking forward to becoming an “official” Sparky.

Now, I need to get her started on memorizing those books of the Bible. After all, there’s a family tradition to maintain! Everybody take a deep breath and repeat after me, “Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges…”