Mark on the wall!

So last night was a BIG night at Awana for us, for a couple of reasons! First, if you aren't familiar with Awana, it's a FANTASTIC church program where kids go one night per week and have a lesson, games, and work on memory verses. There are several levels - kids start out in preschool at the "Cubbies" level, then when they hit kindergarten they start "Sparks," where they stay through second grade, and then move on to Truth & Training in 3rd grade. Anyway, Mark is in his 2nd year as a Sparks leader, and I'm a "back up" Sparks leader - I go on the Wednesdays I don't have sorority.

Well, each spring, they have "Stick it to the Commander" night, where the kids get to tape the Awana Commander to the wall. This year, our Commander had an injury and couldn't be the victim, so they had the kids vote for which leader they wanted to take his place . . . . . they voted for Mark. This is a huge deal - the kids just go crazy for this event - they each get a certain length of duct tape to use according to how many verses they'd completed in their book thus far. It was a crazy night, but really fun - and to top it off, Jack and Noah officially completed their book last night, meaning they have memorized 32 bible verses since September, with references too!! And they remember these verses too, it's not like they say it one week, and forget it two weeks later. It's just amazing. One they worked on a couple weeks ago was John 1: 1-4 - -it took a couple weeks to get it down, but wow, it's exciting to hear when they do.

So here's the progression of Mark being attached to the church basement wall:
Getting started (with a few of the Sparks watching) . . . A couple of the men got the "base" going . . . .

Now we're on the way . . .
Here's Jack getting his turn . . .


And Noah's turn . . . .
They even let me have a shot . . .
All finished, ready to pull the bench out from under him - will he stick????

And it's a SUCCESS! The goal was to get him to stick for 1 minute - well, he still didn't come down, and they ultimately cut him down.
He was such a good sport - pretty sweaty when he got down, and his hands were numb, but he had fun with it the whole time. One of the girls tried writing "I love Green Bay" across his chest, but it didn't show, lucky for her! :) The kids just had a blast.

Tomorrow we have Grandpa Paul coming from Willmar for a visit this weekend - a LONG awaited visit! After 3 or 4 failed attempts at getting out here, he's finally going to make it, although we'll miss Grandma LaRayne - she has a back injury and can't make the trip.

Have a great weekend!