“Papa?!” a little girl in a yellow National Bible Bee shirt flew across the J.W. Marriott hallway into the embrace of her grandfather, who had driven all the way to Orlando to surprise her.
I found a picture of that moment in a box recently and smiled fondly at the memory. Back when the primary division color was yellow, I had qualified for nationals and was excited to compete again. A little disappointment lingered, however, since my grandparents weren’t going to be able to attend with my family like they had the past couple of years. But while in a line of yellow ducklings (or so it looked with the yellow shirts), I spotted my grandparents across the room and couldn’t believe my eyes.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but my grandparents made a tremendous impact on me as a child through their support of my National Bible Bee participation. While it was quite the commitment to attend nationals for a whole week, they also demonstrated it in small ways in the months leading up: faithfully listening to me recite my memory passages, attending host group meetings with me, rewarding me with a special outing when I reached a milestone in my memorization.
Earlier this summer, I was sitting on a couple’s front porch in Texas when their granddaughter showed up. With several of their children and grandchildren living in the neighborhood, this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. But she held out her Bible to her grandmother and proceeded to recite 1 John 1 and 4 for part of the family competition that was started decades ago. With different ways to earn points around the summer passage, any member of the family could win a homemade ice cream sandwich, among other prizes.
These moments made me think of Psalm 78:4-7,
“We will not conceal them [sayings of old] from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done…That the generation to come might know, Even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.”
Throughout the book of Psalms, there is great responsibility for one generation to proclaim God’s glory and power to the next generation (Psalm 145:4). My grandparents have done so through their own personal memorization and recitation of Scripture.
Grandparents have a unique opportunity and position to influence their grandchildren in spiritual things. These are three ways grandparents can bless their grandchildren with regard to Scripture memorization, as I’ve experienced from my grandparents!
Lead by and live as an example
If you see the value in Scripture memorization for your grandchildren but don’t live out a love for the word of God in your own life, it will be evident to the young ones watching. Maybe you’re not in the National Bible Bee age range but no one is too young or too old to hide God’s Word in their heart. If memorizing Scripture is new to you, commit to memorizing the summer study passages with your grandchildren – what an incredible thing to do together!
For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has kept laminated pages of Scripture in his car. When he’s reciting during his drive and forgets the next phrase, he can check it at the stoplight. If he’s waiting to pick up my grandmother or is in the drive-thru, he pulls out whichever chapter he is memorizing.
My grandmother often has hand-written verse cards sitting on her window sill above her sink for when she’s washing dishes. She’ll write or type out whatever passage she’s committing to memory and keep it in visible places around the house.
Encourage and motivate your grandchildren to memorize Scripture
Once again, memorizing a passage of Scripture together is a valuable opportunity for everyone involved. For grandparents who have grandchildren over often or help take care of them when school is out, registering them in the National Bible Bee Summer Study could have an eternal impact on their lives.
Until discipline is developed, motivation can play a key role in consistency of Scripture memorization. My grandmother has chocolate in the door of her freezer and there were times (more recently than I’d like to admit) that I would get chocolate after I recited a certain number of verses.
Listen to recitations and converse about passages
For National Bible Bee participants, reciting the memory passages is important for retention and also meditation. It can be time consuming, especially during nationals season, and volunteers who will listen to recitations are greatly appreciated. Even more appreciated are the people who encourage new recitations with all the struggles and prompts and mistakes necessary… and then ask to hear it again.
Monday afternoons were my time to recite to my grandmother during nationals season and she would patiently let me repeat the same passage (and its accompanying mistakes) until I got it right. One year, it took five hours to get through all the Psalms memory passages twice. I lost my voice the next day, but I still have some of those verses memorized.
Recitation time is also a great springboard for conversation about the passages at hand, sharing testimonies about God’s faithfulness or prompting theological conversations. Just this week, as my grandmother and I recited Psalm 91 to each other, we had a beautiful conversation about some of the studies she did and books she read on the passage.
If you desire to leave a legacy for your grandchildren, I cannot imagine a greater one than that of loving and cherishing the word of God. Live it out even now, cultivate it in your children and grandchildren, and it will undoubtedly have an impact for eternity. The National Bible Bee is a phenomenal opportunity to do so, and I encourage you to engage your grandchildren in participating! Time spent in the Word of God is never wasted and never regretted.
Written by NBB Alumna Julia Cagasan
