Getting up in the morning

It's 7:45am. I'm sitting up in bed and checking my email on my cool new iPad when I hear a knock at my bedroom door and a dark head peeked around the corner.

"Isn't it time to go?"

I assured her that we didn't have to leave until 8:45. The head disappeared and I went back to my browsing.

The clock turned to 8 and the head popped back in. "It's 8! Is it time to go?!"

I explained that 8 is a long way from 8:45 and she disappeared. A few minutes later she comes back with pop-tarts and iced tea, an incentive for me to get out of bed and get moving. So I do. All the while, she's hovering just outside my door until I finally shoo her back upstairs.

So what had L so keyed up? It was the last day of Bible Study.

Every Thursday during the school year, we go to Community Bible Study (CBS). Every week we read passages and answer difficult questions and we discuss sometimes difficult topics (Amnon, Absalom, and Tamar, anyone?). We dive deeply into Bible truths that many people will never even read, much less try to understand. It's a lot of work, especially at the tender age of 7. We've been going for 4 years and it's still my girls' favorite weekly activity.

Why? They're in class with friends they've known for 4 years. They sing and they play games. Today they even had a little pizza party. But it's something more. Yesterday, I listened in the car, catching glimpses in the rearview mirror, as K patiently helped L to finish the 2 lessons they had to get done for this week. L hates to not get her work done each week and she was willing to forgo playing in order to get all the questions answered. L even announced that if our schedule was too busy next school year, she'd give up her much beloved dance so we could go to CBS.

Folks, that's devotion.