Parents asked, "Do you think our kids have a chance?" I answered, "Honestly, not really. I mean, their skit is great and I know they've put a lot of work into it, but the caliber of teams at the state level are an entire different ballgame. We'll be lucky if they even place above 10th out of the 20 teams."
Time to eat your own words, coach.
They shone up on that stage as if they were born to be in front of a large audience.
They nailed the hands-on problem solving task and came out whopping and jumping for joy.
And when the emcee at the awards ceremony did not announce our names for 5th, 4th, or 3rd place, I thought, "There's no way...."As we sat there holding hands, eyes squeezed shut, praying for a ticket to World finals, I gave it up to God and knew that if we were going to be invited to perform at the University of Maryland, He would provide the funds to get us there.
Our name was called for a second place! We ran screaming down the UCF arena to the stage where we shook the hands of judges and the founder of Odyssey of the Mind. I bear hugged two of the directors for the state of Florida, one who is a close friend of the family and the other, my former Odyssey of the Mind coach from 6th grade.
Life certainly comes full circle, and I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to have spent this year with truly amazing teenagers.
Time for crazy fundraising and my first trip to World and Washington DC!
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