Spelling Bee Champion

Last Sunday our grandson, Jacob Knispel, took center stage at St. Mark Lutheran School in Milford against the best students in all the LCMS churches in the region. During lunch Jacob informed us that he was a pretty good speller and would try to win first place against all the other kids in all the other schools.

I like Jacobs fiery competitive spirit and his self confidence. I said if he won Karen and I would put $100.00 in his College Scholarship Fund that Karen's sister has set up through State Farm Insurance. I knew this offer would put extra pressure on Jacob but it is a good thing for children to learn how to face competition and work hard to win.

Jacob has always been competitive but when he was younger it was hard for him to lose without getting emotionally upset. Our daughter and son-in-law have been working with Jacob and teaching him how to be a Tigger Kid and Bounce back from Adversity.

Our family plays a lot of board games. Jacob still finds losing difficult but he has learned a lot about managing his feelings and bouncing back to try and try again. Jacob is very skilled at games and we do not let him win just because he is only ten years old. This approach has proven to be very important in teaching Jacob to be RESILIENT, and nothing is more important to our mental health than resilience.

For the past few weeks I have been leading groups for Horizon Church on understanding and healing our family tree. In the middle of the group Jacob called me on a cell phone from the school and happily noted that I owed his College Fund a cool $100.00!

Congratulations Jacob! We are very happy to put that money toward your higher education.