Topics: Character; Choices; Church Attendance; Faithfulness; Obedience; Priorities; Respect; Responsibility; Sabbath; Sacrifice; Talents; Thankfulness; Worship
References: Genesis 2:1–3; 22; Exodus 20:8–11; Matthew 5:16; 11:28; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25
Elliot Huck, a fourteen-year-old from Bloomington, Indiana, who had placed forty-fifth out of 250 spellers in semifinal competition, skipped the National Spelling Bee. The 2007 National Spelling Bee was held on a Sunday. In Elliot’s eyes, the competition conflicted with the biblical command to rest on the Sabbath.
“I always try to glorify God with what I do in the spelling bee because he is the one who gave me the talent for spelling,” said Elliot. “Now I’m not going to spell and try to give glory to God in that.”
Dropping out wasn’t an easy choice for Elliot. He loved his time in Washington, D.C., at the 2006 national competition and was looking forward to more of the same. Even so, the expert speller concluded, “I have accepted that God knows what’s best, and I’m just going to do what he says.”
—Robert King, “Sunday Contest Spells the End for Student,” Indianapolis Star (February 22, 2007)