Tournament!

Saturday was our the first tournament I've been to this year for speech. I competed in Apologetics (questions about the Bible) and Impromptu (you have two minutes to prepare a five-minute speech on one of three words/quotes that you draw). For my dear friend Haley, this was her first tournament. We had so much fun together, and hanging out in between rounds with Liana, Jessica, Grace, Sophia, Hannah, and others. It was a huge blessing to be able to pray together, encourage each other, watch other speeches, and catch up with others and see what God has been doing in their lives. And of course, competing in Impromptu for the first time (excluding speech camp :) was a real adventure, too!
To start off the day, Jessica, Liana, Haley, and I all practiced speeches for each other. Then it was time for impromptu. The first round of impromptu I spoke on the quote "Where there is room in the heart, there is always room in the house." That was very fun! Then I watched Haley give her impromptu on "Two people cannot long be friends who cannot forgive each other's faults." She did a great job and you wouldn't be able to believe this was her first year of speech. Then we had apologetics... Haley spoke first on "The meaning and significance of Jesus' claim that He is the 'Son of Man.'" Then I spoke on "The meaning and significance of Jesus' claim that He was the 'Son of God.'" That, too, was fun!

Then we had lunch, talked with Liana, Jess, Hannah, and Gracie, and just had fun! Then, back to speaking... more impromptu. I spoke on the word "trust." This was not nearly as good. I didn't do a very good job, but, God had a plan, of course. Then Haley spoke on "Risks" and then another friend, Catherine, spoke on "Reputation." It was fun to watch them, too! Then, finally, it was time for our last speeches for apologetics. I spoke on "The meaning and significance of Jesus as the Lamb of God." Then, Haley spoke on the same topic in a different room, and our friend Grace spoke on "Provide evidence for the historical existence of Jesus." It was wonderful to watch them both, I can learn a lot from them!

That was the end of our speaking day, so Haley and I headed upstairs to watch Grace and Sophia's second duo round!!!!!!! It was AMAZING, just to let you know. Probably the best duo I've ever seen. Ever. It was so funny. Haley and I were laughing soooooooo hard. It was on the piece "Drama on the High Seas," and it was so good.

Then, Haley and I went back to the sanctuary for the awards ceremony. I ended up getting third in apologetics-- To God be the glory!-- and I had a number of friends who placed in different events. Grace go 2nd in Individual interp., and Grace and Sophia got 1st in their duo (of course!) Also, Sophia got 2nd in Apologetics, and placed in her Persuasive and I think in Individual interp, too!! She's amazing! All in all, it was an amazing day!

If you would like to hear about the tourny from my friend Hannah's point of view (plus see an absolutely ridiculous picture of me) here's the link: http://xian-na.blogspot.com/2009/11/tournament-pictures.html

If you want to hear Haley's experience, here's the link to her blog: http://bigsisteroffour.blogspot.com/2009/11/tournament.html

And if you'd like to know Sophia's opinion on wearing hose to the tournament: http://lereticentdragon.blogspot.com/2009/11/tournament-attire.html

Well, that's pretty much it! God gave everyone a wonderful day at the tournament, I think! And I'm so glad that there were so many people there desiring to share God's word with others.

Grace,
Rachel