Young men and women, dressed in prim black suits and striped ties or fitted blouses, swarmed around me as my weary legs carried me once more down the crowded halls filled with whispers, sniffles, and prayers. My heart began to race as I prepared to walk into my final round of apologetics. By God's grace, I had moved on into the semi-final and now the final round of Biblical apologetics.
30 minutes later. Apologetics, Impromptu, and Persuasive finals out of the way, I sat in my friend's car as the dreary rain pattered on the roof and slid down the window. My friend and I pulled out our Bibles and settled in for a time of replenishing, refreshment, and spiritual reminders before the adrenaline of the awards ceremony hit.
I opened my Bible to Isaiah...
Isaiah 55:8-9 - "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
...Then to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future...You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Yes, my ideal would have been to get 1st place...but God's plans are so much higher than any of my ideals. He has plans so beyond my ant-size view of my life and dreams.
I ended up getting 7th in Impromptu, 4th in apologetics, and 2nd persuasive. There were some minor dissppointments, where the placings didn't match up with my "ideals", but the lessons God taught (or rather, is still teaching) me about humility, trust, His sovereignty, etc. are worth far more than the tropies I was hoping to gain.
In a few minutes, I take off for the next tournament in Idaho. I'll probably meet many new people, make some great memories, get completely drained all of energy and beyond...but through it all my deep desire is that Christ will be honored in my life whether it means 1st place or last.
God is soo good! and he knows best!
ReplyDeletebtw.. I love your header! so pretty! :D
Hey how you been. I sure miss you. Hope to see you soon.
ReplyDelete-Kolten
Amen, Lauren!
ReplyDeleteBut it's not as if you don't do awesome!!!!
Had so much fun with you in Idaho.
PS: We must have similiar brain waves. Grace "Andrusko" (snicker) wrote a similiar article for cross-eyed after the Appletree tournie... = )
Grace D
Did I just type "do awesome"????
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant to say is, "it's not as if you aren't extremely successful at all the competitions you attend."
There. That's better. It's late.