Grace

Well, I just got home from the first tournament of the year. Literally! I just stepped in my door about thirty minutes ago. I have learned several things this tournament and met some great people.

First, I learned that talent makes up for lack of evidence! My debate partner and I only won 3 out of 6 of our debate rounds and yet we still advanced to Double-Octa-Finals and Octa-Finals! Usually, you have to win 4 to advance. However, my speaker points were so high that we "broke" to out-rounds. After we broke, we debated an excellent and BEAT them! We were so shocked and I was so grateful! We had no evidence, but an amazing case.

Second, I learned that God humbles the proud but gives grace to the humble. At our last tournament, the value of humility was revealed to me by another debater's actions and character. I have been trying since then to be more humble and give God the glory for my success. This tournament, my debate partner was not feeling well and it stressed me out greatly. I had to carry all the weight for both of us (telling her what to say, ask, point out, read, etc.). Since I was entered in 5 categories, I was running all the time and didn't have a lot of time to relax and breathe and prepare myself for our next debate round or another speech round. However, God gave me the grace and patience to be able to handle both my debate partner and other people on our team. He allowed me to focus and do well in ALL my speech categories as well as debate! I qualified to Regionals in debate. However, not only did I qualify, but we got 15th place out of 69 and I also got 23rd place speaker award out of 138! I also won 8th place in a speech category. When I humbled myself and did not complain about my partner's incompentecy, God rewarded me.

The third and final thing I learned is about the value of the verse that says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." Not all of our team did well. Even though I was thrilled to tears about my teammates that "broke" and qualified for Regional Competition, I was very aware that some of us became discouraged about their results. One of the other team's coaches commented on how close our team has become. We love each other so much and when one is contentious or sad, it hurts the entire team. Encouragement is a powerful tool. I have the responsibility as the official team "queen" to encourage EVERYONE! Even those who may have not done as well. It is hard when you are excited about your accomplishments to take time to try to feel how a team member does when they have gotten discouraged. It's difficult and not really fun, but necessary. In fact, my speech is about that. We need to focus on others and not ourselves. Until we do that, our culture will continue to disintegrate.

This is what I learned at the first tournament of the year. In a week and a half, we leave for another tournament. Please pray for me and my team as we try to become more ready for this next tournament.