Quite possibly the best day of the entire trip!! I woke up around 8:30, realized that I would be late meeting the Evans and Elyssa (we were supposed to meet at 8:30…..),and scrambled out of bed. I made it downstairs at about 9:00. Fortunately, Elyssa was the only one down there. We wandered around for a bit, and then she said that she was going to the Mother daughter tea at 9:00. I walked with her to that, then wandered around for a bit more waiting for Hannah and Matthew. I found Hannah (Matthew was still sleeping), and we went down to the exhibit hall.
It was quite interesting!! I got 2 free books, learned about colleges I’ll never go to, and just had fun. Eventually, Elyssa came back down, and we head up for Brett Harris’s presentation at 10:30. I think that’s the first presentation I’ve ever come away from, and felt as though it had changed my life.
He started by referencing his talk at the first Bible Bee, in 2009, where he stated that someone could win the National Bible Bee, and still go to hell. He talked about how we shouldn’t just assume that everyone at the Bee was a Christian, just because it was the, umm, National Bible Bee.
He then proceeded to give a presentation on the gospel, as the Protestants see it. He talked about how it is impossible to change ourselves, unless God changes us. We want what we want, and we don’t want to change, thus we can’t want to change unless something changes, but we don’t want something to change, thus it requires a miracle.
He talked about making sure we aren’t nominal Christians – crab apples pretending to be sweet apples; or a wolf in sheep’s clothing – pretending to believe, but really just faking. He talked about those who do the “right things” for the “wrong reasons” – those who pretend to be practicing righteousness, but are really practicing unrighteousness.
After, he asked us a series of questions(I’m paraphrasing, but this is the general idea).
1. How often to you study the scriptures, not because of the bible bee, etc, but because you want to know God?
2. How often do you pray, not because you know your parents will ask, but because you really believe that God will listen?
3. How often to you do the right things, and follow God’s commandments, just because you trust in God?
There were three answer choices for each of these: never, occasionally, or often. As I mentioned earlier, my relationship with God has been lacking since the 2008 National Spelling Bee – it was good right after, but has greatly deteriorated. As such, I found myself answering “never”, or “occasionally” to all of those questions. He then asked a fourth question(again, paraphrasing).
4. Based on your answers to these questions, do you see enough evidence of God’s grace in your life to be confident that you are saved?
Yes, or No? I answered no. I realized that I hadn’t been doing nearly enough. I thought of times when I have chosen to go the wrong way, because I haven’t trusted God enough (particularly, I thought of M). He then asked one final question(major paraphrasing here).
5. If you answered “no”, to the last question, do you want to change? Are you willing to confess to your parents that you’ve made mistakes, etc.
Yes, or No. This was a hard question to make. I most definitely do not want to tell my parents about M. In fact, although I know better, I’ll most likely wait to tell them until after I graduate. However, I am breaking up with him tomorrow. I can’t justify it anymore. I knew that I wanted to change – that I was tired of living the way I was, with virtually no relationship with God to speak of. So, I said yes.
He invited those who said yes to stand, in full view of everyone else, and proclaim “Jesus Christ is Lord”. I was thinking that no one would stand up. However, two people did. He then asked one more time, for people to stand. A couple of other’s did. Meanwhile, a fierce battle was raging in my head (something that he actually figured was going on with other people, and commented on). Should I stand? I didn’t know what people would think of me. I was scared. Finally, he gave people one last chance. A few others stood. Finally, as I was just about to stand, I remembered that my blessing had said that I’d stand as a witness. That was the final confirmation I needed. I quickly shot to my feet, and proclaimed “Jesus Christ is Lord!”. After I stood, there were a few others who stood.
Afterwards, there were many who congratulated me on doing this. Matthew, Elyssa, and Hannah all gave me hugs, as did Elyssa’s mom and grandma. I had the strangest feeling, of peace, and lightness. I’d experienced something similar once before after a particular lunch with M, but this felt soo much better. I felt the guilt that had been weighing down on me disappear. We went to the meet and greet with Brett – a very interesting experience. Hannah told him that I had stood. He asked what had been going on in my brain. I explained that as soon as he started talking, and said that the Spirit had placed this topic on his heart, I knew that I was at least part of the reason why(when he had originally said that, I was soo grateful that I’d come. The Spirit was very strong in that session). He then asked what he could do. I knew that I’d need courage to do some things in the next days, and asked him to pray that I’d be able to continue to stand. He was quick to agree, and for the next three minutes or so, I had the great privilege of hearing him, a virtual stranger, pouring out his heart to God, for me. It was amazing.
A few minutes later, Mr and Mrs Evans showed up. Mrs. Evans asked how I was, and gave me a quick hug, as did Mr. Evans. She then said that she had just received great news, and proceeded to tell me that she cried when Hannah told her the news. We hugged for quite a while. Then, we made plans to go to lunch (Elyssa, the Evans, this one kid named Jonathan from Hendry Plays, and me) at the Pancake Pantry. I asked my mom if I could go, and she said yes. She was going to come and not eat anything, and pay for mine. However, there was not enough room; in addition, the Evans said that they’d pay for mine. Looking back, I wonder why, considering what happened. Although, they also paid for everyone else’s.
Lunch was great. We then came to hear Brett Harris’s second session. He talked about doing hard things, and 5 things that doing hard things is. It was great. My mom heard this one, and thought it was great! While we were standing in line, Elyssa’s grandma told me that she thought what I’d done that day was worth more than winning any Bible Bee, and I have to agree. After the session, I went up to do some physics homework, with the promise that I’d be down soon. However, I was soon interrupted. They’d been trying to get ahold of Daniel, a participant in my local Bee, for a while. Elyssa kept saying that he’d definitely want to talk to me. I had no idea why, although, looking back, I should’ve known. So, they came into the room, and handed the phone to me. Elyssa kept saying “tell him what you did, this morning”. I didn’t know how to phrase it exactly, so Elyssa took back the phone, and gave it to Jeremiah(her little brother). He said “Tia came to Christ.”
Daniel’s reaction was very interesting. Jeremiah gave the phone back to Elyssa. Daniel asked her if Jeremiah had been telling the truth. By this time, I actually wanted to talk to Daniel. I explained that they’d actually told the truth. Of course, he wanted to know the story, so I gave him the abridged version. We then talked for a couple of minutes. I found out that he’d been praying for me ever since we first met last year at the 2010 local. I was touched. I’d had no idea.
After they left, I worked on physics homework again, before going down to dinner with Mom. I didn’t tell her anything, not sure what to say. After dinner, we got ready for the ending celebration ceremony, and hung out downstairs. While we waited for it to start, I talked to Elyssa more, and found out that she and Daniel had prayed together. I’d also talked to Matthew, and found out that he’d prayed as well. I had no idea that all these people were praying for me. I’m soo grateful that they did. I knew of Christ, and had been taught of him, but I don’t think it ever actually hit me until yesterday that he truly is Lord, my Savior, and the only way back to God. Because of this, I wasn’t fully faithful to what he’s asked of me. Now, I’m determined to change.
Oh – senior finals! They were quite interesting – everyone messed up, except for Kari Erickson, who won. This shocked me – I thought that everyone would be perfect, and thus they’d have to go back to preliminary scores. I’m so glad they didn’t have to – it doesn’t seem quite as fair that way. Grace Ann Westfahl placed 2nd, and Laura Hedstrom, 3rd.
During the celebration ceremony, other awards were presented. After, we all went downstairs for a dessert reception. As we were eating, I saw Grace Ann, and went to talk to her. She mentioned seeing me stand, and asked if it was real. I said “definitely.” We talked a bit later, and I found out that she too had been praying for me. I am touched by all the love that the mainstream Christian people have – praying for almost complete strangers, in hopes that they’ll come to believe on Christ.
The reception was great – I got almost all the e-mails that I wanted - -there’s only one more I wish I had. After wards, I watched parts of “Indiana Finn”, a movie that Matthew made to parody Huckleberry Finn, and then packed.
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