A speech and debate tournament is like a magnifying glass.  When you put hundreds of people together for three stressful days, everything tends to show up clearer than it would otherwise—that means the bad things right along with the good things.  For now, though, I want to focus on the good things.

There are so many good things!


For me, tournaments are tiring on the outside, but incredibly rejuvenating on the inside.  Through this magnifying glass, all of God’s blessings, big and small, show up in all sorts of different ways.  Maybe that’s through awards, or maybe it’s through a conversation in the hall, or meeting new people, or learning to trust him all the more.  Whatever it is, it’s truly amazing.  And being with other people who see and are thankful for those blessings is even more amazing.

My first thought about the National Open last week is that it was a tournament filled with ups and downs.  Really, though, it was a tournament filled with ups, and smaller ups.  In competition, it’s easy to look at what God has blessed you with, and then compare it with someone else’s blessing—but why do we have to look at it as something relative?

If you had told me before the tournament that I would compete in speech finals for Persuasive, I would have been overjoyed.  That was just too far beyond my expectations.  But when it happens, and I go into the round to give my speech for those five judges, my standards suddenly get a little higher.  Instead of realizing how amazingly blessed I am just to be there, it gets a whole lot easier to worry about the outcome.

Human reasoning tells me to be just a little disappointed at getting third place—one rank below what would have qualified me directly to Nationals.

Reality says that I have been given more than I could ever possibly deserve.  And that is amazing.

On a less personal note, ARC has done it again and completely blown me away with its awesomeness.  So much talent, and so many blessings!  Thank you, God!

(Pictures courtesy of Toni)

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