[awards and apologetics]

Some of you may be wondering why it's been so long since my last post. The reason being, I was up in Seattle, WA competing in a speech and debate qualifying tournament.

I competed in 5 events, and God was gracious, and it resulted in ‎9th place Team Policy, 4th place Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd place Apologetics, 2nd place Humorous Interpretation, 2nd place Speaker, and 3rd place Sweepstakes.

The following is a bit of reflection on some of the lessons I learned at the tournament.

"God is sovereign." That's what I told myself, as I arrived at the tournament, 6:00am in the morning.

"God is sovereign." is what I mumbled to myself, as I silently lifted a prayer to God after seeing the round 1 match-ups.

"God is sovereign." I whispered to myself frantically as I searched for my apologetics box, which had disappeared from it's designated place 10 minutes before my round.

"God is sovereign." is what I joyfully exclaimed after successfully completing my impromptu-d apologetics card, in which I had drawn a topic that I had practically memorized.

"God is sovereign, God is sovereign, God is sovereign, God is sovereign."

I repeated these words countless times over the weekend. Through the joys of unexpected success, to the disappointment of unexpected failure.

Then, in the Finals for apologetics, I received the topic of "sanctification." In those few short minutes of prep time, God spoke to me more than I spoke to the judges in my speech.

I'm a competitive guy. Really competitive. And often times, it's hard for me to say "God is sovereign" and really mean it. But as I spoke about sanctification, I realized that letting my pride, my competitiveness, and my own agenda get in the way, I was missing out on the biggest reward of all, and that was allowing God to work in my life to sanctify me, and draw me into a closer relationship with Him.

Letting go is tough. I want to do well. But I'm trying to dedicate every moment of every tournament to God's glory. He is the ultimate prize.