As is True of All Good Things,(Except for Heaven), This Too Must Come to an End

Sadly, in fact the National Bible Bee is coming to a close. Last night, my mom and I went to a family hymn sing. It was refreshing. I learned a lot of hymns I hadn't known before. This morning, we went to a worship and prayer service with an admittedly intense pastor. After that, we got to watch our friend Olivia win the primary final round for a second year in a row.
At lunch, we attended a luncheon at which Phil Vischer spoke. He is the creator of Veggie Tales, (and most of the voices) and a new puppet series called "What's in the Bible". He spoke on making sure your relationship with God is more important than even what you are doing to serve Him.

Later, we watched the beginning of the senior final round. No one died, even though seniors are red-shirts, (sorry, I'm tired and making bad Star Trek jokes). We had to leave early to tour the Opryland Hotel. It is a HUGE hotel with a river running through it and tons of shops.

When we returned, it was time for the closing ceremony. We sat together with almost everyone from Oregon. Various awards were given and we watched a video about the inspiration for the Bible Bee, Shelby Kennedy. Finally, we sang a worship song from our opening ceremony. It was a powerful time.

All together we sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! Worthy are You our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power!"

Afterward we all went downstairs and had dessert together. I mostly had fruit, because nothing else was gluten- free. It was good to be able to hang out with and say goodbye to all my good friends from the Bible Bee. Even though I'll hopefully see them again soon, I got all emotional and almost cried. I've had a great time at Nationals, and I'm soooo glad I made it this year. Who knows what will happen next year. I can't thank you enough for your prayers and encouragement to me.

To leave you on a happy note, we saw this amazing watermelon at the dessert reception. I just had to take a picture of it. I don't know why it's so cool. Probably because it says "Bible Bee"!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora