Bible Bee (again)

I kind of miss the Bible Bee right now. It would be great if I was that focused on God's word all year. I know I should be, but it's so hard with everything else going on.
But hey, sign ups start in April, (you should sign up), and then summer will be here before you know it.
I can't help but throw in a shameless plug for the Bible Bee ;)
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora
http://www.biblebee.org/

Off the Graph Theatre

Hey everyone, I'm back home from the Bible Bee (sigh...). It's good to be back though. Today I went back to school. I thought I'd share with you something we're learning about in Bible class.

We are talking about the books of 1&2 Samuel. When Mr. Hamilton, our teacher was talking about the crowning of King Saul, remembered a video my church made last year when we were talking about these same books. I found it quite hilarious, so I thought I would share it with you....

http://vimeo.com/12566194

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

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

Live Streaming of Final Rounds!!!

Here is the link to the live streaming of the final rounds. I forgot to post it in time for the Primary rounds. I'm very sorry. I watched it live because our friend from Oregon, Olivia was in it. She won for the second year in a row!!!

Check this out if you want to see how the Bible Bee final rounds work. You will be encouraged. All the kids competing are amazing!

http://www.biblebee.org/page2012.php?page=webcast

Day 3 of the Bee!

Since I last posted, a lot has happened. I went through my oral round, which was nerve-racking. I had to skip a few verses and I didn't get through all 25. After that, I was escorted to the Family Fun Room, where I had lunch and waited with my mom until all the seniors were done their oral rounds.

Then I ran to the dress rehearsal for our musical presentation in the opening ceremony.

Next, all of the contestants then gathered for the processional. We lined up in our divisions in height order, (yes, I was at the back of the line). Each of us went up on stage and got a medal, then had our pictures, (single and collective), taken many times. When the Primaries were done, I ran into the hallway to line up with the choir.

Our presentation went really well. It was a mix of orchestral music, an 85-person choir and scripture reading.

We saw a video from Joni Earekson-Tada, and Kirk Cameron shared his testimony and encouraged us. But everyone was really waiting for the semi-finalists to be announced. Someone named Mr. Bob Lepine announced them, but the guy who introduced him sounded like he said "Mr. Bible Bee".

Anyway, two primaries from Oregon, Isaac and Olivia, made it into the semi-finals. Also, one of our juniors, Luke made it in.

To ease any tension you may be feeling, I didn't make it to the final rounds. I wasn't really expecting to, so I wasn't too disappointed. I'm just a little sad that the Bible Bee is over for me this year. At least I get to relax the rest of the time we're here.

Today, (which is technically day 4, not day 3), we went and saw Olivia and Isaac compete in the semi-finals. Olivia made it in to the top five, (but we weren't worried about her), and Isaac got seventh. They both did really well.

Later my mom and I went to a mother-daughter tea party, then we went out and explored the city. We walked all the way to the Titans stadium and took some pictures for my dad and brother. I'll have to post some of the pictures on my next post.

I'm having a great time; thanks again for all your prayers!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

To Continue...

Yesterday, after I last blogged, I went to registration for the competition. We got a tour of the main contest area, got signed in, and picked up two new Bible Bee shirts, (soon I will have a Bible Bee shirt for every day of the week). We also got a gift bag and a secret envelope. It really isn't that secret, all it contained was a map, a schedule, name tags, tickets and other informative things. I just felt like calling it secret. Then we rushed to have dinner and get to the rehearsal for today's opening ceremony. I am singing in the 85-person choir and reading some scripture for the presentation about God's word. There is also a big orchestra. It should be fun!

I heard that they will be recording it, so if it gets posted online, I will put a link to it on the blog.
Today, I woke up at 6:45, had breakfast and studied some last minute verses. Then, I went into the written test round at about 9. I think I did pretty good, but who knows. I can't believe I'm actually at the National Bible Bee! This is it!!!

Now I'm waiting for my oral test round, where I try to say 25 passages in ten minutes. I'm a little nervous; this is the hardest part for me. Thanks for all your prayers!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

My Amazing Journey (Pt. 1)

Hi everyone!

We made it to Nashville yesterday. Now I'm here AT the Bible Bee! Registration is at 3 Pm, so right now, I'm just reviewing verses and waiting around. I thought I'd give you a little update on our trek so far...

Yesterday we drove up to Seattle and flew to Memphis, then took a short flight to Nashville. On the way, I reviewed verses, studied 1&2 Peter and drank cranberry juice. For some reason, I always drink cranberry juice on airplanes. Maybe it's just because I like it. This time it reminded me of our green room at church, because I always drink cranberry juice back there too. Anyway...

Shadow the Comerson's dolphin we got at Sea World this summer came too ;)

To be continued.......

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

This Time Last Year

At this time last year, November 13th, 2010 at approximately 2:30...

- My brother was playing his championship football game against Hillsboro.

-Olivia from our group in Hillsboro was busy winning the primary division finals at the National Bible Bee.

-I was in the heat of my black belt test.

I got invited to Nationals last year, but I didn't go. I had a bunch of inner turmoil about it at the time, because I never expected to be invited to Nationals. Unfortunately, my black belt test was at the same time, on the same day, on the other side of the country. I had to make the decision to do my black belt test, because I had been working toward it for so long.

Now I see how God is working out everything in His timing. I was supposed to go to my black belt test last year and learn the things I learned and be a light to the people around me. But this year, I'm supposed to go to the Bible Bee.

I guess all that turmoil wasn't really necessary. He knows what He's doing. And I can't wait to see what He has next for me.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

After the Bible Bee...

Since the beginning of this amazing yet time consuming adventure called the Bible Bee, there have been some things I wanted to do that I put off such as...

- Practicing guitar

- Writing stories as frequently as I used to

- Reading a lot

- Trying to join the swim team

- Doing extra credit math homework (hmmm... somehow I haven't missed that so much)

- Going to our worship team's "Spark Nights"

- Sending out stories for publication

- Getting my learner's permit

- Editing my last book and working on a new one

- Ect, ect, ect....

So, these things have gone on a list I call the "After the Bible Bee" list. "After the Bible Bee" is also my favorite and most commonly used prepositional phrase, ( yes, I have a favorite prepositional phrase. You know you do too.)

But as the Bible Bee in Nashville draws nearer and nearer I realize what a friend of mine so poignantly stated: "Elora, after the Bible Bee, you'll MISS the Bible Bee!" (She said this using her very superior oratory skills). It is so true. I know myself; when it's over, I'll be sad and wonder what to do with myself. Then I'll get back to doing what I always do: memorizing verses and studying the Bible! I have a lot of AWANA verses to catch up on, (I put those off 'till after the Bible Bee too), and I'm thinking of starting a Bible study with some of the high schoolers and jr. highers from church.

But that's all after the Bible Bee. I'll have time to think about that later. For now... I'm leaving for Nashville in three days!

Let's let the Bible Bee begin before we think about it being over!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

P.s. It will be intense...

Countdown....

5 Days... 124 hours...7451 minutes...447090 seconds...lots of homework...1100 review verses until..... THE NATIONAL BIBLE BEE!!!!!

Everything is building to a climax, three hundred students nationwide are intensely reviewing God's Word, and... my brain is fried.

I'm sooo excited!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Too Excited For Words

I admit, I am counting down the hours

I am so ready for it to be June first, which is when the Bible Bee stuff should arrive. That marks the begining of the Bible Bee for me. I will be memorizing 800 verses before August 27th, so I'm starting right away. There are about 363 hours left.
By the way, if you still want to sign up, it's not to late. You have until May 31st. Sign up as soon as you can!
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Bible Be

I want to tell you about a great opportunity to be in the word of God this summer! Last year, I was part of the Shelby Kennedy National Bible Bee. It is going on again this year. The Bible Bee is kind of like a spelling bee, but with Bible verses instead of spelling words. It was an amazing experience for me in the word of God. I learned so much and grew closer to God through it. For the verse memorization, the Shelby Kennedy foundation sends you Bible verses to memorize. If you are ages 7-10, they will send you 250 verses. Ages 11-14 memorize 500 verses (that's the group I was in last year). If you are High School age, 15-18, they will send you 800 verses(that's what I'm doing this year). If you only want to compete in the local Bible Bee, then you can memorize less verses. However many verses you memorize, though, you are still getting the word of God into your heart. The local competitions take place in local churches on August 27th. The highest scorers go on to the National Bible Bee in November. Also , with the verses, you will get a Bible Study on a certain book of the Bible, you study this by yourself and as a family. On the day of the Bible Bee, you will have a written quiz on this book. Every week or month you will meet with your local Bible Bee church to practice verses with other kids. I you are interested, check it out on : http://www.biblebee.org/ This is a tremendous undertaking, and it takes a lot of hard wok and commitment, but I think the rewards of learning to love God's word are worth it. Keep on glowing in the dark, Elora

The Bee

Yes, it was two months ago tomorrow. Sorry. But this is how the Bible Bee went.
First, my age group went into the nursery of the church we were in and took our written test. It mostly had questions about the book of Colossians. That was fun and not to stressful.
After that was the oral round. We each had to wait until our number was called. Then we went down and recited verses that the judges gave us. I was so nervous while waiting that I started telling my mom really bad jokes in a Swedish accent.
Everything went fine, but I didn't expect to get into the final round. The top five scores from each group made it to that round.
Before that happened, however, there was a lunch break.
My mom and I got back to the church and the Primary final round started. It seemed painstakingly long to all of us Juniors who were waiting to find out who made it in our round.
At first they called three of the names I expected to hear, but then they called me!!
Lets sum up what happens next with that I got fourth place and there was a double tie for first, second and third.
That was a lovely day, but the fascinating story is not over yet.
The next week we had a party to celebrate the Bee and find out if anyone made it to the nationals. Now as much as I didn't expect to make it to the final round, I expected to make it to the nationals even less.
Hannah and I were late to the said party, and they were already calling names when we arrived.
We walked into the room and for some reason, everyone was clapping. You can probably guess what happened next.
Anyway, the nationals are on Nov 13 and so is my black belt test.
To conclude, I really enjoyed the Bible Bee despite anything I might have said to imply otherwise. I can't wait for next year and I encourage you to sign up too.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Prayer Group

Yes, I'm back. I promise to post more on other things later. For now, here is an update on prayer group.
Prayer group is starting back up again on Sunday, October 3rd at 6:00. Instead of just the China prayer group, it is now the prayer group for the persecuted church. We will also be doing a lot of Bible study (you don't have any extra reading during the week). For the first six weeks, we will focus on Paul's prayer requests in his letters. If you are planning on coming, please bring a Bible and some sort of folder. Hope to see you there!
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

500

On Wednesday night, I finished memorizing my verses for the Bible Bee!
It was about eleven at night, when I laid down on the bed and declared, "I memorized 500 verses this Summer!!" Then, with a little less glee, I got up and reminded myself, "now I have to review them all." I can't believe the Bible Bee is next Saturday! Aaaaaaaggghhhh!!!!!
Yep, welcome to my summer...
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

New Blog!

I've started a new blog called "Reflections on the Kingdom". Don't worry, I'm still continuing this blog. The new one is about my thoughts on God and His Kingdom. I hope you enjoy it!

Check out my new blog at: http://reflectionsonthekingdom.blogspot.com/
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Meritorious Award

I just got this award tonight in AWANA! It is for finishing the two Jr. High AWANA books. I was surprized that it is so big! Next year I will start doing the High School books.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Holy Week

Hebrews 2:18
For since He Himself has now been through suffering and temptation, He knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and He is wonderfully able to help us.

Remember to thank God as you celebrate what He has done for us this week.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora