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

Re:Creation

Right now, I am listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's new album Re:Creation. It just came out today. He "recreated" some of his old hits and, of course wrote some new songs. It is really great and I highly suggest it! (Yes, I was counting down the days/hours/minutes to its release.)
Keep on glowing on 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

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

Weeks, Not days!

Our local Christian radio station is putting on a concert with a bunch of Christian artists on August 28th. They've been advertising it all summer, but now, I think they're a little too excited.
Just the other day I heard a commercial that said FishFest, (The concert), was only a few days away. In reality, it is still a few weeks away.
It freaked me out for a second, though, not because I am going to the concert, but because the Bible Bee is on that same day.
It can't be in a few days, I still have verses to finish!
Weeks, The Fish. Weeks, not days.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Back From Camp!

Hey Everyone,
I just got back from our church High school camp at Riverview Bible Camp. The theme was Epic and the week was just that! It was an amazing week full of goofy games, meaningful worship and messages and fellowship with other High-schoolers. I'm sure I'll post more about it later. I hope your summer is going well too!
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Almost Distressing....

I finished the library summer reading program today! My grand total of minutes read....(drum roll please)..... 2280 minutes! Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "Did you do anything else this summer??!!" Don't worry, I did. I memorized Bible verses.
It was only 38 hours of my summer that I read for:)
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Can You Believe it?

Stores always put up seasonal stuff too early. Just the other day, I was in Target and they have school supplies already. It's not time for summer to end! I haven't even been to camp yet!
At least they haven't put up the Christmas stuff yet.....
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Short Short Stories

That is, as opposed to long short stories, which I usually write. Not right now, though.
I am so exited! From April 27th to May 27th, I wrote 9 short stories. Thay take up no more than both sides of two sheets of notebook paper. Trust me, for me that is short. I'll type some up and get them on here as soon as I can.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

p.s. I'll probablly put up the Christmas one in the middle of summer. ;)

I'm Done!!!!!

Yes, finally. I thought I was done with the school year at the beginning of this month, when I finished my regular schoolwork, but then I had to finish stuff for AWANA and homeschool co-op. I also had Rosetta Stone and a geography class. Finally, I did a speech about Chinese language at a culture symposium. I just finished that tonight, and now I'm DONE with 8th grade!!!!!

oh wait, that means I'm in High school........

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to blog and work on my book more this summer.

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Post from Camp

When I was at the Peak, ( Jr. High church summer camp), I blogged on the Jr. High ministry blog. Here's the link so you can read it:

http://678live.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/my-soul-cries-out/

Camps, Camps,Camps!

I haven't blogged in a long time,(which you've probably noticed). Since I haven't been blogging, you'd probably like to know what I have been doing. Well, I've been helping out at camps! First, I was a Jr. counselor at Kaleidoscope, which was a kid's drama camp at our church. Then I was a Jr. counselor at Camp Tillikum, the elementary school camp at our church. My summer has been very exciting so far, and there is still more to come, ( like our church Jr. High summer camp).


Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora