By the grace of God and some connections, I got home for practice on Thursday. Being the first week of classes, I didn't get much time to study. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. For the other 2 guys taking college courses, they weren't too studied up too. So it came to shock when we had quiz outs on buzz ins, especially me quizzing out all matches. Things went better than we expected, but some areas still needed improvement.
Practice on Sunday afternoon went both ways. Dave's questions we did good on, but Vicki's questions we hurted. That's typical of what happens. We just needed Dave questions rather than Vicki questions. I quizzed out as usual. Tim got quiz outs and errors, and same with Mike.
I want to thank my secret sponser for my gift. I don't have a lot of food in my college dorm, but his/her/their gift hepled greatly. I got 3 things of pringles, 2 liter Mountain Dew, M&Ms and a couple dollars. Thank you very much for the gift. Thanks also to the person who left "Spring City's #1 fan - Flubber." I used him as my quizzing buddy instead of the low-rider hamster. Low-rider went well with my black & white joker scheme (black pants, white shirt, black&white crown, black sock, white sock, black shoe, white shoe), but Flubber was cool because when he was hugged, he vibrated and made sound.
We arrived at Weaverland and we met by fans. The announcements were good ones. We got more interchangables, making our life easier. Good news = gospel = messgae. Brothers = believers = disciples. All helpful for us. It doesn't matter if kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven is not interchangeable, it shouldn't be a factor. The rooms were also changed around, so we had to figure where our first match on the first round was.
The first match was against Petra 4. It didn't matter that they were in 4th place, all the Petras always give us a run. They gave us a run, alright. Their buzzing was crazy. I was being beaten in on situation questions! I needed them, too, for I failed to quiz out yet again. Tim errored out again. Again, on the last question, someone buzzed in on We lost 50-70.
Our second match was against Strasburg 4, a rookie team. I took seat 1, hungry for a quiz out. I got it. First question, Bobby buzzed in, and got it right! It was a good start for team bonus. I quizzed out on question 5. We got team bonus in the end, but it was sloppy. We errored 6 times at the end, negating half our team bonus points. It forced Dave to make an unwanted decision of benching a quizzer to increase chances of team bonus and avoid killing a seat. First it was Bobby, then it was Tim. Near the end, it got close enough for Strasburg 4 to win or tie. We barely pulled away with a win 75-65. It's not the type of win we want, but a win was refreshing.
We had a consecutive last match. It was against 1st place New Danville, with 2 perfect quizzers. I sat in seat 1 across from Alyssa Mylin, who finished last year tied with me. Things started off roughly, but we turned it around midway. Tim and I quizzed out. But that was it. After suffering a midway loss, New Danville came through to win 75-70.
Reflections: Near the beginning of my first semister at LBC, Mr. Beers told a story that went well with his message of never giving up for God. He told on how he was coaching a basketball game, and at halftime the team was losing because of poor mistakes. So at halftime he made he team dress up, go out into the bleachers and apologize to the fans for such a bad performance. So right here, right now, I'd like to do the same. I want to apologize to all of Spring City's fans for not quizzing at our fullest. Right now, we are 11th place with an average of 82.5. points/match. I can't remember the last time Spring City was that low. I think it is safe to say the year was 2006. I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Before I go on, let me clarify that when I use the term "team" I do not mean the rookies, or even our second year quizzer. The rookies are right on path for how rookie should do with a starting line of veterans. Bobby, with his 30 points after 3 weeks, could possibly pass the mark. Alyssa, wait for your time. It will come. And Chelsea...good ol' "el fuego." If you haven't received any complements let me be the first one to do so. You're doing a very good job. Even in my second year, I could only get to 120 points at that end, and you're on track for that. But the rest of the team saddens me, including me. We have 3 quizzers with potential to be in the top 50, and they are currently in 22nd, 55th and 110th. In 8 matches, we have only gotten team bonus 3 times. Errors are causing us to lose points. When standings are measured by points, we need team bonus and we don't need errors.
What's to say? Once again, all I can say is sorry. I apologize to all our fans, especially those near to home who came out to watch us but have watched a poor match. I want to further extend my apology to my rookies. Looking at how we did last year, any quizzer in the beginning of the year would consider it a honor to be on Spring City's quiz team. That honor is gone. Tim and I always dreamed of having a team that was feared. Now being in 11th place, we are nowhere's near being feared. I always said, "Well, at least teams won't take us lightly." Now I'm not sure if even that is true. Maybe for the 17 teams below us, but not for the 10 teams above us. I want to apologize to my coaches. The Deitricks have put a lot into this team. It's a shame that nothing shows it. They want us to read, we lose our place. They ask us questions, we error and drop bonuses. They ask us to study, we socialize in excess. I am also sorry we put in the hard position to have to take out quizzers haven't yet quizzed out. It should never be that way. I will make it up to you. Lastly, I want to apologize to God. We have your Word, but it's not sealed up. If there is anything interfering with us doing well, please LORD, reveal it to us so we may fix our errorus ways and refocus back on You.
What's to do? I am thankful for the Deitricks are coaches because they have more mercy and grace than I do. If this was my team, I would have made practice into a Bible Boot camp. My first rule would be prohibiting any girlfriends or ex-girlfriends of the guys on the team (this would also be for the girls on the team, but considering our girls are 16 and 13, I don't think boyfriends are a problem yet) to be allowed at a match. It's not supersition, it some kind of psychological effect that when someone like the girlfriend/boyfriend or the ex come to a match, it diverts some of your focus to them, a focus which needs to be fully concentrated on the quizmatch. Besides, let's face it, they're not cheering for you, they're just sitting in the same room, giggling while they text on their cell phones. Get rid of them, get all focus on the match at hand. My second rule would be that all cell phones should be turned off, put away and not touched until after quizzing is over. Cell phones have caused enough distraction. My third rule would be revoking free time. I don't mean to sound mean, but if you are getting questions wrong, it's a sign you need to study. Take the free time to study. I congatulate those who already figured this out. Fourth, I would instate if you error twice, you will be benched. We cannot be killing seats. After watching the first two matches, I truly believed the starting line should have been me, Mike, Chelsea and Bobby. Think of errors like a stoplight. 1 is green, go at full speed. 2 is yellow, slow down. 3 is red, you are forced to stop. Well, obviously this is why I'm not coach and the Deitricks are. This is obvious why I am not a coach and I am still a quizzer. I'm not going to tell the Deitricks how to run the team. I can't command my fellow quizzers to do anything of these things, but I hope they take these suggestions seriously.
I've also been taking other people's advice: Show character, praise God in all circumstances, be humble, make sure there's a balance of the Word in the head and the heart. I'm trying to do all these things, but I'm not sure if I am doing all these things. Am I humble or am I self-pitying? Am I praising God or am I lamenting? Is the Word just in the head? These are things I am trying to struggle with while trying to study, and I don't exactly know which one should be the first priority.
Thank you for listening to my frustration. It is obvious what I need prayer for. Also throw in for prayer that I get a ride home for thursday night practice. At a time like this, it is more necesary than ever before. I need my team to see how much of the material I know, and they need me for support, strengthening and encouragement.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Stress at Strasburg
I want to thank all who were praying for me to find a ride home Thursday nights. I did find a ride that can get me home every other Thursday. So that covered this past Thursday night and half of my practices. So please continue to pray that I can get the other half of the practices covered. I need those practices, as you will find out soon.
As you may know, it snowed on Thursday night. The good news I got to Tim's house. The bad news is quizzing practice was cancelled. So I spent the night over Tim's house. Mike came over for "practice" (which was limited to circling keywords). I spent the whole night trying to get down awkward, obscure questions. I believe I was sucessful. Friday night we had practice. Chelsea had caught a virus going around, so it was just 5 of us. Since I was on a team of 2 with Bobby, I got ol' skool Ohio style quizouts (4 question quizouts). Still I quizzed out. Despite Tim quizzing out with few to no errors, it was apparent this material was getting harder. Dave showed us a map to get the idea of where Paul and Barnabas were going. I wrote out a "verbal map" to get it straight in my head what was happening where. The team still needed practice.
This Sunday I decided would be a duct tape day, professional style. I dressed up in pants and dress shirt, gray of course, but my tie, belt and cap was duct tape. For my quizzing buddies, I had the duct tape baby and 4 duct tape roses. I came for the church service. Since it was the third Sunday of the month, Spring City had fellowship meal. Tim came late. The quizzers gathered together at a table to study. After the meal was done, the team went into practice as usual. But practice didn't look good. It didn't look like we knew the material. Chelsea was hurting the most because she missed practice. So during break, I quickly tried to shove as much text into Chelsea's mind as possible.
After dinner we got right into the van to head for the quizmatches. Dave helped up as usual by giving us rounds of questions. With every round, we seemed to get better and understand the material better. We got to the church just in time for worship. There we met our fans, including retired quizzer Christine. We had a huge fan base for a distance between from the church. After worship, we had the first match right away. Ready or not, it was time.
The match was against Paradise 2, 15th place in our league. Our quizmaster was Fred, a surprise to us, because Fred is registered only as a judge, not a quizmaster. After scouting from the last week, I decided to take seat 2. The match was not a good one. Halfway through, I had buzzed in 3 times: 1 right, 2 errors. Those 2 errors helped the boy across from me quiz out. When the sub sat in across from me, I could tell immeadiately I wasn't getting any bonuses. I know I had to get this on my own. Buzzing in on question 12 and 13, I answered correctly and quizzed out. It was a heart stopper, but I did it. After question 14, the scored was tied at 80. It wasn't the win we were concerned about, it was the points. One short of team bonus could reach us into the triple digits again. The question began "In what city..." A Paradise 2 quizzers buzzed in, took a guess with pure luck, and got it right. We'd like to sayit was a team bonus block, but with a right answer, it's hard to say that. We lost to Paradise 2 80-90.
With matches between until our next match, I did a lot of scouting of the Strasburgs. I watched 2 matches of Strasburg 4 and a match of Strasburg 2. That was an important match to watch because we quizzed Strasburg 2 next. I watched and wanted seat 4. I didn't know if I'd get it, since Chelsea likes seat 4. But Chelsea wasn't ready to start again, so she let Bobby started instead, and he was fine in seat 3. So I took seat 4 for match.
This match was better for me. I buzzed in 3 times, and got them all right out for a quiz out by question 7. That was the highlight. Tim errored out, without getting a single answer right. Mike was able to quiz out this match, though. After question 13, we were 2 quizzers short of team bonus: Bobby and Chelsea (Dave had forgot to put Alyssa in). After having a bad match before, we needed team bonus now. On question 14, once again, a where question, and once again an early buzz in on the other's team side. They got it wrong. Once again, we'd like to argue blocked team bonus, but we can't contest a foul. We did win 75-55, but our points keep getting lower and lower.
We closed the night with a match against Paradise 4, ranked 5th with 103 point average. I was ready to be in seat 1, across from Joel Delinger, just like last year. But unlike last year, these results were going to be different. Tim regained himself and quizzed out. I was not doing so good. By the time I got to review questions, I had only 20 points, 1 buzz in and 1 right bonus. I had also dropped a bonus, which is never good. After question 13 and 14, I had still not gotten anywhere. The team was losing 65 to 80. The last question was "Whose feet..." and I buzzed in. I thought about a while and I quickly answered. Too quickly. I had a dyslexic moment. Instead of saying "Cornelius fell at Peter's feet" I said "Peter fell at Cornelius's feet." I said it so fast that they originally marked me right, but the judges caught it marked me wrong. So that's how Graham screwed up another perfect season yet again. Because Graham answered too fast and didn't think it out. Because Graham did not shut up at "Peter" but had to be impressive. Afterward the judges apologized for marking me wrong and the quizmaster apologized for convincing me I was right and then making me wrong, putting me on a "emotional rollarcoaster." What could I say? They did the right thing, I couldn't argue. Of course I went back to college disgusted.
Strasburg was stressful and an emotional rollarcoaster. I felt grace, redemption and humility all the same day during those 3 matches. So things are looking bleak for Spring City and its quizzers. Both perfect quizzers fell from perfection, Tim worse than me. My point average is 32 and Tim's point average is 18. While Chelsea scored points, Bobby couldn't. The team is down to a 93 point average. We're gonna sink unless other teams did bad. Things aren't looking any better for next week. The material is getting harder with more places and more people, generalized groups of people. The new standings aren't out, but based on the standings I do have, the teams are tough ones. We're gonna need to study hard, plus we need an extra dose of Holy Spirit. Please pray for the team.
As you may know, it snowed on Thursday night. The good news I got to Tim's house. The bad news is quizzing practice was cancelled. So I spent the night over Tim's house. Mike came over for "practice" (which was limited to circling keywords). I spent the whole night trying to get down awkward, obscure questions. I believe I was sucessful. Friday night we had practice. Chelsea had caught a virus going around, so it was just 5 of us. Since I was on a team of 2 with Bobby, I got ol' skool Ohio style quizouts (4 question quizouts). Still I quizzed out. Despite Tim quizzing out with few to no errors, it was apparent this material was getting harder. Dave showed us a map to get the idea of where Paul and Barnabas were going. I wrote out a "verbal map" to get it straight in my head what was happening where. The team still needed practice.
This Sunday I decided would be a duct tape day, professional style. I dressed up in pants and dress shirt, gray of course, but my tie, belt and cap was duct tape. For my quizzing buddies, I had the duct tape baby and 4 duct tape roses. I came for the church service. Since it was the third Sunday of the month, Spring City had fellowship meal. Tim came late. The quizzers gathered together at a table to study. After the meal was done, the team went into practice as usual. But practice didn't look good. It didn't look like we knew the material. Chelsea was hurting the most because she missed practice. So during break, I quickly tried to shove as much text into Chelsea's mind as possible.
After dinner we got right into the van to head for the quizmatches. Dave helped up as usual by giving us rounds of questions. With every round, we seemed to get better and understand the material better. We got to the church just in time for worship. There we met our fans, including retired quizzer Christine. We had a huge fan base for a distance between from the church. After worship, we had the first match right away. Ready or not, it was time.
The match was against Paradise 2, 15th place in our league. Our quizmaster was Fred, a surprise to us, because Fred is registered only as a judge, not a quizmaster. After scouting from the last week, I decided to take seat 2. The match was not a good one. Halfway through, I had buzzed in 3 times: 1 right, 2 errors. Those 2 errors helped the boy across from me quiz out. When the sub sat in across from me, I could tell immeadiately I wasn't getting any bonuses. I know I had to get this on my own. Buzzing in on question 12 and 13, I answered correctly and quizzed out. It was a heart stopper, but I did it. After question 14, the scored was tied at 80. It wasn't the win we were concerned about, it was the points. One short of team bonus could reach us into the triple digits again. The question began "In what city..." A Paradise 2 quizzers buzzed in, took a guess with pure luck, and got it right. We'd like to sayit was a team bonus block, but with a right answer, it's hard to say that. We lost to Paradise 2 80-90.
With matches between until our next match, I did a lot of scouting of the Strasburgs. I watched 2 matches of Strasburg 4 and a match of Strasburg 2. That was an important match to watch because we quizzed Strasburg 2 next. I watched and wanted seat 4. I didn't know if I'd get it, since Chelsea likes seat 4. But Chelsea wasn't ready to start again, so she let Bobby started instead, and he was fine in seat 3. So I took seat 4 for match.
This match was better for me. I buzzed in 3 times, and got them all right out for a quiz out by question 7. That was the highlight. Tim errored out, without getting a single answer right. Mike was able to quiz out this match, though. After question 13, we were 2 quizzers short of team bonus: Bobby and Chelsea (Dave had forgot to put Alyssa in). After having a bad match before, we needed team bonus now. On question 14, once again, a where question, and once again an early buzz in on the other's team side. They got it wrong. Once again, we'd like to argue blocked team bonus, but we can't contest a foul. We did win 75-55, but our points keep getting lower and lower.
We closed the night with a match against Paradise 4, ranked 5th with 103 point average. I was ready to be in seat 1, across from Joel Delinger, just like last year. But unlike last year, these results were going to be different. Tim regained himself and quizzed out. I was not doing so good. By the time I got to review questions, I had only 20 points, 1 buzz in and 1 right bonus. I had also dropped a bonus, which is never good. After question 13 and 14, I had still not gotten anywhere. The team was losing 65 to 80. The last question was "Whose feet..." and I buzzed in. I thought about a while and I quickly answered. Too quickly. I had a dyslexic moment. Instead of saying "Cornelius fell at Peter's feet" I said "Peter fell at Cornelius's feet." I said it so fast that they originally marked me right, but the judges caught it marked me wrong. So that's how Graham screwed up another perfect season yet again. Because Graham answered too fast and didn't think it out. Because Graham did not shut up at "Peter" but had to be impressive. Afterward the judges apologized for marking me wrong and the quizmaster apologized for convincing me I was right and then making me wrong, putting me on a "emotional rollarcoaster." What could I say? They did the right thing, I couldn't argue. Of course I went back to college disgusted.
Strasburg was stressful and an emotional rollarcoaster. I felt grace, redemption and humility all the same day during those 3 matches. So things are looking bleak for Spring City and its quizzers. Both perfect quizzers fell from perfection, Tim worse than me. My point average is 32 and Tim's point average is 18. While Chelsea scored points, Bobby couldn't. The team is down to a 93 point average. We're gonna sink unless other teams did bad. Things aren't looking any better for next week. The material is getting harder with more places and more people, generalized groups of people. The new standings aren't out, but based on the standings I do have, the teams are tough ones. We're gonna need to study hard, plus we need an extra dose of Holy Spirit. Please pray for the team.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Opening the quizzing season at LMH
Practices were going well. Rookies were buzzing in and answering correctly. Our 2nd year quizzer was quizzing out. Everyone else was doing the same. You know it's going to be a great year. It already is.
At the Spring City worship service, the quiz team was brought forth to receive the church's blessing. We each showed our name tags and the symbols on it, which are to represent who we are and how to pray for us. I got a pillar. I am the pillar of the team. Please pray I will be. I like being able to stand strong for the team. After church the quizzers did their thing by meeting in the kitchen and having lunch. Tim tried asking me questions, but Tim couldn't stump me. So he gave up and asked others. I was feeling ready.
So we had 5 practice matches before the real ones came up. I quizzed out on every one. Some were fast quiz outs, some took a while. But practices went well. One practice match Mike was the first one to quiz out. Chelsea quizzed out once, Bobby quizzed out once. Errors were limited. In one match, we errored the first 3 questions, and then never errored again for the rest of the match. It was all good. I had confidence in myself and the team. I was so confident, I was able to eat a whole meal. We were ready.
We got to LMH. It was our job to serve drinks and snacks, so our van trunk was full of all of it, including my stuff for back to college. We arrived there about 6:10 and had to find a new parking lot because of construction. I didn't know who to expect. No Hopewell, no Reading, no Hope Community, no Media. The people from Maple Grove wouldn't be the same. Who was there? Well, I saw friends from Zion and Slate Hill. And I did see some from Reading, in forms of a timekeeper, an Emmanuel quizzer, and a few fans.We got in for worship. Fred explained a few things, Merv pepped us up, and we were ready for another season of quizzing.
The first match I watched was Goods 3 vs. Neffsville 1. Goods 3 was a rookie team. I only watched this match because they were in the same room we would be next, and I watching how Jon Howe was quizmastering. He was doing his usual slow pronunciation of words. I was showing Bobby how a quizmatch worked and how to "scout" teams and staff, while giving some simple stragegy. Before we knew it, we were up. The team we faced was Byerland. I took seat 3 because I knew if I started in seat 1, I would stuck there all year. Tim took seat 1, Mike took seat 2, and Chelsea seat 4. Tim errored twice early. I quizzed out on question 6. Of course, question 7 was a situation question. My team didn't even try. But when Tim got the bonus, he got it right. Then we heard the question, "Whose clutches..." and Bobby buzzed in! He answered "Herod's clutches" and he got it right! Bobby got us team bonus!! Mike followed with a quiz out. Tim, with 2 errors, finally quizzed out on question 14. It was close call for Tim's quiz out. We won 135-55, with 3 quizouts and a team bonus.
We had about 3 matches until our next match. The first match I watched was Living Rock 1 vs. Slate Hill 2. I wanted to scout Slate Hill 2 and observe what this new church would do. By the end of the match, Slate Hill 2 won 75 to 15, but it was messy. Slate Hill 2 errored 4 times, and Living Rock errored 6. I wanted to go watch my friends at Zion, but I had to help unload the snacks for snack time. I got to hear that Zion 2 ended up tying E-Town 3. Finally, I went to watch Good Shepherd vs. Paradise 2 so I could scout Paradise 2 for the next week. Good Shepherd won 90 to 35. I hurried off to my next match
The last match of the night was Spring City vs. Slate Hill 2. We sat in the same seats. I wanted seat 3 because I knew from last match Sarah Good was sitting also in seat 3. We had talked before, so I thought it would be good to sit across from her, to make it a little more fun and interesting, and to make sure my bonuses were going to a good cause. But bonuses were not going over that way. Question 1 I buzzed in and got correctly. Question 2 was a footnote question (although Tim said they wouldn't ask footnote questions ). Still, I buzzed in and got it right. Question 3 I jumped, but Tim jumped faster. He got it right. With Spring City leading 30 to nothing, Slate Hill 2 called a timeout. They needed to rethink things over. Back in on question 4, I quizzed out. Tim soon followed with a quizout on question 11. Mike froze up this match. He buzzed in once, and got one bonus, but both were ruled incorrect. The one Mike errored on was a bit humerous. He told a 30 second story, and as he told it, he got further from actual text. After a judges meeting, they marked him incorrect. Then Mike contested. It was also a 30 second story, and that story also went further away from text as he told it. He obviously did not win the contest. We still needed team bonus. Even without Mike, we pulled through. Bobby again buzzed in and answered correctly. Chelsea got back into the swing of things. She buzzed in, answered correctly. We got team bonus. 2 quiz outs and a team bonus led us to win over Slate Hill 2 110 to 20. It was disappointing we couldn't have another year with 3 perfect quizzers or end the night with 135 average, but we did good in the match.
So here's how Spring City did. By scoring 135 and 110, Spring City now has an average of 122.5. We are hoping that propels into first place. I want to point out that our league does not have Petra 1, Slate Hill1 or Rockville 1, 3 of the 4 teams that made it to the season playoffs last year. Slate Hill 1 scored 145 points both of their matches, giving them an average of 145. Petra 1 got 140 points one match without team bonus, but they didn't get team bonus either matches, making them only score about 100 points the other match, making their average 120ish (compared to finishising with 131 average last year). The only other playoff team is Paradise 4, who are in our league. Dave found out that they finished with roughly a 100 point average. We definitely topped that. The only other threat is Petra 2, and I do not know how they did. 122.5 just might do it, even though it didn't do it last year. Sure, we not going to be the top team of all 56 teams, but we've already done that before. I just want the top spot in our league to give us hope for season playoffs.
As for the quizzers on Spring City, we did good. It's sad we can't start off with 3 perfect quizzers, but we do have 2, both Tim and I. Mine perfect is not fully perfect, but more perfect than usual. Both quiz outs were all buzzes with no errors and no bonuses. So 6 correct buzz ins gave me 2 quiz outs, on questions 6 and 4. It was awesome. Thank you, God! Tim was a little later for his quiz outs, question 15 and question 11, and Tim got a couple errors, but still he's perfect. Mike's one quiz out, and one match of nothing averages out to 17.5 point/match. Bobby scored 10 points each match for team bonus, totalling 20 points on the year already. Chelsea in 2 matches only got 10 points, but greatly helped for team bonus. She has average of 5 points/match. This team is looking strong, and I can't wait for the next week to go!
P.S. I got back to college on time. I got to reunite with old friends and set my room back up. Unfortuneatly, my ride home on Thursday nights fell through. Please pray that I can find another one! I miss my team and I need them!
At the Spring City worship service, the quiz team was brought forth to receive the church's blessing. We each showed our name tags and the symbols on it, which are to represent who we are and how to pray for us. I got a pillar. I am the pillar of the team. Please pray I will be. I like being able to stand strong for the team. After church the quizzers did their thing by meeting in the kitchen and having lunch. Tim tried asking me questions, but Tim couldn't stump me. So he gave up and asked others. I was feeling ready.
So we had 5 practice matches before the real ones came up. I quizzed out on every one. Some were fast quiz outs, some took a while. But practices went well. One practice match Mike was the first one to quiz out. Chelsea quizzed out once, Bobby quizzed out once. Errors were limited. In one match, we errored the first 3 questions, and then never errored again for the rest of the match. It was all good. I had confidence in myself and the team. I was so confident, I was able to eat a whole meal. We were ready.
We got to LMH. It was our job to serve drinks and snacks, so our van trunk was full of all of it, including my stuff for back to college. We arrived there about 6:10 and had to find a new parking lot because of construction. I didn't know who to expect. No Hopewell, no Reading, no Hope Community, no Media. The people from Maple Grove wouldn't be the same. Who was there? Well, I saw friends from Zion and Slate Hill. And I did see some from Reading, in forms of a timekeeper, an Emmanuel quizzer, and a few fans.We got in for worship. Fred explained a few things, Merv pepped us up, and we were ready for another season of quizzing.
The first match I watched was Goods 3 vs. Neffsville 1. Goods 3 was a rookie team. I only watched this match because they were in the same room we would be next, and I watching how Jon Howe was quizmastering. He was doing his usual slow pronunciation of words. I was showing Bobby how a quizmatch worked and how to "scout" teams and staff, while giving some simple stragegy. Before we knew it, we were up. The team we faced was Byerland. I took seat 3 because I knew if I started in seat 1, I would stuck there all year. Tim took seat 1, Mike took seat 2, and Chelsea seat 4. Tim errored twice early. I quizzed out on question 6. Of course, question 7 was a situation question. My team didn't even try. But when Tim got the bonus, he got it right. Then we heard the question, "Whose clutches..." and Bobby buzzed in! He answered "Herod's clutches" and he got it right! Bobby got us team bonus!! Mike followed with a quiz out. Tim, with 2 errors, finally quizzed out on question 14. It was close call for Tim's quiz out. We won 135-55, with 3 quizouts and a team bonus.
We had about 3 matches until our next match. The first match I watched was Living Rock 1 vs. Slate Hill 2. I wanted to scout Slate Hill 2 and observe what this new church would do. By the end of the match, Slate Hill 2 won 75 to 15, but it was messy. Slate Hill 2 errored 4 times, and Living Rock errored 6. I wanted to go watch my friends at Zion, but I had to help unload the snacks for snack time. I got to hear that Zion 2 ended up tying E-Town 3. Finally, I went to watch Good Shepherd vs. Paradise 2 so I could scout Paradise 2 for the next week. Good Shepherd won 90 to 35. I hurried off to my next match
The last match of the night was Spring City vs. Slate Hill 2. We sat in the same seats. I wanted seat 3 because I knew from last match Sarah Good was sitting also in seat 3. We had talked before, so I thought it would be good to sit across from her, to make it a little more fun and interesting, and to make sure my bonuses were going to a good cause. But bonuses were not going over that way. Question 1 I buzzed in and got correctly. Question 2 was a footnote question (although Tim said they wouldn't ask footnote questions ). Still, I buzzed in and got it right. Question 3 I jumped, but Tim jumped faster. He got it right. With Spring City leading 30 to nothing, Slate Hill 2 called a timeout. They needed to rethink things over. Back in on question 4, I quizzed out. Tim soon followed with a quizout on question 11. Mike froze up this match. He buzzed in once, and got one bonus, but both were ruled incorrect. The one Mike errored on was a bit humerous. He told a 30 second story, and as he told it, he got further from actual text. After a judges meeting, they marked him incorrect. Then Mike contested. It was also a 30 second story, and that story also went further away from text as he told it. He obviously did not win the contest. We still needed team bonus. Even without Mike, we pulled through. Bobby again buzzed in and answered correctly. Chelsea got back into the swing of things. She buzzed in, answered correctly. We got team bonus. 2 quiz outs and a team bonus led us to win over Slate Hill 2 110 to 20. It was disappointing we couldn't have another year with 3 perfect quizzers or end the night with 135 average, but we did good in the match.
So here's how Spring City did. By scoring 135 and 110, Spring City now has an average of 122.5. We are hoping that propels into first place. I want to point out that our league does not have Petra 1, Slate Hill1 or Rockville 1, 3 of the 4 teams that made it to the season playoffs last year. Slate Hill 1 scored 145 points both of their matches, giving them an average of 145. Petra 1 got 140 points one match without team bonus, but they didn't get team bonus either matches, making them only score about 100 points the other match, making their average 120ish (compared to finishising with 131 average last year). The only other playoff team is Paradise 4, who are in our league. Dave found out that they finished with roughly a 100 point average. We definitely topped that. The only other threat is Petra 2, and I do not know how they did. 122.5 just might do it, even though it didn't do it last year. Sure, we not going to be the top team of all 56 teams, but we've already done that before. I just want the top spot in our league to give us hope for season playoffs.
As for the quizzers on Spring City, we did good. It's sad we can't start off with 3 perfect quizzers, but we do have 2, both Tim and I. Mine perfect is not fully perfect, but more perfect than usual. Both quiz outs were all buzzes with no errors and no bonuses. So 6 correct buzz ins gave me 2 quiz outs, on questions 6 and 4. It was awesome. Thank you, God! Tim was a little later for his quiz outs, question 15 and question 11, and Tim got a couple errors, but still he's perfect. Mike's one quiz out, and one match of nothing averages out to 17.5 point/match. Bobby scored 10 points each match for team bonus, totalling 20 points on the year already. Chelsea in 2 matches only got 10 points, but greatly helped for team bonus. She has average of 5 points/match. This team is looking strong, and I can't wait for the next week to go!
P.S. I got back to college on time. I got to reunite with old friends and set my room back up. Unfortuneatly, my ride home on Thursday nights fell through. Please pray that I can find another one! I miss my team and I need them!
Friday, January 11, 2008
New Quizzing Season Resolution
Did you know there is only 2 days until the first quizmatch of 2008? 2 days! It's so exciting that another year is upon us. This is my 7th year of quizzing. So much has changed, and yet it's still the same quizzing. This year's material finishes up our 3-year study of Luke's book. We wrap it up with Acts 10-28. The upcoming week will just be Acts 10-12:19. I can't wait to see my old friends and make some new ones.
I am quizzing with Spring City for the 4th year. The team is fearlessly led (or God-fearing led) by Dave and Vicki Deitrick. Spring City's team this year has 6 quizzers. Our 4 returning veterans are Graham Holcomb, Tim Moss, Michael Schwager and Chelsea Mullins. We have 2 rookies: Alysssa Mullins and Bobby. We've already had 2 pratices and it looks good. Our rookies are already giving correct answers and sometimes even buzzing in! Chelsea got back into buzzing. She even quizzed out twice! Of course, I quizzed out all 7 practice matches. My earliest quizout was question 4, and my latest was question 14. That question 14 quizout scared me, but hey, a quizout is a quizout, no matter when it happens. As long as I get it. Tim and Mike are performing the same as always. So I'm hoping they'll perform this season the same the did last season. If Chelsea gets confident and believes in herself, she can be steady in getting us team bonus. Heck, if she get very confident, she can get her first quizout this season, and cover Mike's butt if he can't quizout. In a few weeks, I bet even our rookies will be able to participate in team bonus. I say it again, this is going to be our year!
As for me, of course I'm putting my best into quizzing. Quizzing out every practice match has shown me I'm back into the swing of my normal quizzing. I'm going to do my best. I plan this to be my year as well as my team's year. I have already chosen my goal for this year:
I am quizzing with Spring City for the 4th year. The team is fearlessly led (or God-fearing led) by Dave and Vicki Deitrick. Spring City's team this year has 6 quizzers. Our 4 returning veterans are Graham Holcomb, Tim Moss, Michael Schwager and Chelsea Mullins. We have 2 rookies: Alysssa Mullins and Bobby. We've already had 2 pratices and it looks good. Our rookies are already giving correct answers and sometimes even buzzing in! Chelsea got back into buzzing. She even quizzed out twice! Of course, I quizzed out all 7 practice matches. My earliest quizout was question 4, and my latest was question 14. That question 14 quizout scared me, but hey, a quizout is a quizout, no matter when it happens. As long as I get it. Tim and Mike are performing the same as always. So I'm hoping they'll perform this season the same the did last season. If Chelsea gets confident and believes in herself, she can be steady in getting us team bonus. Heck, if she get very confident, she can get her first quizout this season, and cover Mike's butt if he can't quizout. In a few weeks, I bet even our rookies will be able to participate in team bonus. I say it again, this is going to be our year!
As for me, of course I'm putting my best into quizzing. Quizzing out every practice match has shown me I'm back into the swing of my normal quizzing. I'm going to do my best. I plan this to be my year as well as my team's year. I have already chosen my goal for this year:
- Finish as one of the Top 5 Quizzer
- Be a perfect quizzer for the first 3 week
- Reach the 600 point mark
Finish as one of the Top 5 Quizzers
This is a goal I had set last year. I failed to reach because I had to quiz in a double week with 2 Petra teams. The dangerous combination led to me falling short. So here I am, trying again. For the past two years I finished 12th and 16th, the top 20, in these past 2 years. Give or take, I averaged out these past two years. Now I'm ready to move up. I want to go for something higher. Top 5 is high enough. Rumor has it that this invitational will have a 5-way fun match with the all-stars from each conference. Being on the top 5, I would make the team. It would be an honor. Even being in the fun 3-way match with all-star quizzers vs. coaches vs. staff would be an honor. I think it is a good position to aim for. Not too easy, not too hard. My second attempt at the goal should be the time to reach it.
Be a perfect quizzer for 3 weeks
This is a goal I have been aiming to earn for 3 years. Last year I came dangerously close. I tied my past record last year by being perfect two weeks. On my third week quizzing, I had 3 matches. I quizzed out the first twice, but failed to quiz out that last match! Augh! so frusterating. So here we try again. This is interesting on how I will do this. This year I have 3 matches week 2 and 3, the only two weeks I have 3 matches. So to be a perfect quizzer, I have to quiz out 8 matches! It is a challenge I am up to. If I ever want to be perfect, I must get passed the first two weeks.
Reach the 600 point mark
I waited to decide this goal until I knew I had 18 matches. Last year we only had 17 matches and couldn't score more than 595 points (that was perfect). Now with 18 matches, 630 points is perfect. I would just be satisfied with 600 points. These past 3 years I have scored in the 500s, with 585 being the highest. One more quiz out would get me up there. It was only 15 points away, and an extra quiz out would get there. Probably need at least 16 quiz outs to get it. That will beat another record. See, two records at once!
So that's it. Now you all know, you can help me reach these goals. First and foremost, pray for me. Pray that I can reach these goals, and bring God the honor in doing so. Second, help me. Help me practice. The quizzing material is Acts 10-28 for the year, starting this week with Acts 10-12:19. You don't need to be a quizzer to make sure I know the Scriptures. Third, just encourage me. Encourage me to complete it. Lift me up when I fall down. Last, if possible, come to a match. A fan in the audience is encouragement and an answer to prayer. My first match is this Sunday, January 19, at 6:30 p.m. It is located at Lancaster Mennonite High School. Come support me and the team!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
I am a virgin, am I an island?
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" -Romans 6:1,2,15
First off, may I wish everyone a happy New Year. May both God bless us and we bless God in the new year.
Now it is time to talk. It is a subject that is touchy, and rather not talked about. But it has been burdening my heart recently. It is the virginity of my generation.
I am 19. Not married, not dating, but single. I still consider my generation the high school age group. And it saddens my heart to know how little we care about our virginity. Our media doesn't happen. Celebrities having babies out of wedlock, especially with 16 year old Jamie Spears now having a baby, and we just shrugg it off, and maybe get a little excited about the new child. In the same way, our generation responds to any girl getting pregnant. We shrug it off, or just focus on how excited.
It amazes me how this worldly problem is seeping into the church. I have tried my best to grow up in Christian atmosphere, being around people who also resist temptation, which helps me avoid sin. Yet since I could comprehend prematural sex, I have known of 7 girls and 2 guys who called themselves Christian (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, although they could be weeds who like springing up among the wheat) and were sexually active. Furthermore, may I say that 4 of those girls ended up pregnant. But I do not want to emphasize that, for I don't want to say sex before marriage is only a sin if it leads to pregnancy. That would be like saying sex is only a sin if you catch an STD. Teens will have sex without ever facing any STD, while at the same time a married couple can get one. For a liberal generation that's in a liberal time period, let me be straight out and foreward to you: PREMARITIAL SEX IS A SIN!!!
We hear a lot about the santicty of marriage, but it's talking about the homosexual vs. heterosexual marriage debate. But it also refers to respecting the boundaries of marriage. How come I see Christian girls one day wearing the purity ring, and the next day they have the swollen belly? So much for the ring. You may be thinking that this happens in the secular community, too, and you're right, I've seen it when I go out to evangelize. But the difference between and us and them is big. We know right from wrong because we have God's Law. They do not. They are lost; they are blind of their sin. When I go evangelize to them, I make them realize that sin in all aspects of their life is the problem. We are different because we know right from wrong. And we were reborn, we set ourselves apart from our sinful living. As Romans 6:2 said above, we died to sin, so why are we still in it? If we have given everything to God, that includes our bodies, our virginity, our sexual activity.
So for all those out Christian teens out there who are sexually active, I am not going to judge you or condemn you. The Lord will judge you, and the Law will condemn you. Here's what I am going to do. First, I am going to show the Bible says it wrong, for any of you who doubt it. It's as clear as the 7th commandment in Exodus 20: "Do not commit adultery." Let's look back at the beginning, as in Genesis. On the sixth day, after creating the man, God did not command, "Go out and have sex. Be sexually active." Rather, he said, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) If we remember 7th grade Health class, we remember sex is how we reproduce. God's concern was not that couples were sexually active, but rather that more humans were being produced. So may I make a hermeneutic different from normal thought and suggest this: God made sex strictly for reproduction, and nothing more. The only reason it's pleasurable is an encouragement to do it. Let's face it, we are lazy. We don't do anything unless we are benefiting from it. If God made the curse be painful sex, a lot of humans would say, "Not worth it" and the human civilization would die out due to lack of reproduction. I want to look at something else. Not as much in the Bible, but the customs in Bible terms, which will help produce a healthy exgesis. Let's start out with Genesis 2:24, when the first marriage is established. The verse says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." In a B.C. wedding, the final event that bound the couple as husband and wife was a parade to the bedroom, where the father would hand his daughter off to the groom, and they would make love for the first time. What do we get out of this? Making love is a binding marriage. The first person you have sex with, the person you lose your virginity to, is now married to you because you are one flesh. This even includes minors. It doesn't matter if the state or nation recognizes it as marriage. So how many of you Christian youth out there are married? How many of you have "married" many men or women, which we all accept polygomy as sin? Isn't that a new way to put it that might cause all of you to quiver. If you've had sexual with multiple partners, in a way, you're a polygamist. Bottom line again, ADULTERY IS A SIN!!!
This is the second thing I will offer to the Christian teens who are sexually active is forgiveness. The Bible says only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgiving sin, and adultery is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. You can all be forgiven, and it's not too late. I think that's the biggest lie my generation believes is forgivness has to do with the human anatomy. I cannot deny that when you physically lose your viriginity, you cannot gain it back. No doubt about it. But a lot of my generation think something like this, "Well, I lost my viriginity and now there's no turning back. So I guess I'll have sex whenever now because I can't get my virginity back. Wrong. I like to believe in not only a physical virginity, but also a spiritual virginity. This is what we as Christians have set apart to God to preserve until marriage. I believe if someone confesses their sin of adultery, and repents by stopping all sexual activity until marriage, he or she will be forgiven and the spiritual virginity will be restored. In the eyes of God, they will be virgins again. But as I said, it requires admitting you were wrong by having sex early and turning away from any sexual sin. Once again, I am not judging or condemning anyone. My generation already gets a lot of that from the generation above. I am encouraging all to do what is right in the eyes of God. There is forgiveness, and it's not too late. Do not refuse it, and don't just accept it. Gladly embrace it.
I believe it is the job for those Christian teens who are still sexually pure to encourage the others sexually pure to continue to abstain from sex, and to approach those who did not abstain, and encourage them to confess, repent, and be forgiven. They don't need more adults and elderly yelling out them for doing sin; they already have enough of that. They need encouragement from their own peers. They don't want to listen to those older, they want to listen to those around their age. Listening to the secular world is what got them into trouble, listening to the Christian peer will help them get out. It will be hard, but it will also be worth it. I can demonstrate this by telling you about a conversation I had with a Christian girl a while ago. She was 15, and sexually active with her boyfriend. She was considering going on The Pill and wanted my advice. I didn't get in her face, but I showed her why it was wrong. I explained to her the wrong was not taking the pill, but having sex with a boyfriend without first being married. I presented her all the evidence she needed. And she really did listen. That's the last I heard from her. I don't know what her decision was. But her last line will never leave me, "Thanks for caring. My other friends would just say whatever and not pay any attention to it, but because you are going against what I am doing, it shows me you care." That's what we got to start doing. Start caring. Start loving. If we start loving, we can start to show true love. For it's time our youth discover this truth: you can have sex without any love, and you can love without any sex
I want to give a final encouragement by telling everyone what I do. This is usually personal and private, but I want you both guys and girls to see what I am doing and thinking to show it is impossible. I am saving myself for marriage, and I don't need a ring to show. And as I am saving my viriginity for my wife, I am setting the standard higher to say I will only marry a virgin. If I saved my virginity to her, I want to know she did the same for me. I do not want to be an adulterer because my wife decided to mess around with other guys first, whether it be husband, boyfriend, or accquaintance. And a God as my witness, if I am 40 years old and not married, I will be the 40 year old virgin. And if I'm 70 and still not married, I will be the 70 year old virgin! Further more, I keep my dating relationships to a minimal phyiscal action. Some people go as far as beliving the first kiss should even be saved on the wedding day. In my personal convinction, I don't see that necesary, but I have high respects for those people, keeping everything to God until marriage, even the little things. And if I ever have a girlfriend like that, I will respect that and do the same. I want my relationships to be built on true love, which is communicaiton and emotion connection between a guy and a girl, nothing physical. Trust me, after both times that my ex-girlfriends broke up with me I felt guilty for any physical stuff that went on. And the first girlfriend, it was just holding hands! I just don't give away signs of affection, I only give it to those who I truly and deeply love. I wish everyone in my generation could do the same, but it seems not likely. So all I can do is pray. This past week I have been praying for those 7 girls and 2 guys. I have been praying that they cease their actions, turn back to God, and find true love. I have also been praying for their forgiveness. Then I pray the same for my generation in general. There's probably more people I know and am unaware of their sexual activity (for which I am glad, after all, ignorance is bliss) and I pray the same for them. Finally, I close my prayer by asking for strength to stay pure as long as God calls me to be and end with this line:
"May my virginity be an offering to you, O LORD, in place of those who decided it was not worth waiting."
First off, may I wish everyone a happy New Year. May both God bless us and we bless God in the new year.
Now it is time to talk. It is a subject that is touchy, and rather not talked about. But it has been burdening my heart recently. It is the virginity of my generation.
I am 19. Not married, not dating, but single. I still consider my generation the high school age group. And it saddens my heart to know how little we care about our virginity. Our media doesn't happen. Celebrities having babies out of wedlock, especially with 16 year old Jamie Spears now having a baby, and we just shrugg it off, and maybe get a little excited about the new child. In the same way, our generation responds to any girl getting pregnant. We shrug it off, or just focus on how excited.
It amazes me how this worldly problem is seeping into the church. I have tried my best to grow up in Christian atmosphere, being around people who also resist temptation, which helps me avoid sin. Yet since I could comprehend prematural sex, I have known of 7 girls and 2 guys who called themselves Christian (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, although they could be weeds who like springing up among the wheat) and were sexually active. Furthermore, may I say that 4 of those girls ended up pregnant. But I do not want to emphasize that, for I don't want to say sex before marriage is only a sin if it leads to pregnancy. That would be like saying sex is only a sin if you catch an STD. Teens will have sex without ever facing any STD, while at the same time a married couple can get one. For a liberal generation that's in a liberal time period, let me be straight out and foreward to you: PREMARITIAL SEX IS A SIN!!!
We hear a lot about the santicty of marriage, but it's talking about the homosexual vs. heterosexual marriage debate. But it also refers to respecting the boundaries of marriage. How come I see Christian girls one day wearing the purity ring, and the next day they have the swollen belly? So much for the ring. You may be thinking that this happens in the secular community, too, and you're right, I've seen it when I go out to evangelize. But the difference between and us and them is big. We know right from wrong because we have God's Law. They do not. They are lost; they are blind of their sin. When I go evangelize to them, I make them realize that sin in all aspects of their life is the problem. We are different because we know right from wrong. And we were reborn, we set ourselves apart from our sinful living. As Romans 6:2 said above, we died to sin, so why are we still in it? If we have given everything to God, that includes our bodies, our virginity, our sexual activity.
So for all those out Christian teens out there who are sexually active, I am not going to judge you or condemn you. The Lord will judge you, and the Law will condemn you. Here's what I am going to do. First, I am going to show the Bible says it wrong, for any of you who doubt it. It's as clear as the 7th commandment in Exodus 20: "Do not commit adultery." Let's look back at the beginning, as in Genesis. On the sixth day, after creating the man, God did not command, "Go out and have sex. Be sexually active." Rather, he said, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) If we remember 7th grade Health class, we remember sex is how we reproduce. God's concern was not that couples were sexually active, but rather that more humans were being produced. So may I make a hermeneutic different from normal thought and suggest this: God made sex strictly for reproduction, and nothing more. The only reason it's pleasurable is an encouragement to do it. Let's face it, we are lazy. We don't do anything unless we are benefiting from it. If God made the curse be painful sex, a lot of humans would say, "Not worth it" and the human civilization would die out due to lack of reproduction. I want to look at something else. Not as much in the Bible, but the customs in Bible terms, which will help produce a healthy exgesis. Let's start out with Genesis 2:24, when the first marriage is established. The verse says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." In a B.C. wedding, the final event that bound the couple as husband and wife was a parade to the bedroom, where the father would hand his daughter off to the groom, and they would make love for the first time. What do we get out of this? Making love is a binding marriage. The first person you have sex with, the person you lose your virginity to, is now married to you because you are one flesh. This even includes minors. It doesn't matter if the state or nation recognizes it as marriage. So how many of you Christian youth out there are married? How many of you have "married" many men or women, which we all accept polygomy as sin? Isn't that a new way to put it that might cause all of you to quiver. If you've had sexual with multiple partners, in a way, you're a polygamist. Bottom line again, ADULTERY IS A SIN!!!
This is the second thing I will offer to the Christian teens who are sexually active is forgiveness. The Bible says only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgiving sin, and adultery is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. You can all be forgiven, and it's not too late. I think that's the biggest lie my generation believes is forgivness has to do with the human anatomy. I cannot deny that when you physically lose your viriginity, you cannot gain it back. No doubt about it. But a lot of my generation think something like this, "Well, I lost my viriginity and now there's no turning back. So I guess I'll have sex whenever now because I can't get my virginity back. Wrong. I like to believe in not only a physical virginity, but also a spiritual virginity. This is what we as Christians have set apart to God to preserve until marriage. I believe if someone confesses their sin of adultery, and repents by stopping all sexual activity until marriage, he or she will be forgiven and the spiritual virginity will be restored. In the eyes of God, they will be virgins again. But as I said, it requires admitting you were wrong by having sex early and turning away from any sexual sin. Once again, I am not judging or condemning anyone. My generation already gets a lot of that from the generation above. I am encouraging all to do what is right in the eyes of God. There is forgiveness, and it's not too late. Do not refuse it, and don't just accept it. Gladly embrace it.
I believe it is the job for those Christian teens who are still sexually pure to encourage the others sexually pure to continue to abstain from sex, and to approach those who did not abstain, and encourage them to confess, repent, and be forgiven. They don't need more adults and elderly yelling out them for doing sin; they already have enough of that. They need encouragement from their own peers. They don't want to listen to those older, they want to listen to those around their age. Listening to the secular world is what got them into trouble, listening to the Christian peer will help them get out. It will be hard, but it will also be worth it. I can demonstrate this by telling you about a conversation I had with a Christian girl a while ago. She was 15, and sexually active with her boyfriend. She was considering going on The Pill and wanted my advice. I didn't get in her face, but I showed her why it was wrong. I explained to her the wrong was not taking the pill, but having sex with a boyfriend without first being married. I presented her all the evidence she needed. And she really did listen. That's the last I heard from her. I don't know what her decision was. But her last line will never leave me, "Thanks for caring. My other friends would just say whatever and not pay any attention to it, but because you are going against what I am doing, it shows me you care." That's what we got to start doing. Start caring. Start loving. If we start loving, we can start to show true love. For it's time our youth discover this truth: you can have sex without any love, and you can love without any sex
I want to give a final encouragement by telling everyone what I do. This is usually personal and private, but I want you both guys and girls to see what I am doing and thinking to show it is impossible. I am saving myself for marriage, and I don't need a ring to show. And as I am saving my viriginity for my wife, I am setting the standard higher to say I will only marry a virgin. If I saved my virginity to her, I want to know she did the same for me. I do not want to be an adulterer because my wife decided to mess around with other guys first, whether it be husband, boyfriend, or accquaintance. And a God as my witness, if I am 40 years old and not married, I will be the 40 year old virgin. And if I'm 70 and still not married, I will be the 70 year old virgin! Further more, I keep my dating relationships to a minimal phyiscal action. Some people go as far as beliving the first kiss should even be saved on the wedding day. In my personal convinction, I don't see that necesary, but I have high respects for those people, keeping everything to God until marriage, even the little things. And if I ever have a girlfriend like that, I will respect that and do the same. I want my relationships to be built on true love, which is communicaiton and emotion connection between a guy and a girl, nothing physical. Trust me, after both times that my ex-girlfriends broke up with me I felt guilty for any physical stuff that went on. And the first girlfriend, it was just holding hands! I just don't give away signs of affection, I only give it to those who I truly and deeply love. I wish everyone in my generation could do the same, but it seems not likely. So all I can do is pray. This past week I have been praying for those 7 girls and 2 guys. I have been praying that they cease their actions, turn back to God, and find true love. I have also been praying for their forgiveness. Then I pray the same for my generation in general. There's probably more people I know and am unaware of their sexual activity (for which I am glad, after all, ignorance is bliss) and I pray the same for them. Finally, I close my prayer by asking for strength to stay pure as long as God calls me to be and end with this line:
"May my virginity be an offering to you, O LORD, in place of those who decided it was not worth waiting."
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An Evaluation of Children's Church Songs
I have an atypical daughter. Despite all the baby books stating that infants sleep 10-12 hours during the night, along with 2 hour-long naps...
