“Rachel, you’re next!”
My turn had come. The moment I had been preparing for the
past four months was here. My heart pounded and my mouth felt as if I hadn’t
had a drink for 24 hours. I followed the man who had called my name to the door
of the testing room.
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| One of the testing rooms for Bible Bee Oral Rounds |
“Do your best!” he smiled as I entered the room. My mind was
whirling. I felt cold. I was both very excited and very nervous. As I walked up
to the front of the room, I looked around for my Dad. Our eyes met and he gave
me thumbs up and an encouraging look. I got to the front of the room and stood
in front of the table as I had been instructed. My judges, a man and woman, sat
behind the table. The woman smiled and handed me the headset. I took it and put
it on, adjusting the microphone so it was in the correct position.
She began to give me my instructions for the oral test. “You
have up to 5 minutes to quote up to 3 passages. Don’t feel like you need to
rush because you will have plenty of time.”
“Yes,” I thought
to myself. “Do. Not. Rush!” I let out
a slight nervous sigh as she finished giving me
my instructions.
“When you’re ready, just state your name and the Bible
version you will be using.”
I sent up one more prayer for strength and focus. I had to
quote these three passages of scripture with as few mistakes as possible, with
about thirty people listening to me! I didn’t know what three passages I would
be reciting…only that they would be 3 out of the 205 passages I had memorized for
the 2015 National Bible Bee. These 205 passages totaled up to over 800
individual verses and the passages all varied in length from 1 verse to 22
verses! And while I had worked diligently to memorize and perfect these verses
the last 3 months, I still had those passages I struggled with. I hoped I would
not receive one of those passages, but I knew all I could do was my best in
God’s
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| Bethany, Emily, Bella, and I: waiting for testing to begin |
Somehow, I found my voice.
“Rachel C-----, King James Version.”
Ready or not, here I
go!
The woman gave me my first reference and started the timer.
“Please recite: Romans five, one through eleven.”
Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and began, in a shaky
voice, to recite the given passage. “Romans five, one through eleven. Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
By whom also…”
I quoted the passage, not too fast, but not too slow
either…thinking about each word. God
showed Himself strong! Just before my oral round, I had a practice session
in our room with Daddy, quoting verses and warming up so my mind was “in
motion”. During that practice session, I had quoted this passage, and had a
brain freeze - forgetting how the passage continued at one point in the middle
of it. Because of that, I had gone over this passage several times. Now, I was
quoting that same passage, which was fresh in my mind, and I didn’t blank! Praise God!
“…we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have now received the atonement. Romans five, one through eleven.”
One down, two to go!
“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty one”, was the next
passage I was given to recite.
I swallowed hard. This was one of those passages I had
struggled with. But a couple weeks before Nationals, I had found a pattern to
the saids and saiths that had confused me, and added hand motions. That helped
tremendously. If I focused and used my motions, I could quote it right most of
the time. I practiced it often. And here I was: needing to quote this passage
for my oral recitation. I knew it was possible, but I must really focus under the pressure.
“Lord, help me,” I silently prayed.
“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty-one. But Thomas,
one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other
disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto
them, Except I shall see in his
hands the print of the nails…”
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| Waiting for Opening Ceremony to begin the first evening. So much fun! ^_^ |
I was here to do
my best. As I quoted the passage, I used my hand motions, careful thinking
about each word before I pronounced it. I came to the last two verses, which
were especially good ones…
“And many other
signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written
in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, and that believing ye might have life through His name. John twenty,
twenty-four through thirty-one.”
I breathed a sigh
of relief, for as far as I knew at that point, I felt like I had kept it all
straight! Praise the Lord! Two passages down,
one to go.
The woman gave me
my final passage. “Please recite: Psalm sixteen.”
“Psalm sixteen. Preserve me, O God, for in
Thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my
Lord…”
This passage was
a favorite, and I knew it well. Like Romans 5:1-11, I had quoted this prior in
my warm up session with my Dad. God allowed me to have one last run-through of
the Psalm. I also remember, that day,
walking down the hallway to go somewhere, and I held a portion of my verse
cards in my hand, reading this Psalm. I had reviewed it then, too!
I emphasized the
familiar words…
“…Thou wilt shew
me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand
there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm Sixteen.”
I took a deep
breath. I opened my eyes. I was done. As I removed the headset with shaking
hands, the woman congratulated me and said I may go sit down. My eyes welled up
with tears of happiness and relief, and through the applause of the crowd, I made
my way back to where Daddy was sitting. He gave me a hug.
I sat there and
sent up a prayer of thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father. God had girded me with strength, and had made my way perfect.1 I
had quoted all three of my passages with no passes, no word prompts, and no
tongue twist-ups. Glory to HIS name! I had trusted Him to help me, and He did!
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| Closing Ceremony evening. Here's the annual "winner!" picture! Congratulations, Delie! |
At that point, I
didn’t know how many points I received, or if I made any mistakes, but six
weeks later, I found out my total score of both written and oral recitation
tests.
Guess what? I
received…a perfect score!!! Praise
the Lord! I ended up placing 34th out of all the contestants in my
division of 15-18 year olds. All during the study season, I had prayed that He
would bless me with a perfect oral score, and I placed my trust in Him for
strength. Without Him, I knew I could not have memorized 880 verses word
perfectly in three and a half months. I just had to give it over to Him, and
trust Him completely for the results. It was totally worth it.
So now, I’m going
to give you a dare, but it’s a good dare. I
dare you…whatever you are facing
in life, maybe with an upcoming test, a trip or an event you’re worried about, or
any difficulty; you fill in that blank…Trust
fully in God. He promises to never leave you, or forsake you.2
He is our refuge and strength and a very
present help in trouble.3 Ask Him for strength. Fully rely on
Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding. He shall direct your path!4
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is
tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God
save the Lord? or who is a rock
save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and
maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet
like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. {Psalm 18:30-33}
Oh…while we’re
on the subject of the National Bible Bee, I really want to encourage you to compete
in it, if you are 7-18 years old. I can honestly say it changed my life for the
best. Digging into God’s Word will never return void! Doing the Bible Bee has
been one of the best things I've ever done! :) I looked forward to competing each year with great excitement. ;) Registration for the 2016 Bible Bee is now open!!! Click HERE to go to the Bible Bee website and find out more information. If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you. =) Blessings!
1: Psalm 18:32.
2: Hebrews 13:5. 3: Psalm 46:1-3. 4: Proverbs 3:5-6.