Moving

I've moved to a new blog called Edited by God.

See you there!

"Like a rocket shooting up to the sky..."

Just a random assortment of pictures :)

Idaho Impromptu Finals

Adam practically tackled me after I got 1st at Puget Sound :) Love that guy so much.

Bremerton Round-Robin, debating with Alex Hayes

I show this picture to point out (though blurry) the small ducky on my table. He was found in the lost and found at my church (complete with basketball stripes) and he has since become my mascot. I don't debate without him, he's a symbol of motivation and encouragement, among other things :) Anyway, thought you'd like to know ;)

"...she's got me burning up inside..." (Can't get this song out of my head)

welcome home :)

Another update :)

So sorry for the delay. Here's a quick life update:

1) So yeah, remember that sore throat I had? Well, after I recovered from it, I discovered it was actually Strep throat. So here I was, running around preparing for a tournament thinking, "Man, this is a really bad sore throat" and it turns out it was a little bit worse than that. Go figure.

I'm all recovered now though, besides just an occasional twinge in my throat, but that's to be expected. Strep is no fun. Very painful.

2) The Puget Sound Qualifer: Originally I was planning on competing with my dramatic interpretation here, but because of my strep which knocked me out a couple days, I had to drop the event. Also, once I got there, my voice was threatening to give out on me, I dropped my persuasive as well ::frowns:: sad day. So I went into the tournament competing in Team Policy, Humorous, and Impromptu.

The weather was crazy! The night we got there, it snowed, and in the morning, there was ice under the snow. The whole entire tournament schedule got rearranged and turned upside-down, and we ended up having to drop a speech round, so everyone only competed in two preliminary rounds.

Team policy went pretty well, but not as well as I would have liked. Some strange stuff happened in prelims with some.... interesting judges, but I've come to expect that. Right now, I'm just waiting and trusting in God's timing, so that when the time comes, we'll get favorable match-ups :) Ben and I ended up placing 14th. So okay. ish.

Humorous went very well, I got very positive feedback, and I had a blast competing. In the final round, I was matched up against Creighton Deems, Stephanie Emmons, Devin Kruse, Harrison Scott, and many other excellent interpers. The finals was AMAZING. The audience came ready to laugh, and they packed around 50+ people into the room. We all had so much fun, and all of the competitors were together, cheering one another on and praying for each other. I truly enjoyed that round, and I ended up placing 5th.

Impromptu also went very well. I can't really remember all my draws, but I remember one of my preliminary draws was "A great city is that which has the greatest men and women." For that speech I talked about the three ways that is proven to be true, through 1) architecture, arts, and creativity, 2) integrity, and 3) the greatest city of all.

In semi-finals I drew the word "Oblivious" and I shared about how 1) it can be humorous, 2) the impact it can have on real life situations/the importance of understanding the implications of our decisions and 3) being oblivious when it comes to an eternal perspective.

In finals, I drew a quote from Bertrand Russel that says "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." For this speech I shared the three things that keep wise people/people with great potential from contributing to society, which is 1) Complacency 2) Confidence and 3) Simply a lack of action.

I was so blessed to remember a Teddy Roosevelt quote that said:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

This speech went incredibly well, and I was able to use an excellent closer (that I remember five seconds before I had to close). I ended up placing 1st in impromptu with this speech.

3) Now, I'm back home, and I'm working away at school, and some side-projects, some graphic design and such, and preparing for the next tournament :) Life continues.

Right now, I'm rather hungry. :)

schatzi

Late-night thought

Sore throats are bothersome. Sore throats that last more than three days are even more so.

In other news, I'm nowhere near ready for the Puget Sound tournament, but it will be a blast nevertheless. :)

Hope everyone is doing well, especially those of you who are far away. :) Through rain, and shine... and my personal favorite, rain and sunshine :)

Goodnight!

Pictures from Idaho

Life goes on. What a bother.

There's nothing more entertaining than having to continue through life when you want to take a breather. Unfortunately life never gets tired or wants to take a break. It's rather inconvenient.

Right now, I am writing two debate briefs for our club, researching for my affirmative case, creating a logo for a friend, writing a dramatic interpretation, trying to decide whether or not to compete in Apologetics at the next tournament, and sadly turning down a skiing/snowboarding trip tomorrow in order to finish it all :P Such is life.

Idaho Tournament: It went extremely well! This was the first tournament I truly competed in speech events, and I had a lot of fun. I competed in: Team Policy Debate, Persuasive, Humorous, and Impromptu.

After an exhausting 3 day tournament, my final results were: 8th in Team Policy, 8th place speaker, 7th in persuasive, 2nd in humorous interpretation, 2nd in impromptu, and 5th in sweepstakes. I've discovered I truly enjoy speech events.

The club as a whole did incredibly well, and though I don't have complete postings, I do remember a rather large amount of Rainmakers being called up for awards :)

Now, I'm preparing for the Puget Sound Qualifier up in Washington, and I have a lot of work to do before then :) So farewell for now, I miss you all.

Happy Anniversary

I’m a hopeless romantic. I’m pretty sure you all know that by now. Love fascinates me, it captivates me, and yes, it can be rather distracting from other important things in my life.

When I think about love, and romance, and marriage, I think about reaching that moment where you never have to say goodbye. Where you never have to let go, where you have each other forever and ever.

In 1973, a love story was born. A hippie musician. An aspiring ballerina. Sparks flew, and a romance was kindled. Infatuation turned into dedication. Dedication, not simply to one another, but to their Lord and Savior, dedication to the ministry He called them to, dedication to the children He blessed them with. Dedication through the blessings and success He gave them, and dedication to the trials and pain He tested them with.

This was a true love story. Complete, not just simply by the feelings toward one another, but their love for Christ. Christ was their first love, though they loved each other ferociously.

I think it’s easy for us to say that Christ is our first love. I think too easily they become but words, practiced until they roll off the tongue with ease. It’s simple to make this claim until it’s truly tested.

After 37 years of marriage, my father had to do the unthinkable. He had to say goodbye. Goodbye to a wife that had loved him, cared for him, encouraged him, and even scolded him when necessary. Goodbye to his help-meet, his #1 fan, his best friend.

Goodbye to a marriage that had encouraged and saved lives and families in generation after generation. One that had earned the respect, not only of the world, but of their own family. One that had raised up their children to take their place as leaders of their generation.

He had to say goodbye. And as we stood by her bed, as the life of the woman we all loved fiercely slowly faded before our eyes, my father leaned close, tears whelming in his eyes, but his voice toned with quiet resolve,

“It’s alright, Sono. You can go home now.”

My father let her go. My father surrendered her to her first love. To his first love.

Every Sunday, I watch as my father lifts his hands and blesses his Lord. Every Sunday, I watch him exhort others to surrender themselves and live for Him. The one that saw it fit to take his wife to heaven. Unhesitatingly, he carries on. Why? Because God is his first love.

This picture shatters the image that I have of love. Forever and ever? It’s not to be. It questions what I put as first in my life. I watched a marriage, strong, passionate and loving, give way to something greater.

Today, so close to Valentines, we celebrate a marriage. A true love story. It’s success, it’s beauty, not because of the love between the two individuals but because of God’s love for them, and they for Him.

Happy 37th anniversary, Gregg Eugene and Sono Sato. Your story, and your lives will never be forgotten.

Your son,

Isaac

1 John 4:19 - “We love because He first loved us.”