Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Wow, it's been a while!

Hey guys! Wow, I just realized the last time I posed on here was June 22! Wow, has time flown! Ready for a mega update? :)

Lets start with the Sword Study. Last we left off, I was on Week 3, Day 4. I wasn't able to accomplish all that I wanted to with the SS, but I was able to finish Week 6, Day 1. Basically, I got halfway through the study. I learned a lot in my study of the first 2 chapters of 2 Timothy. I learned a lot about Paul - the writer, Timothy - the recipient, and all the others in the book - Lois, Eunice, Phygelus, Hermogenes, Onesiphorus, Hymenaeus, Philetus, Jannes, Jambres, Demas, Crescens, Titus, Luke, Mark, Tychicus, Carpus, Alexander, Prisca, Aquila, Erastus, Trophimus, Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia. I learned how to be a good soldier, athlete, and farmer. I learned what it is like to be a good servant and much, much more. I really enjoyed it, and I will continue to work on the SS even though Bible Bee is over.

Now onto verses. The day before the Bee, I only had 7 out of 25 passages memorized. I did NOT want to go to the contest that unprepared. I used the whole day to commit 5 more passages to memory. After Friday the 24th, I had 12 passages memorized, which is about half of the verses they gave us. This summer, I have memorized Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 Chronicles 16:8-12, Ezekiel 36:23-27, Luke 9:23-26, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Galatians 1:11-17, Ephesians 6:10-18, Philippians 3:7-8, Colossians 3:22-24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Titus 1:1-3, and 2 Peter 3:3-9. God is so good, even if I memorized 1 verse, I have won because I have chosen to memorize His word.

Contest day was August 25, 2012 - which was three days ago. We woke up at 5am since we had to be at our Bee for 7:30am, and it was about 45 minutes away. During the drive, we were listening to the Musical Scriptures, and I was going over a practice test I had taken the day before to go over the questions I had gotten wrong since I had only gotten 115 out of 200 right. I was also going over the Greek words. Thankfully I knew some of the Greek from last year like Pathema (sufferings), Pascho (suffer), Euaggelion (gospel), and Euaggelizo (to preach the gospel). Since last year, I have come to love studying greek. :)

When we got to the contest, we got to see some friends that have done every Bible Bee Local Contest with us since Bible Bee started in 2009. It was really great to see them. We signed in, and then just chatted until the contest got underway. The Seniors and Juniors had the Written Test first. I think I did pretty well for what I studied. I guessed on the ones that I wasn't sure on. But overall, I gave it my best shot. Next we had a break and headed to the Family Fun Area to hang out. After that, the Juniors and Seniors had a shot at the Oral Round. I was taken in somewhat in the middle of everyone. I was very excited that I was able to quote about half the verses! In past years, I have been able to quote one or two since there was a HUGE pool to pick from. This year they called 20 of the 25 passages which made it a whole lot easier. I stumbled through most of the verses, and probably got a ton of points taken off for missed or added words, but I gave it my best! Overall, I am happy with how everything came out. During the closing awards ceremony, I did not place 1-5. There were only 8 Seniors, so I placed 6-8 out of our local contest. But oh well. God got the glory, and that's all that matters.

Well, that's my Bible Bee 2012 story. I am 99.99% sure that I will NOT move on to Nationals this year. Scores are released tomorrow at 6pm Central Time, so I will know for a fact then. I will be sure to update when I know my scores.

Did you participate in Bible Bee? What was your day like? How do you think you did? If you didn't participate, would you like to in future years? Comment and let me know! I'd love to hear from you! :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

June 20-22

Today is Week 3, Day 4 for me in my Sword Study. It's pretty neat that even though I got behind at camp, because I did it on weekends before I went that I'm only one day behind! I plan to continue working on weekends because I am going out of town again mid to late July to Washington DC for a leadership conference. I will be gone for 11 days.

Today I focused on making flashcards for the greek words and their cross references in all three age groups up until the end of week 3. Right now they are on physical index cards, but within the next couple days I hope to make them into a quizlet set for everyone to benefit from.

Today I also finished memorizing 2 Peter 3:3-9 which says:


"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."


Yesterday I decided to try out a new memorizing website that Bible Bee was advertising for this year. It's called Scripture Typer. I have now found my newest favorite way to memorize scripture (yes, I said that when I discovered MemVerse about 2 years ago, which is another great tool). I thoroughly encourage you to check it out. It's kind of hard to figure out when you first sign up and there's no getting started page clickable from the home page, but I found the link for it, click here to go to it. It's a great little tool for memorizing verses, not just Bible Bee, but verses in general. 


I guess that's it for today. I still have my Sword Study for today to do. :)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

June 5-19

Hey guys! I just got back from a missionary training camp a couple days ago, and have been settling back into "home routine", so I am just getting to write this post now. Basically at camp, all I had time for was review and Sword Study, which I kind of slacked off on once things got busy.

Today I finished Sword Study Week 3, Day 1. I am pretty familiar with Ezekiel 36:23-27 so I moved on to working on 2 Peter 3:3-9.  Not to mention the song for Ezekiel 36:23-27 was starting to get old (I was listening to that one song on the Musical Scriptures CD while cleaning my room over and over again). Hopefully I can memorize that one pretty quickly.

Well, that's it for today. I have school work to do. ;)

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Week 2, Day 4

Just a quote I found in my Sword Study today. :)

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Camp

Right now I'm at a missionary training camp, which is the reason why I haven't had time to post. When I get back, I will update you on my Bible Bee status. :)

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

June 4

NOTE: This post was written last night, but our internet wasn't working, so I am posting it today.



Today I woke up and just started quoting Ephesians 6:10-18, trying to perfect it. I said it a bunch of times to my mom and three younger sisters. After about 15 minutes of saying it to them, I finally got it! Ephesians 6:10-18 ~ CHECK! I was so happy! 

Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"


Well, I am leaving for camp on Thursday, so I decided to tidy up my room and start to pack. While I did that, I listened to the Musical Scriptures CD playing the next longest verse, Ezekiel 36:23-27 through my radio. I had it on repeat, so it must have circled about 20-30 times. I am now familiar with it, but don't have it memorized yet.

Then I decided to do my Sword Study before I have to run out for the evening. I finished Week 1, Day 4, and learned all about the time period the book of 2 Timothy was written. Did you know 2 Timothy was the last book Paul ever wrote? Shortly after he wrote it, he was martyred. I'm sure this book held high significance to Timothy. I can't imagine having someone you know die for the name of Jesus. Thankfully, that's not something we have to worry too much about living in America. Let's pray that it stays that way. 

I also didn't realize how terrible Paul's prison was. I knew it wasn't our cushy prisons we have today, but I didn't realize he was being kept in a prison for the worst of criminals in that day, just basically a hole in the ground. It was never dry, and never warm. But throughout Paul's letters you see that he was glad to suffer for the name of Christ. How many of us would be willing to do the same?

Remember how I was saying a couple days ago that I didn't know where Tarsus was? Well, I found a map in my Sword Study. 


From here you can see Rome (where Paul was in prison), Ephesus (where Timothy lived), and Tarsus (where Paul was from).

At the end of the Sword Study, they had a quote that I've heard before, but I love so much, especially since my Bible is falling apart from my study of 1 Peter last summer. ;)

"A well-worn Bible is a sign of a well-fed soul, and a Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone whose life isn't!" ~ Anonymous

Right now I am working on memorizing Ezekiel 36:23-27 some more. 

Ezekiel 36:23-27
"And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."

Sunday, June 3, 2012

June 3

Today I left as a day to get ahead in my Sword Study and just relax listening to my Musical Scripture CD.

I did my Week 1, Day 3 Sword Study this morning before Church. We had to describe Timothy as if we were introducing him to a friend, and this is what I said:

"Timothy is Paul's spiritual son. Paul mentored him and now is letting him do a lot of Paul's own work. He is a faithful believer, a devout Christian. His mother is Eunice and his grandmother is Louis. His mom was Jewish, and his father was a Greek."

In the APPLY! section, I had to think of some "Paul's", "Timothy's", "Barnabus'", "Louis'", and Eunice's" in our own lives. My Paul would have to be my parents. My Timothy was my cousin. I took her under my wing, and I really hope she welcomes me back into her life. My Barnabus is my amazing friend Talia. She keeps me accountable. My Louis is my mom's friend Ms Kim, and my Eunice is one of my mom's other friends, Ms Julie.

Right now, as I write this, I am listening to my Musical Scriptures CD over and over again to get familiar with all the verses. Tomorrow I will get into a bigger memorizing mode.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

June 2

Today I didn't do any Bible Bee things until about 6pm as I was out all day doing things. Today all I really did was my Sword Study. I completed Week 1, Day 2. I am trying to get ahead on my Sword Study as I am going to a missionary training camp from June 7-15, and I won't have much time to study.

I had a lot of fun learning about Paul. It's always really cool to learn about the author of the book. One thing I want to do is look up where Tarsus is. I always hear about it as that is where Paul is originally from, but I really don't know where it is. So, maybe I'll look that up tomorrow.

Today I also copied my answers from my notebook paper from Week 1, Day 1 to my actual Sword Study book. Don't you think it's so cool that it came in a bind this year instead of in sheets of paper you have to put into a binder??? I thought that was really neat, but am already seeing that it might be difficult to use as I was doing it in my bed earlier, and it wasn't that easy. I'm thinking it's not going to work so well at camp as I won't have a desk to use like I do at home. Last year at camp, I was just able to take the pages out that I needed and use them with a clipboard. So really, I'm not quite sure which way I like better.

I haven't had any time to go over verses today. Tomorrow I will be probably just doing my Sword Study and listening to the "Musical Scriptures" CD. I am exhausted, and I really need to go to bed now so I can worship God tomorrow, and not fall asleep in service. :)

June 1

Hey everyone! Sorry for a late post. Life got busy last night. Here is my first post about June 1.

June 1 we got our boxes around 4:15pm Central Time but didn't wait that long to start studying. I woke up around 7am and was really hoping the materials would be on the website. Sadly, they weren't. I went browsing around the internet where I found out the book we were studying was 2 Timothy (almost wrote 1 Peter. :) Did I ever tell you how much I enjoyed studying 1 Peter last year?). I got right to work reading the whole book.

After that, I found the iPhone app in the App Store and saw that the verses were already on there, so we bought it, and I started studying. I am trying a new approach to studying this year. Instead of going in Bible Bee's order or in traditional order (Bible Bee's order in the past), I am starting with the longest passage and ending with the shortest passage. This is one of the tips I learned from Daniel Staddon's book, "The $100,000 Word". I really think this will work really well for me as I tend to be really enthusiastic about memorizing in the beginning of Bible Bee, and end up really discouraged and not wanting to do as much towards the final stretch.

The first verse I got to working on was Ephesians 6:10-18. I was told this was a previous verse, but since I only memorized 150 out of 800 last year, and even less the two years before, I had not memorized this one. I am not done memorizing it, but have become so familiar with it that I only need about 5 or 7 helps at the beginning of verses, and my Mom only had to correct words a few times. The most trouble I'm having is that I keep saying "full armour of God" instead of "whole armour of God" (Yes, I'm memorizing in King James).

Then the materials were released on www.biblebee.org. I was ecstatic! Now I could start doing the Sword Study as the first week was released as a PDF on the website. I didn't print it out as there wasn't a whole lot of writing to do. I decided just to get a pen and notebook paper, and write it out there for the time being. I finished my Sword Study for Week 1, Day 1, and decided to work on Ephesians 6:10-18 some more.

The box came, and the whole house was excited! Five out of six of us are enrolled in the Bible Bee, the four year old being too young. She really enjoyed being a Supporting Sibling last year, and was really sad that nothing came for her this year. We do remember ordering and extra T-Shirt for her, but the site wasn't cooperating the days before, so maybe it just never really ended up in our cart. We quickly gave her my Senior pin (I don't use them), promised to get her a shirt, and she was happy after that.

That was pretty much my first 2012 Bible Bee day. June 2 update coming soon!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Bible Bee 2012 Introduction

Hi everyone, this is my new blog to show what's going on as I study for the 2012 National Bible Bee.

Basically, every day (Lord willing) I will do a post saying what day it is for me and what I did that day. I will post what verses I worked on - those I memorized, and those yet to be memorized, what I learned through those verses, and what I learned in my Sword Study of 2 Timothy. This will help me to be accountable, and hopefully it will show you how amazing the Bible Bee opportunity is, and maybe learn a few things yourself. I will post "Day 1" later today after some studying.

List of 2012 Memory Verses
Deuteronomy 31:6
1 Chronicles 16:8-12
Job 6:14-21
Psalm 9:1-4
Proverbs 24:29-34
Ezekiel 36:23-27
Matthew 4:23-25
Luke 9:23-26
Acts 2:25-28
Acts 10:42-43
Acts 20:18-24
Romans 4:20-25
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Galatians 1:11-17
Ephesians 4:11-13
Ephesians 6:10-18
Philippians 1:27-30
Philippians 3:7-8
Colossians 3:22-24
1 Timothy 1:15-19
2 Timothy 1:2-7
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Titus 1:1-3
Hebrews 4:4-10
2 Peter 3:3-9

***Spoiler for tonight's post!!!***
I'm memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18 right now. :)