good news

The past week has been absolutely stuffed with good news. Last Saturday was the awards ceremony of our Region's Invitational Speech and Debate tournament. My amazing sister doesn't settle for second-best and took first place in every event she competed in. Wow. I received first place in my Original Oratory, my favorite and most special speech, as well as 4th in my Persuasive speech. So even that night, our family was bursting with blessings. Together, Macaela and I has qualified to the National Championship in five events! Even though I hadn't qualified in my Impromptu, Apologetics, or Illustrated oratory events, I was still over-joyed by the blessings I had received. The one damper on it was the fact the my debate partner, Rachel, and I had not even made it to the quarter-finals in debate, thus not qualifying at Regionals. Due to how well we had done throughout the rest of the season we still had hope that we would qualify with an "at-large" slot, but it was hard not knowing.


But... God wasn't done yet. On Sunday night, I answered two calls from Mrs. Paul as she informed me that I had received a "roll-down" slot in my Illustrated Oratory, as well as Apologetics, thus qualifying to Nationals in those two events as well. I spent the next day completely overwhelmed. Then by Tuesday, Rachel and were simply waiting for one more call from Mrs. Paul. Each time the phone rang, our hearts raced and we tried not to sound disappointed when it wasn't the call we were hoping for. Everyone in our debate club was waiting to hear from us if we would received the much-hoped-for slot to Nationals. The phone rang again about one hour before I had to leave for debate club that night. Mrs. Paul told me that, to my astonishment, I was awarded an at-large slot in impromptu. I was shocked, but still holding my breath as she continued, informing me that Rachel and I had, indeed, qualified to the National Championship in Team Policy Debate.


Ahh!!!


I called Rachel, and after we screamed back and forth on the phone for a few minutes, we made each other promise not to tell anyone until we got to debate so we could share the news together. And though it was just an hour until then, it was all that either of us could do to hold in the excitement of this wonderful announcement.


And... that's when the spiritual parallel hit me.


We have heard "good news" that is so much better than a slot to Nationals. We have an announcement that us more than exciting, it's life-changing. We all have the news of Jesus, the news of salvation. And yet how does it make us feel?


There was hardly anything tougher than trying to hold in that "good news" about debate. We wanted to tell every single person we knew! Is this how we feel about the gospel? That's a challenging thought for me. I realized that we walk around with the most revolutionary news that has ever been spoken, and most of the time we don't even feel the urge to share it. How can we look at the dozens and dozens of people around us every day who do not know the joy and impact of the truth we have, and not share it? Has the gospel really impacted us that much?


My challenge to you and to me: spend this Easter weekend thinking deep and hard about the gospel. We were sinners. We had no way to be with God. Jesus came and paid the price, then rose again to conquer death. Now, we have the free pardon of our sins and life eternally with our Savior. There is nothing greater than that news.


People are in darkness, and we are the light. Don't hide your light under a bush. Share what we have been given. Share the good news.


Romans 10:15 ~ "And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"