Hello everyone! I’m back. It has been several months since I have written here on Generation Lights but having that time away has given me a renewed vision for this blog! In case you missed my recent update in my email list, I have come to a more focused purpose for this blog which can best be summarized in the following: “To educate, encourage, and propel young people in their encounter with Christ until He is seen as the ONE that has fully-absorbed and captured their complete attention through His grace. That they may develop a love and desire for the King and His Word and find Him as their all-fulfilling and eternal purpose and in life. That they'd have nothing left to say but to praise God through a heart overflowing with these words: "The purpose of my life is to glorify Christ through knowing Him, not just know about Him, to make Him known, and to enjoy Him forever. This is my life's greatest pursuit and pleasure, and I count all as loss compared to Him." So that being said, I’m happy to be back to writing here! I hope every article you read reminds you of your desperate need for Christ and magnifies His sufficiency, perfection, and all-sustaining presence in your need. I hope you are encouraged and challenged to draw closer to Christ, to know Him and His Word on a deeper level, and to grow in your faith through reading this blog. I hope and pray that He will use my words to display just how worthy and glorious He really is on this small corner of the internet. Now let’s get to it! A couple weeks ago I returned from the 2021 National Bible Bee Competition. There is really no word to describe it. It’s one of those things you just have to be there for, yet if you were there yourself, you’d probably come to the same conclusion as I - there are no words. If I could paint a picture of what heaven would look like on earth, the closest human experience I could get to that would be Nationals. The National Bible Bee (NBB) is truly a family. Though there are hundreds of families involved in this ministry, it is the closest-knit group of people I have ever come across. If you are in the NBB, you know what I mean. It truly is a rare jewel in this world, and all to the glory of God. Being united in Christ and building your friendship’s foundation upon God’s Word makes all the difference. This year, the theme for the NBB was “Witness.” The top 360 contestants (ages 7-18) from all across the nation showed up in Covington, KY ready to proclaim God’s Word and make His name known. Though I am now too old to compete, I attended the competition as an alumna this year, serving alongside staff throughout all of the events of the week. My team (8 other alumni who were selected for the position this year) and I had many different roles at the competition. Some of them included tasks like assisting with registration, encouraging participants as they prepared to recite their passages for orals, and helping backstage for semi-finals and finals. It was both an amazing and life-changing experience. I was convicted, encouraged, and inspired all at the same time. I mean, have you ever heard a seven-year-old (who memorized hundreds of verses in just a couple of months) stand on stage to confidently proclaim God’s Word? Or have you ever seen hundreds of young people all worshipping their Creator together and encouraging each other - right before their scores for the competition are released? Even if a participant came back down from the stage after realizing they made an error in their recitation, all I would hear them say is, “God be glorified. Praise the Lord!” This happened whether I would try to encourage or praise them. If I learned one thing on this trip it was humility - I must decrease and Christ must increase. The way the contestants (whether they got 50th or 1st place) displayed their hunger for the glory of God in their experiences and actions challenged me (and still does) to seek God’s glory above all else in all of my life’s endeavors. I witnessed the Word of God they had memorized over the past few months coming out and being put into action in those moments. It was truly an inspiring week, and I left with more encouragement to continue my scripture memorization than I had before. God’s Word is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12), so when it is proclaimed, you can be sure that it will have an impact on you. Christ was the center of this event, and that was very evident! For nearly a week I was surrounded by God’s Word passionately being proclaimed, hymns being sung to the Lord, lots of laughter, the presence of my closest friends, rich and encouraging conversations, and the genuine love among those of the body of Christ. How could it get much better than that?! While I was on the trip, I also got the opportunity to witness to a waiter at the hotel restaurant which was amazing! He was really open to the truths of the gospel, had lots of questions, and said he had seen something different about the Christians who were in the hotel that week. I told him it was only Christ’s righteousness in us and that he could experience that too and find forgiveness in Christ. Please be praying for him if you think of it! God was truly moving that week, and though I can’t fully paint the picture of all He did, I hope this post at least helped to give you an idea. If you are interested, I HIGHLY RECOOMEND viewing the live streams of the competition which are posted under the National Bible Bee YouTube channel. I hope they inspire you too (I have known them to do that even through just watching from home:). Another thing I recommend is checking out their website! Consider participating this next year if you are able! I can promise you it will change your life. Visit www.biblebee.org for details. Lord willing, I will see you all again in two weeks - with a blog post from a National Bible Bee finalist. Until then, go serve our King! Colossians 3:2 -Hannah Kohner
2 Comments
12/7/2021 11:14:55 am
LOVED reading this, Hannah!! I had an amazing time at BB and you definitely captured that essence of it with your words! Although this did give me PBBWS...lol
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Hannah Kohner
1/4/2022 10:27:44 pm
Thank you for reading, Grace!! It was so great to meet you at Nationals! And I completely understand. :)
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AuthorHello, I'm Hannah and I'm so glad you're here! I'm a twenty-year-old Jesus-loving writer, National Bible Bee Alumna, and homeschool graduate. Jesus redeemed me, and now I give my life, and this blog, to serve Him. Hebrews 3:13 reminds us to encourage each other daily, lest we be hardened by sin. I hope that reading each blog entry that I post you will be encouraged and challenged to become more like Christ daily. |