Kali Makes the Finals!

Here we are in Wake Forest, North Carolina, at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. (I hope I didn't kill that name.) We are here for the National Christian Forensics Communicators Association Qualifier. Basically, students from Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina are here debating and giving prepared speeches in competition. Those making it to semi-finals and finals will advance to regional competition, and from there (hopefully) to national competition. We have 180 students here for this event.

The lovely lady with her hand over her mouth in shock is my daughter Kali. The young lady with a hand on Kali's shoulder in support is another member from our chapter. This photo was taken when Kali's name was annouced as a semi-finalist in the Persuasive speech category. Kali wrote this speech herself. It starts with the whole earth being taken captive, with no survivors. She goes on to explain that we have all been taken captive by sin. In this speech she tells how we can be freed from this captivity and gives a challenge for us to go and spread the word. Kali closes out the speech with a poem she wrote. A very moving piece. I usually cry when I hear it. Yep, that would be me - the mom.

That was yesterday. Kali gave the speech again last night in semi-finals. This morning we arrived at 7:30 AM to hear announcements. The two shots below are Kali hearing that she has made it to the finals. Six people advanced. So, she gave the speech again this morning. I haven't seen her since she spoke, so I have no idea how it went.

Awards are in about one hour. I need to scoot and get back into the rooms. I will post more later to let you know how things turned out. At this point, Kali will be representing Florida at the regionals in a couple weeks. Just a note - none of these photos have been edited. I can't even tell from here if they are clear or blurry. I just wanted to post them anyway. Yayyy!!! from North Carolina!