Gracegirl

Sunday, October 22, 2006

College is Crazy

It happened again. More like He did it again. Another witnessing opportunity! God is so vastly wonderful. Again, I prayed, the other morning, for an opportunity, boldness, and the words to speak. This has been my frequent prayer.

So I got to Speech class, and as I sat down and watched our prof write on the board, I realized that only a few people had their informative speeches to do that day. That could only mean one thing. Those of us who made up the audience had to prepare for the possibility that we might be chosen to do our impromptu speeches. This is something I've been fearing since the first day when I saw the syllabus. I enjoyed the informative speeches while I could, and once it was very plain that some among us would be chosen to do impromptus, I braced myself. He's warned us that if we try to avoid eye contact to keep him from picking us, he'd pick on us, so I knew that couldn't work. So as he approached my seat with the random topic envelope, I presented a courageous, warm smile and swallowed the lump in my throat. I pulled out some odd question about my opinion on teachers being paid in the summer. I showed it to him with a questioning look on my face. He said, "Yeah, that's kind of a weird one. Go ahead and pick again." So I reached in and pulled out one that said, "Have you ever surfed before? What was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?" I crossed my eyes, sighed and showed it to him. I said, "Man, I've never surfed before. That's gonna be a very short two minute speech!" He told me to pick out another one and like it. So I pulled out the next one. No lie, this is what I picked:

"Is engaging in premarital sex a good idea for everyone? Why or why not?"

If you're laughing, stop. No, just kidding. But really, when I saw that, I half-laughed, half-groaned. For an instant, I thought about asking for another topic, but then I realized this was a really good thing to get. God had given it to me. And anyway, I knew my prof would bonk me on the head if I asked for another. :)

I had to prepare my two minute long speech in two minutes. So as one of my classmates spoke for two minutes about marijuana, I prepared my speech. At first, I could hardly believe I was doing this. I get red in the face doing any form of public speaking, let alone speaking particularly about premarital sex. But I had two minutes and didn't have time to think. I began writing. Almost immediately 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 came to mind. I asked my Prof if I could use a source. He laughed and said, "Yeah, if you can get a source in two minutes of preparation!" Yes! This was too cool. I leaned back and pulled my Bible out of my backpack.

My outline ended up looking like this (sketchy, I know, but it's what I had after two minutes):

Introduction: (explain the question) I believe that premarital sex is a bad idea for the following reasons.

First of all, personally, I've been taught from the Bible that I am not my own--I belong to God. And 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 says: (read it) So personally, believing the Bible, it would be wrong for me to engage in premarital sex.

(2nd) STDs--there are many (hundreds? thousands?) diseases transmitted by sexual activity and you need to know your partner well enough to be confident of your health and wellbeing.

(3rd) Emotional health--Many people feel used and hurt after getting sexually involved with others and breaking up.

Conclusion: So I believe that premarital sex is a bad idea, based on my beliefs as well as physical and emotional health.

After our speeches, we have a Q&A time. One woman in my class raised her hand and asked me if I look down on people who are active. I said, "No, I really don't. My view is that if you don't believe the Bible, then you really won't have much reason for abstinence." That seemed to satisfy the Q&A time, especially since all the guys were looking intently at their textbooks, and the girls were trying their best to look disinterested. My prof was grinning, and as I sat down, my sweet friend Haley (also a believer) leaned over and said, "Good job! I was nodding the whole time. I totally agree!"

I ended up getting an A.

2 Comments:

  • At 10/23/2006 11:05 AM, Blogger The Resident Writer said…

    That's awesome, KT! In my speech class, I prepared a speech on Moses, using the OT, and then using Heb. 11 to "modernize" it, and say something you don't usually hear about in Sunday School. We had to use visual aids, so I found some little toy ducks and a toy octopus lying around (I'm sure there were octopi in the Red Sea!) What was really funny wea that the little duck was about twice as big as the Moses doll, and the octopus was no bigger than the duck.
    I think your answer to the lady's question was great. We can't expect non-believers to abide by the laws God's given to His church.

     
  • At 10/24/2006 9:11 AM, Blogger Leila said…

    Katie, that's awesome! Preach it! :o)

     

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