Toastmasters Contests have started again this year. This spring I will compete in the Evaluation Speech Contest and the International Speech Contest. In the Evaluation Speech Contest, I present a three and half minute evaluation of a speech presented by a pattern speaker brought in for the occasion. The contestants are given five minutes after watching the pattern speech to prepare an analytical and motivational evaluation. This speech has four levels Club, Area, Division and District.
My club evaluation contest was held last Thursday, and guess who won?
The International Speech Contest consists of a seven minute speech on a topic of my choice. The general trend is inspirational/motivational subjects. I am signed up to compete in two clubs, one on Sunday Feb. 26th and the other on March 2nd.
Let The Contests Begin!
There is something utterly beautiful about a woman doing what she is completely gifted at and passionate about. Sasha Cohen is all that.
Olympic Athlete stories are some of my favorite sources of inspiration and one of the books I enjoy dipping into now and then is Awaken the Olympian Within. If you ever get a chance to read it, you'll truly understand that circumstances have very little to do with how well we can achieve our dreams.
It's funny, I bought the book for $1 at a Goodwill store. I hope it wasn't a sign that someone stopped being inspired.
Just girls who take the time to put their makeup on.
Cry and wail
Groan and travail
Oh what a crime
So many opportunities, yet so little time!
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Okay, so I was only the 3rd Place Winner, but I got a really cool trophy (can't beat cool trophies). It was fun while it lasted and I sure learned a lot. Some of the speeches were so funny..........it was great! Unfortunately only the first 2 winners get to go on to the District competition, but, I will be at the District Fall Conference to watch them compete. It might be nice to be a spectator for once. So far, I haven't attended any contests in which I was not a competitor.
First Place Area Humorous Speech and Table Topics Awards. Next Level: District Competition, October 22nd, 2005   |
One by one, over the last year or two, my favorite people in the world have been getting married.............  |
Oji and Ezinne Udezue. View More Pictures.
My husband's kiss
A snuggly dress
The Lord's voice
My babies' giggles
A worship song
A book to read
A cup of coffee
A note from a friend
A sister's phone call
A turn of a phrase
A cat's purring
All the things that love me are near
And those that don't are far away
Because I let them go
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I joined the Toastmasters International Club in June 2005 and I have since experienced the serendipitous joy of finding out that I am good at public speaking. Not only do I enjoy it, but my audiences receive an equal pleasure. My club member are the best - warm, enthusiastic and supportive. Not to mention funny and interesting. A lady called Pat strongly encouraged me to participate in the club's Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests on the 9th of September. You can see from the attached photograph that I won both contests. So, now I get to represent my club in the Area contest on the 1st of October.
I was glad that I won the contests. For the winning part (that was nice), but also for that assurance of finding my place - a possession of talent that I had nothing to do with creating, but can work on and make use of. It's like having free money in the bank.
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime (Mark Haddon) Contemporary Fiction (100%)
The Go It Alone Entrepreneur (Bruce Judson) Self-Help/Business (100%)
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now (Gordon Livingston) Self-Help/Psychology (30%)
Good Morning, Holy Spirit (Benny Hinn) Spiritual/Inspiration (0%)
Speak And Grow Rich (Dottie and Lilly Walters) Business (10%)
The Reluctant Suitor (Kathleen Woodiwiss) Historical-Romantic Fiction (90%)
The Master-Key To Riches (Napoleon Hill) Self-Help/Psychology (5%)
Give Your Speech, Change The World (Nick Morgan) Business (50%)
How Children Raise Parents is a parenting book by Dan Allender. If you are looking for another formula on how to raise perfect little "Christian" children, read no further. This book does not have a list of do's and don'ts. Rather, it offers the complete reliance on the love, grace, acceptance and forgiveness of God and the extension of the same to our children as the basis for parenting.
It is the most beautiful and 'full of Grace' book that I have ever read on parenting. I have vowed to read it at least once a year from now to remind myself what parenting is REALLY all about.
Excerpts:
The Music of a Godly Marriage: Wherever parents fail to grow as human beings, we also refuse that growth opportunity for our children. We can't take our children any farther in life, relationship and love than the point we have chosen to progress in our own and in our marriages. But if marriage is to bear the marks of holiness that will invite children to become what they are meant to be, it must suffer three core issues. These issues involve the complexity of sin and redemption, freedom and responsibility, and intimacy and independence. These irresolvable conundrums do not bow to a linear, black-and-white, easy-answer mentality. They demand the willingness to live in the midst of tension.
Delighting in Dialogue: Again, being successful in letting our children raise us relies on carefully listening to their voices, both what is directly spoken and what is communicated through their God-given bent. At no time is this process limited to our voice instructing and correcting our children. Dialogue, after all, requires two voices - with both parties speaking and listening. In dialogue new things rise to the surface that would never have come if only one person were speaking and the other merely listening. It is the joint act of creation - of naming and being named, hearing and seeing in new ways. In every case, it is rare and holy.
Grace and Peace!
Sade.
One by one, over the last year or two, my favorite people in the world have been getting married............
Coming soon: Oji Udezue and Diana Dina. No, not to each other. <Grin>. Bad joke, I know, but I couldn't resist.
Oji Udezue to Ezinne Oji (4th Sept, '05)
Diana Dina to Abolarin Soladoye (17th Sept '05)
CAN'T WAIT!!
One by one, over the last year or two, my favorite people in the world have been getting married.............
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Juliet and Nnamdi Uzoezie.
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