Good Apples Friday // VBS Verses

Welcome to Good Apples Friday

Today I'd like to show you the verse we've been learning in VBS this week.

This is my prayer to God and I hope it is to you too.

So, actually this isn't a Bible verse, but it's what the little kids have been memorizing.

God, you know everything about me. Teach me to do what is right.

It's simple, but I love it.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 139:23-24

I love verse 24.

Please help me God to see if there is any offensive way in me. And help me to follow you and not that temptation.

And just if you're interested here's some of the songs we've been singing.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any post suggestions for Good Apples Friday comment down below.

I'd love to hear!

Thanks guys!

bouncing in to say bye,

                                 bernie

Bernie's Random Ramblings // Six Flags

 

I'm a traveling person. There's probably nothing that gets me more excited then going on a trip. So here's my adventure that I'd love to share with you.

Welcome to Bernie's Random Rambling

 this was batman.

 

Wednesday night, we planned to leave for St. Louis. All day I was doing things to get ready. Finally, when we left we were about 30 minutes away from home when Daniel said,

"So, we got the tickets right?"

Mom pulled the brake real hard and said, "Oh no!"

So that's how our adventure started. Thankfully, we were all in a good mood so we just laughed the way back to the house. Did I mention my total excitement that I got to use a suitcase? Us kids have dufflebags for trips, but suitcases are better for me so you can role them around everywhere with you. Yes, I'm a kid. So, we got our hotel and enjoyed swimming in the 100 degree hot tub. Then, we all went to bed laughing, like usual on vacations.

After a good nights rest the adventure started when me, Daniel, and Dad planned a master plan to get snacks for the day and then have breakfast. It takes a lot of thinking guys. After our amazing meal we got in the car and headed to Six Flags! When we started getting close we had a competition to see who could see it first.

"THERE IT IS!!" I screamed.

Our first ride thanks for dad was Batman. I told myself before I would not go on Batman, but Dad seeing it got amazed and there we ALL went. And may I say thank you dad. It was amazing. Lots of loops and very fast riding, but it was awesome! Next, we went on Ninja. But then, we went on American Eagle. This was dad's childhood dream to ride this ride. And we did it two times in a row. It was fun, but very very bumpy. A lot of these rides I very much enjoyed even if I felt a little sick because I was also seated by my dad and his giant mouth open the entire time screaming.

Our last ride was The Boss, the highest rollercoaster there. It was awesome as well. Another wooden one that was so bumpy that when I screamed it was vibrating. After that we finished our trip to Six Flags with the carousal. My three favorite rides were 1. Batman. 2. American Thunder. 3. Something about mining. I already miss Six Flags. Hope to see it again soon.

Thursdays story is not done yet though. Our 15 minute ride to my favorite hotel, The Hyatt Place turned into an hour ride there. It was horrible. First we drove to far and passed it. Then, finally we saw the building but for fifteen minutes we were jumping from side to side trying to make it to the hotel. Finally, at 11 we got there and ordered pizza from dominos. I bragged about it to everyone. Pizza and soda at 11. Barbeque Chicken Pizza too guys! My favorite. I also bragged to everyone about how I ate 5 pieces. Maybe you aren't amazed but everybody else was.

Friday, we visited a good friend there. Then, we went to the baseball game. We stayed until 11 watching the game go over time into 14 innings. When we left at the 14th inning it still wasn't over. The game went to the 15th inning. And me and dad MISSED THEM WINNING because we went to go and get my sheets at the front desk. Our luck ya'll.

Saturday, we drove around everywhere just finding places to shop. Then, we went to me and my sister's best friends house. It was awesome to get to see them. We had lots of fun. And me and her kinda kicked it off since she dances and I do gymnastics! We got home at 12. And that was the end of our adventure. :(

Have you ever been to Six Flags before?

What was your favorite ride?

Have you ever been to a Major League Baseball game before?

If so, what team?

bouncing in to say bye,

                                Bernie

p.s. thanks for Sarah who gave us the advice for when we feel like we're getting sick on the ride scream because it helps. And after ride if you feel like you're going to throw up, hum.

Good Apples Friday // My God is Amazing and Here's Why.

Seriously everybody my God is amazing!

 

Welcome to Good Apples Friday

 

I am here today to remind you of how great your God is. And how loving he is towards you.

 

 

Today for my bible study I had the joy of reading the last to chapter sadly of Live Smart. I recently posted about this book and how we should love the church a couple weeks ago and I'm here again with some other awesomeness from this book.

 

Know the Gospel

 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2nd Corinthians 5:21

 

At first I didn't really get this verse, but now after hearing this chapter it really comes clear.

 

What do you feel like most of the time when you get very bad score on a test? I feel very discouraged. But what about this kind of score? What if I told you that every single day I pray to God saying, "God please let me obey you today. Please let me love others. Please let me have a good attitude and obey my parents." And after that I hate on others. I don't obey my parents and if I do I whine horribly about it. And that makes me feel so discouraged. So mad. That I can't go one hour without sinning against God. Without just saying two words after my mom tells me to do something. Yes mom. Why? And it makes me feel so sorry to God. I failed. I totally failed. That test was to see if I could obey my mom with a good attitude and I failed.

 

But God sees this and he is sorry for us. He loves us and he doesn't want us to go to hell. He wants us to be with him forever. So he looks at his son and his perfect score. Jesus, lived a perfect life. Absolutely no sins. And what reward does Jesus get for that perfect score. Would you take the blame for all of Ellie's sins and every ones sins and die for them. I get so mad when sometimes my dad said I meant to spill the water on the table when really it was just an accident. Imagine people hating on Jesus and making him die for something he never even did. But he loved us enough that he did that for us. He died for us. He took my blame. Okay thank you Jesus!

 

And it gets better too! Not only did Jesus take my blame, but he gave me his perfect score. I'm clean. You are clean guys! Jesus gave you his perfect score. His 100% on one of the hardest I mean hardest tests of your life. He gave it to you. oh boy girls you are loved. you are loved!

 

Martin Luther called this the "great exchange." You know what I deserve? Eternal death. You know what Jesus deserves? Eternal life with Jesus Christ. And you know what I received instead of what I deserve. Eternal life with Jesus Christ. And you know what Jesus received instead of what he deserved. death. And he did die. But he rose from the dead. And now we will have eternal life with him in heaven. Oh thank you Jesus. I do not deserve ANYTHING. But you gave me eternal life.

 

 

This is why my God is amazing.

And I hope you think that too.

 

Now spread this to everyone you see.

And let them see the joy that you have too.

 

That Jesus died for you and he is risen!

 

 

bouncing in to say bye,

                                bernie

 

 

P.S. I'm on vacation right now and I'm having a great time!

Bernie's Random Ramblings // Camping Stories

Aww our fun camping trip

 

 

A couple weeks ago our brother got to invite all his friends over to our friend's place where we camp for his birthday party. yes, you might think four boys are a ton of negative fun, but it actually was fun. But my parents said that me and Sarah could invite our friends this week. yayyyy! Especially in this horrible and horrid humid camping isn't fun which is wrong. you just literally swim all of the time. You can go on the zip line, go on the slippin slide, go on the diving board, just hang in the water, play on the floaty, and one of my favorites. handstand competition in the water. but I'm getting ahead of myself...

 

Welcome to Bernie's Random Ramblings

why is it that whenever I say that I always want to say "the part of the show where..........." the correct answer: cause I'm weird and I like watching veggie tales. ;P

 

 

On Thursday, we packed up and got ready to go. Once we got there we swam. Like I said it was horribly hot there so swimming was a perfect reliever after sweating tons while setting up the camper and everything else. The whole lake is muddy, slightly hot, but tons of fun. After a while of swimming there you get yellow toes because the mud gets in your toes. It's gross.  So, Thursday consisted of packing, swimming, and good food. We had tortillas with cheese, ham, mushrooms, meat, and pineapples on them. We heated them over a griller and they were good. That night all of us in our camper had a great but frustrating game for some people of Spades. After a while we got in a couple brawls because of the game you kno cause card games against your family are very frustrating when you want to beat that person so bad and they just can't stop getting tons of points and you can't stop getting tons of negative points. (if that was a run on. sorry.) A then we went to bed scared after a creeping story I told about a whistler who had a grey beard, a tall black hat, white clothes, and a black bow tie who always whistles around the lake at 2 in the night. It actually scared some of my family. yeah it's my talent.

 

Friday our friends Mila and Ellie came over. But before the day started with delicious eggs and some similar to hash browns that was awesome. The preparation for the breakfast was frustrating sometimes, but the gathering around the table with my family was worth all the hustle. When Ellie and Mila came over we went swimming. Sadly, Mila (aka Grammy) was to scared to go on the zip line and the diving board. (it was kinda tall but still.) Ellie, no problem she did everything (just like me.) So recently our squad started a competition where we just do games against each other. Sarah and Mila are #TeamMustard because they love mustard. Me and Ellie are #TeamLatte because we LOVE lattes. So, I prepared some nice challenges. Egg Rolette. haha. Team Latte won with only 2 or 3 egg cracks on their head. It felt pretty good getting a egg slapped on your head. After the game we had one left, so I just slapped one real hard on Mila. And then we all jumped into the water and played more games. Later we also played What's in my Mouth. I surprised everybody with some pretty ironic ingredients like b-que, garlic, hazelnut spread, green peppers, (I gave it to Ellie because she hates those, but I love them) and molasses. ugh. Sadly, Team Mustard won. By one point.

 

That night we had smores and played an awesome game of base tag. Okay guys I was just sitting right by my dad by the fire so many rounds and no one found me. that was awesome. Then, we went to bed. More Spades which I think I won. And then I crashed. Funny story though. Ellie said that in the middle of the night I was sleeping and she sneezed and then I said, "Bless you." LOL I love it stories when I talk in my sleep. Cause I do. Then, that night I told Mila, "I feel like everybody sleeps with their mouth open but I don't." The next morning she says, "Hey Ellie for a reference you do sleep with your mouth open when your asleep." That made me laugh. Anyhwo, I slept all the way through the night in a tent. I'm kinda proud of that.

 

There's not much to say about Saturday. Oh wait, I have a story.

 

So, Friday all the squad was just floating around in this floaty and I say, "hey let's float to that island." Now me and Ellie are in the floaty. Not Mila and Sarah who kindly pushed us there. Mila thought this shirt that was she was using to pull was rubbing against her so she went to go and grab it up and screamed. She was convinced it was a fish, but me and Ellie said let's get out of here just in case it was a snake. I'm not scared of most animals but snaked. eww. After pushing away from the island Ellie says, "hey look there's a snake." And there he is sliding (or whatever they do) his way into the island. The Cursed Island for now on. Never go there. Never. Thanks Mila and Sarah for pushing us into safety. And thanks Mila for taking that one for me. It could of been me going to grab that shirt I mean snake. Aww memories. scary memories.

 

Anywho, there's not much to say about Saturday other then we let with a giant sun burn on our face and yellow toes that looked disgusting.

 

 

bouncing in to say bye,

                               bernie

 

p.s. camping was the reason I didn't post on Friday.

p.p.s. we have a vacation coming up this weekend but I'll still probably be publishing this Friday.

p.p.p.s. Comment your camping experiences. I'd love to hear.  

 

Bernie's Random Ramblings // A Letter to Summer

 Welcome to Bernie's Random Ramblings

where I'm going to ramble because I don't have anything to say.

Wow summer, you've done me good. And you're not gonna be going any time soon either summer.  But seriously summer you've done me good. You've kept me busy (which is my favorite thing.)

Summer is sometimes hard on you when you don't always have something to do. You're tempted to use to much time on the computer or phone. And this summer I think I've really got better on using my time more constructively. Thanks to me. I have goals for the day helping me do that. I'm a big goal person. Whenever I make a goal for exercising, I do it. So goals help me.

Most of my goals consist of reading, drawing, gymnastics, or any other activity that totally randomly popped up in my head at 11:00 o'clock while I'm trying to fall asleep. Today my goals were writing my pen pals, decorating my room, practicing piano, reading, post, get ice cream machine out from the shed, look up for gymnastics hairstyles, and exercise by Olympians.

haha another perfect thing to ramble about. Did anybody watch the Olympic trails for gymnastics? I did. The last meet which was going to determine who is going to Rio. And boy, was I nervous. Obviously Simone Biles one of the greatest gymnasts right now was going to make it, but what about Gabby Douglas who was struggling a lot in some of her events. I watched her on Friday fall off the beam while doing an easy skill. It was hard watching her be so mad about that. Even harder when the..the announcers couldn't stop talking about everything she's done wrong. Ugh like they'd be any better. We also have Aly Raisman who is just doing great. And my fav. gymnast Laurie Herandez. Look er up. She's da best. What's so awesome is for almost all year I've been watching gymnastics, but very easy gymnastics. I watch two youtube girls who are only in level 8. When you transition from level 8 skills to Olympic skills, ITS A BRAIN BLOW. Ahh I want to be like them someday. And for Christmas I want a GK leotard. Basically it's a leotard from a really nice store that all the Olympians wear and model for.   Comment below if anybody knows what I'm talking about. Cause I'd really like to get to know you if you do.

Back to my letter to summer.

Summer, you're humid. But I'm dealing with it. Thanks for swimming. My mom has a friend who has a swimming pool and we go swimming there A LOT. Which gets me thinking....today swimming day was cool. Me and Danny were having challenges in the water. First one was swimming. We had to freestyle swim to the other side, do a front flip, kick off the wall, and go back to the other side backstroke. Okay Danny you won that....BARELY. Then we had underwater handstand competitions which I WON. AND I'D SAY HUGELY. So it's tied. Last challenge. You jump in the water and try to catch the ball that the other player is throwing to you. Catch it or not you judge it. We have five rounds. Whoever gets the most points in the first round wins the first round and whoever wins the most round wins. We added a whoever loses has to make lunch for the winner too so this is getting serious. We didn't get to finish the whole game so I say, "okay let me add up all the scores we did and whoever has the most wins." Well of course he has to argue after he says yes because I won.

Danny: Okay let's just not make lunch for anyone.

Ellie: No, you make lunch for me and I make it for you.

We all make our menus and have a delicious lunch.

My sibs are glad I'm always there.

I calm them down and always think of a way that both of them are happy.

Like today.

yay for me!

and yay for that awesome fruit bowl Danny made for me!

how come I've been writing to summer for so long yet it looks so little?

cheers for summer and the awesome God who's made this summer so awesome!

We're so blessed.

You're friend (even though I kinda want winter to come),

                                                                                     Bernie

Hope you like my letter to summer. It was TOTALLY random guys.

bouncing in to say bye,

                                bernie

p.s. stay tuned for Friday!

p.p.s. comment if you'd like to see my stretches and exercises in the next bernie's random ramblings.