My Once Again Super Late June Highlights // Hey July

JULY you're here. Well duh Ellie. YOU'RE LATE AGAIN. Ugh sorry guysss. My excuse this time is I just got back from camp and now we're planning a vacation and it's like AHHHH. Busy. Anywho, back into it being July not my stupid excuses about being late. Honestly, I'm a bit sad about June ending. June was great. SUPER busy, but a GREAT busy. A super awesome you-don't-do-this-everyday kind of month. I'm excited to share it with you. So let's gooooooo *yay I'm so excited right now. like literally streamers and confetti are flying out in my brain right now*

J U N E in review

Meeting Anya and Aiyanna - You know your month is going to be good when the first day is THE BEST DAY EVER. I met my long distance friends Anya and Aiyanna after 2 years of knowing each other and wanting to meet. They were traveling back home after a trip and they got to stop by for dinner (thank you so much for giving your time even though you probably wanted to get home).  It was funny because this year Anya sent me a birthday letter and one of the things she said was "I wish I could see you for your birthday but maybe I'll see you next year." And THIS year we met. Like less than a month after she said that. Awwwww I love our little story. haha We also took super cute photos (above is one of them^ but there's more that are sooo cute)

Cousins - Earlier this month we took a trip up to see our family. Mainly, our cousin who was about to leave for the military. So our family hosted a nice party. It was superrrr nice to see all our family we haven't seen in a while. We colored till our fingers dropped played a lot of hide and seek, and ate a lot of blueberries.

Gymnastics - This month my homeschool gymnastics class ended for the summer so we had to find another class for me to enroll in. My coach invited me to be in their gymnastics team. Basically, I'll train in the summer and then in the fall we'll compete. There are lot of differences in my homeschool gym class and my team class.

Gymnastics Homeschool Class vs. Gymnastics Team Class
Mainly just for fun                           To train for competition.
Practices are 45 minutes long.         Practices 3 to 4 hours long.
Less stressed. Not so pressured.      Very stressful. If you aren't doing very good, you will be pushed*
Only about 10 girls                           Probably 20-25 girls.

*Now this is in a totally good way. There are girls (we all do this sometimes) who talk a lot, don't try their best, and overall are kinda lazy in their work. So yes, they will be pushed to pay attention, do their best, and work hard. Gymnastics teaches you great character*

So yeah it's really fun. Actually right now I'm taking July off for gymnastics because vacations, VBS, baseball games, etc. are taking up a LOT of our nights. I'll be training in my backyard again for right now but that's totally okay. I'm excited to improve on my skills during July but also just take a little rest. It takes way more energy than you think.

Baseball games - my bro's lighting up that pitcher's mound ya kno #proudsister. It's sooooo fun to watch him and his teammates play. They're improving too. YAYYYYYY it's awesome to watch that happen :)

Jeppin  - one of my friend's got a jeep and we got to ride in it. IT WAS SO FUN. I'm dreaming about getting a jeep now lol. Anywho, the wind was blowing and the music was super loud. IT WAS THE BEST. And sang to We are never getting back together which I don't even like that song but you can't NOT sing to a song and have fun when you're in a jeep. it was so fun.

Lake day - For about a week I was begging my mom everyday to go swimming. Everyday felt inconvenient and she had to say, "Sorry Ellie. We'll do it tomorrow." haha and that went on for about a week. Until finally we found a free day to go with the whole family. It was sooo worth the wait. We spent the whole day hooping the tennis ball in a tube, doing front flips off the deck, and then we got pizza. I ate pizza in the water (it didn't get wet. I know, that'd be gross). It was loads of fun and I can't wait to do it again.

FCA camp - I've kinda already went into detail about this REALLY FUN HIGHLIGHT (that you should totally read about if you haven't) right here so check it out. A short summary though. FCA is a sports camp and I got to attend and be a huddle leader for my 2nd time in a row. It's always very tiring but loads of fun. but read more about it here hehe :P

Danny's Birthday - Over the time of FCA was also Danny's birthday! Although our day was super busy like a full day of camp and then he had a baseball game, I think he really enjoyed it. He also got some pretty rad birthday presents that I KNOW he really enjoyed getting.

D3 - D3 is a Christian summer camp that lasts for about a week. It's taken place on a BEAUTIFUL campus. (You can witness just some of the beauty when you see my photos of the campus^ there's much more beautifulness though haha.) I went to D3 last year and it was soooo fun, but I got a concussion. This year was wayyy more fun since I didn't get hurt. Anywho, I really enjoyed the sermons, the track sessions, (which is basically just lectures about three topics missions, worldview, and leadership which you have to choose between. I chose leadership) team games, and the fellowship I had with my youth group. I'm going do some posts with more details so be looking out for that ;)

   Some funny stories that happened were being in the talent show :P So our leadership teacher made a dance and taught it to us girls. She told us she wanted some girls to help her do it for the talent show so me and my friends agreed. Now let me tell you. We were in a good mood that day. Because I DID NOT want to do it the next day. I endured it though and it was actually kinda fun. We got to dance on the stage and then watch all the other kids dance with us. It was hilarious cause we all looked like total fools.

    It was the last night of D3 and I was getting ready to head to bed. There was one girl in my room who was sleeping so as I left the room to brush my teeth, I shut the door so she wouldn't wake up. Well after finally heading to bed, I tried to open the door to my room and it was locked. This is horrible. My pillow, bed, blankets, and everything I need to go to sleep is in there. What am I going to do? So I kinda talked to some of my friends hinting to them that I needed a place to sleep but they didn't really do anything lol. I was ready to sleep on the couch when I saw one of my friends and just kinda mentioned I'm locked into my room and she was like, "Oh we have to open it. We can help you. C'mon let's go." So we banged on the door trying to wake up my friend who was sleeping in there but she would NOT wake up. My friend said, "Okay, let's open my window, you climb outside, open your window, and climb inside your room." Which thank God we were on the 1st floor otherwise I'd probably be sleeping on the couch by myself. I climbed into my room though (barely). It was a funny experience in the end :P

   D3 was soooo awesome (as always) and I can't wait for next year!!


Thanks for reading guys!!
bouncing in to say bye,
                                    Bernie

FCA camp stories + flower photography overload

  

GUYS I JUST WENT OUTSIDE FOR A NICE AFTERNOON WALK AND I REALIZED OUR FLOWERS HAVE BLOOMED...whhaaattt? Where has the time gone? It seems like we planted them yesterday?!?! I was soooo excited. As you know, I might get OVERLY BEYOND EXCITED about our flowers in the backyard and maybe spam your feed with LOADS of pictures of them. #unashamed
   This week my brother and I attended FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). We've attended for 5 years. This was my 2nd year being a huddle leader. During the 3 days of camp the kids play sports, but most of all learn about Jesus Christ. As a huddle leader, you help them understand how we should honor God in sports and life and get the privilege to get to know the kids.
    My favorite part of the camp is firstly, getting to see their progress. The first day I had quiet girls who wouldn't answer questions, didn't want to pray, and would forget everything I taught them. As the days went on I saw their progress. Suddenly, I had to ask the girls to raise their hand so we wouldn't be talking all at the same time. I saw the girls desire to WANT to be a better Christian. I got to hear them memorize their verse which I heard dozens of times that week. It made me so happy to enjoy learning about Jesus :)
    Another favorite part of the camp was (of course) the competition. I mean, who doesn't? It's a blast to see the hard work (even when it's super hot) we all contribute in to. I also like cheering them on ;) and giving them tips. The week of FCA is always usually the hottest week of the summer so it's super exhausting to play outside. After you come in, you look badddd. I mean I defs did. Like I was walking in with frizz everywhere, a red face, and a sweaty shirt. I like it though, cause it makes me feel proud ;P
    So, I'm walking around inside and one of the competition directors (who looks just like Robert Redfern) asks me, "So what soccer team are you on?" It was SOOO funny cause I NEVER play soccer and I don't even like it that much. So I tell him, "I don't play soccer. I'm horrible at it and I don't even like it." And he was sooooo shocked. He told me everybody knew for sure I played soccer. hahahahaha I was like nooooooo.
     He also told me I run like gazelle and I have natural abilities. and as we sadly said goodbye to the camp he told me, "Get into a sport okay?" and apparently he told my brother the same of me as well. He's got me thinking about possibly looking into a sport that involves more running, throwing, and catching. BUT. I don't like softball. I don't think I'm good enough at basketball. I like soccer kinda but I don't think I'm good enough. I love football but...you know you gotta tackle people...nah. I'd love to go for tag football or flag football :P but I'm too old to be in a league like that. So I'm stuck. Any suggestions?
   
     I think that's all in my life other than right now while you's reading this, I'm at d3 Youth Conference :D Don't worry, I won't get a concussion. (You'll get that last sentence if you read this post ;P)

How's summer treating you? 
What's the weather like? 
Do you know a sport I could play that involves at least running, throwing, and catching?

bouncing in to say bye,
                                  Bernie

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.  

 

Is there a Serjio in your life?

Hello everyone!

So today I'm going to talk about something that I thought about sharing to you today.

I hope all of you have read my blog post about the summer camp I went to.

It was my first time and it was absolutely so awesome!

Nothings better than getting to talk about Jesus ALL day WITH  your friends ALL week.

God definitely touched me that week.

To see the blog posts click here and here.

Anywho, you might catch in those posts I might've talked about a boy named Serjio.

The pastor that night told us about him.

One night Serjio was sitting down and he probably looked a little sad.

Some collage students came up to him and preached the gospel to him.

That night he received Christ as his Savior.

A couple months later he died on a four wheeler with his uncle.

His testimony tells everyone that they shouldn't even think about feeling embarrassed about sharing Christ to other.

There could be a Serjio in your life.

Any day you cousin, best friend, grandma, grandpa, teacher, or anyone could die without even knowing Christ.

So we need to step up as Christians and proclaim his gospel.

We don't know what could happen tomorrow.

But we need to live life like we got no tomorrow.

Or that person has no tomorrow.

I've been reading Acts in the bible.

I love it a lot because it really shows bravery to share the gospel.

To not be ashamed of the gospel.

Because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Your friends could be just like Serjio who might die in a couple days or months.

And we lay down hoping they will come to Christ.

I encourage you and me too!

To share the gospel.

 

Is there a Serjio in your life?

What are you going to do about it?

 

 

 

                                           



Super Summer Part 2!

BEFORE SUPER SUMMER

One thing that was really awesome was God speaking to me that week. The Sunday before the camp my leaders asked us to write down on a paper something you wanted God to make you more like. I wrote down to be more brave and share his gospel. That week I heard him speaking to me so much to be brave and share his gospel. When I had to be brave and invited someone to the block party I had to be brave. I had to be brave when I was asking people if they'd like to pray with them. But who should I be afraid of for God is with me always.

ELECTIVES!

Ok guys! The elective was awesome! The elective was a class with a topic of your choice you wanted to go to. I went to Meeting Needs outside of Super Summer. AWESOME! What I really learned there was to be brave. To not be ashamed of God's word, but to share his gospel. Don't make excuses. DO IT! I'm shy. Very. I always have an excuse. What if they privately talk to someone about me and this conversation we had. What if they think I'm weird? What if they're not even listening? Surely they'll be alive next time I see them to talk to them. You really don't know. Most of the times you die you are not expecting it. Sometimes. Anyway, you don't know what will happen next to them. So stand up! Don't be afraid! Speak loudly with no regret or fear of being laughed at. And share the most greatest thing to talk about! JESUS! I really had to get brave and raise my hand. Sometimes you know the answer but you don't raise your hand. That's okay if you don't want to, but I had this beating heart wanting me to. Finally, I raised my hand and answered. Maybe it wasn't right, but I learned something. I don't think people don't ask questions because they know that person is going to raise it's hand and know the answer. He asks the question so we can learn. We'll never know until we learn it. So, I'm going to say it again. Don't be afraid! Stick out of the crowd! Meet Needs and Share Christ. I also have a bible verse that related to what I'm talking about so here you go:
My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Philippians 1:20  

 

FAMILY GROUPS!
Family groups was basically a couple other girls in your school and a team leader gathering together and talking about what we learned. Most of the time it was after a sermon or a school session. I loved our team leader because she asked us a lot of questions. It was great to just tell stories about whatever we were talking about which was usually how we can help people. We were all totally chill. Some would be laying down on the grass. One time we sat by these benches and we could see the pretty clouds and the moon. It was dark, but very pretty. That was the moment I wanted my iPod. To take a picture! Anyway, sometimes we'd pray for the person on the left of us or something. Even though we barely knew these people. We only met them like two days ago. But God knew them! After praying we sometimes got extra time to make funny faces and tell REALLY REALLY random stories. REALLY I'm telling you! It was fun! Just typing that made me smile.
WORSHIP!
Ok everyone! Worship is like the best part of the WHOLE camp! What I loved about it was when you entered you heard the music and when you left you heard music. It's awesome to really focus on the words. We sang new songs and old songs! It was awesome to see people just raising their hands and singing to God. Sometimes I would smile when I looked around and I'd see everyone. I bet you almost every person in there was singing. One of my friends who was in my school suddenly appeared on the stage and sang as a back up singer on the song, "Oceans." I LOVE THAT SONG! It was SO SO SO awesome to focus on those words, raise my hands, and tell Jesus the words. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder. And my faith will become stronger in the presence of my Savior. Let me walk upon the water wherever you will call me.
Some songs you listen on the radio ALL THE TIME and you don't like it as much. Not anymore. You love it! Because the music there just made you love it! It was literally like a concert. It was loud! So awesome! WOW!
SERMONS
In the sermons we were talking about Acts 3. Now, I was a little scared the sermons would be boring. I wouldn't understand it. But I totally did! All my focus was on him! He was a really fun and understandable preacher. I had some notes on my notebook, but sadly I think it's in my car which is in the car shop. SHUCKS! I really want to share some notes so I will make another post more on the sermon. Anyway the sermons were very good and understandable. In one of the sermons they brought up to people who shared they were giving our fliers in a group to people around the neighborhood. One girl was doing gardening work. They gave her the flier thinking she was the owner of the house. It turned out she wasn't. She was actually a very poor lady who had been laid off a job and ever since then couldn't buy important things like toilet paper etc. They prayed for her and invited her to the block party. She accepted Jesus in her heart that day. We MET NEEDS for her by getting some food and supplies she needed for her and also finding job applications for her. And most importantly we SHARED CHRIST! That encouraged me to be like the two people who talked to her. I wanted to do something like that!
BLOCK PARTY
For the first time Super Summer did a block party for the community. I hope they do it next year, but it really related to our theme. Meeting Needs Share Christ. We had popcorn, snow cones, cotton candy, face painting, games, twist balloons, and prizes. ALL FOR FREE! Some campers were evangelizing and some were helping with games. Everyone was helping. Though the first time it was hard for me. I had nothing to do, but float around. I wanted to talk to people, but I wanted a partner. Finally, I found my friend Moriah and we started talking to people. It was a little hard, but we did it. We started off my saying Hi How are you? We'd ask them how did they like the party and what they were doing. Then we asked if we could pray for them about something. Some said no. Some said yes. One girl let us pray for her daughter and then for her and finally we said she would like to pray for us. That helped me and I know Moriah too! It encouraged us a lot! That was getting me started to talk to people more. It was awesome to see people who maybe didn't get food like that everyday. When you saw the smile on they're face when someone gave them a balloon or when they won the game or when they saw the cat that someone painted on their face for them. It was amazing how God worked in not only those guests that day, but those campers!
MEETING NEEDS AND SHARING CHRIST OUR OF SUPER SUMMER
A lot of times my TL would ask us to write down someone we were praying for or someone we wanted to share Jesus with. I always would think about my two cousins. We used to be great friends and we still are, but I know they are lost. They do not know Jesus. After Super Summer I really wanted to talk to them. It wasn't that hard other than I didn't have all the answers. I began asking them did they ever ask themselves who made this world? Did we just appear? They answered saying, "Ellie, don't take this offensive but we don't believe in your God." I answered back by saying, "Ok that's fine. I was just wondering who do you think created the world." We all were confused in the idea if something has to be created then if God was the creator he had to be created to. In Genesis 1:1 is says, "In the beginning WAS God. He wasn't created. He was there! I told my family and my parents gave me a couple of books that gave me some answers. My real big question is how is the bible real? It's hard. I was glad I could at least get them thinking.

Finally, I pretty much got this whole Super Summer posts done. Just one little one about the sermons. Thank you for reading!
In Christ,
                        ~Ellie;P
 

Super Summer! Part 1. :)

Bello! It's Ellie! Finally. Yeahh I got back from my camp (that I think I secretly didn't even tell you about) on Saturday, but posting never was my main goal. Days past fast, but I still wanted to post about it because you just gotta hear about it. This year for my summer camp me and my sister went to Super Summer at Greenville College, Greenville Illinois. It was my first year so I was a little nervous. I knew I was going to miss my family and I just wanted to be back at the no business life which is VERY rare for me. I LOVE BUSY! ANNYYWHO, right when I was with my church group heading to the camp I wasn't nervous. I was pumped! I was laughing and having a great time.

SUMMER CAMP NERVOUSNESS

Let me tell you something, Super Summer is like a dream land. Suddenly, whenever you get there you miss your family, but your not thinking about it. It's pretty much the college life. You get a dorm key! GUYS! THAT'S LIKE..............AWESOME! But I haven't even got to the best part yet. So hang on and keep reading!

MY SCHOOL

In every grade your in a different school. No it's not dreadful like that. It's pretty much like the group you hang out with and go to sermons with. Every school you have a color. I was in the red school. First when you got there you put your luggage in your dorm and immediately a TL (team leader) escorts you to the red school room. It was ALL decorated in red. Red balloons and red table cloths surrounded the room. IT WAS AWESOME! I met my roomie there too! We also met our family group. Mostly after sermons and school sessions your family group would gather together and talk about what they learned.

SCHOOL SESSIONS

In our school sessions the main topic was your identity. We read Genesis 1-3 talking about Adam and Eve. I though of a question which is: If we were born sinners then what did we do? What sin did we commit? Here are also some questions our dean (who is like your main speaker at your school) gave us: Would you die for someone? Would you give permission for someone to die? Have you or I put my hope in the hands of Jesus? Do you or I trust him with it?

RECREATION

Rec was AWESOME! It was all about supporting your school. You'd look weird if you didn't wear you school color. Before rec our whole school gathered in our room. EVERYBODY WAS PUMPED! Red face paint, red shirts, red streamers, and red horns were all over the place!

We were all ready to make our team look like so AWESOME! They screamed, The RED TEAM! One of our leaders shouted "For RED!" And we bolted sprinting across the field. Holding our hands up and screaming! We played awesome game like soccer, town house ball, hungry hippos, and my favorite dodge ball. We were DEFINATELY ALL PUMPED!