Behold our God

Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice
Chorus
Behold our God seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our King—nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him

Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

Who has felt the nails upon His hands?
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
God eternal, humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign

You will reign forever
Let Your glory fill the earth


yeah I know I've already did a post about this song but I just wanted to do it again :D cause I love this song.

I thank God for my love of the outdoors and it's mostly because of Him. I understand that for sure humidity is horrid, there's mosquitos, i'll sweat, etc. but how can you go outside and not be amazed? How would you not want to spend your whole life out there? And to know that my awesome God made it all with the power of his word is even more breathtaking.

Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds?

It grieves me to know that some people spend all of their time inside glued to their electronics. It honestly made me angry when people go outside and complain about how hot it is and use it as a excuse to go back inside, or whine about the bugs and how they're gross. Oh, and don't get me wrong, I've been caught doing this too. Sometimes we fail to understand that without some bugs it'd be even more annoying. Bees sting, (I just got a bee sting last week) but they're unique in how they all work hard to make honey, something that is delicious and we use a lot in foods. Oh my, spiders can be scary but they eat flies and without spiders eating flies our world would be swarmed with flies. 

What I'm trying to say is, let us be reminded about the importance of everything outside and enjoy it. How without the sun plants, flowers, and food could not grow. How everything would be dry and would die if it didn't rain every once in a while. 

Get outside. Stand in awe of the wonderful Creator who made it all. Praise him. Let His glory fill the earth. 

bouncing in to say bye,

                                  bernie

Your Love, Oh Lord

Every day I realize how indescribable God's love for us. I've been sitting here thinking of what to say but it's so hard to put into words.

People fail us. I've learned that sometimes friends became distant to you, there will be times when no one can help you because they're too busy,  and nothing on this world will never satisfy you. but don't worry my friend, I have good news. Jesus. He's always there for you. He's never too busy. He never doesn't care. He will NEVER fail you. He will never leave you hungry for more. He's satisfying. Loving. Caring. Forgiving.

Sunday, as I sat on my hammock watching my bro and dad play outside and my sis and mom sit out in the sun I was once again reminded how blessed I am. I have two godly parents who give all their energy for us kids. I have two siblings who've always erased my stress by making me laugh. I have a house. And food. A car (oh man that's very useful). Selections and selections of clothes and shoes. I'm so selfish to want more. To be disappointed and unsatisfied for more than what I have. I deserve none of what I have.

But he's loved me. He's poured out his love to me. He's forgiven me. He's cared for me. He's always there for me. He never fails me.

This song perfectly describes Jesus' character and of how we should respond to his love for us.

Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide


I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings

always remember that you are blessed in whatever situation you are in. i know sometimes life treats you wrong but you are alive. you have clothing to cover you. a house to keep you safe. family and friends. you are forgiven and loved by God. you're blessed.

bouncing in to say bye, 
                                    bernie

My April in Review // Hey May!!

 Heyyyy May. And hey you :D what's up? how's life? This month was awesome. Busy but filled with tons of exciting events. *intros are always so hard to write cause I don't want to say how my month was. I just want to tell you all about it* so let's talk about it ;)

 

But first...

April Photo Dump

 this photo isn't upside down hehe :P

 #carwindowphotography

 AHHHHHH look at him

April Highlights

-playing chess (and winning, against Sarah)

-celebrating birthdays by eating slushies with bubbles (oooh soo good)

-spending a beautiful day outside with cousins and eating watermelon 😝

-dressing up at Tweedle-dee and Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland. dude, we have special dresses, makeup, and our own personalized flag thingys (it’s in the movie) AHHH it was awesome. Mad Hatter (ME) hasn’t made his appearance yet, but it’s coming soon (hopefully).

-Resurrection Sunday. The day before that we hosted our grandparents. I love having my family over. It was nice having them over. Then, Sunday we went over to our church friend’s house and had lunch. Before that we went to church. You can see my dress in the photos above 😉

-organizing and flipping clothes around.  An organizer freak who’d love to remodel the whole house (but can’t) spends their time going in their closet and cleaning. Like nonstop. BUT ITS SO FUN. I flipped our winter clothes around to summer clothes and AHHH it’s so awesome. I love the Spring clothes right now Oh and is anyone in a obsession of plain tshirts? Cause I am!! 😝

-the fact that I’m FINALLY getting a hang of my vault YESSSS and it’s so fun. I did a windmill on the beam (totally without my coach. It wasn’t even at practice). OH OH I almost forgot. I did a roundoff backhandspring my myself without even warming up with my coach first. AHH it was a little scary but I did it!! It looked seriously horrible but I DID IT yayyyy

-finding bugs outside. Like snails, slugs, spiders (with a GIANT egg on it *gasps*, and all kinds of cool stuff. s

-the fact that there’s 3 MORE WEEEKS of biology and history left of this school year!! Yasssss so excited for summer.

-going to the zoo. We didn’t get to see my family (the elephants) but that’s okay. I miss them though *sad face*

And my favorite highlight of this whole month…

-SEEING NF IN CONCERT. Anybody know NF? He’s a Christian rapper and HES AWESOME. C’mon girl look em up please. Do it for me. Anywho, our youth group got to see him in concert and it was awesome. Ugh I’m speechless. Comment down below if you’d like to hear more about the concert.

-3a.m. car rides. The concert ended at about 10:30 (on a weekday I may add) and we still had a 2-hour drive home so it was a late night. SO FUN THOUGH. Late nights reveal the unexpected personalities of your greatest friends. <that’s what we learned.

-bowling with our youth group. The bowling alley was glow in the dark (whhaaat). We had a blast playing bowling 😃

-rain, rain, and more rain. And thunder and lightning too 😝 We got 13 inches of rain in 3 days ahhhhh crazy.

Awesome-

windows down, music up (LOUD), listening to NF. The feels ❤

getting a plain black shirt that you’ve wanted for sooo long. I didn’t know you could be so in love with a plain black shirt, but you can. Am I weird?

doing school outside on the back porch while it’s raining. Suddenly, school became very enjoyable *gasps*

walking outside and realizing that all the trees are green now. (I think summer is here guys)

getting 100 followers on my photography account (it sounds bad but I’m so happy). FOLLOW IF YOU HAVEN’T PLEASE THANKS.

having a photoshoot with Sarah and getting bomb results

when calls the heart announced season 5 YESSSSSS

knowing your birthday is soooo soon

when you think of some killer harmonies for your youth band yessssss

April Goals-

Post two times a week at least TWICE this month.  Yay I did this

Do an aerial (no handed cartwheel) again. I just can't do it anymore. Ugh

May Goals-

throw a the bomb birthday party

get a camera for my bday

try Bible journaling

finish biology class strong

Have a fantastic May ya'll!

bouncing in to say bye,
                                   bernie

// What I Like About The Song Come Thou Fount //

Hey guys. Today I'm going to share what I like about the song, "Come Thou Fount." 

         A couple weeks ago I played it with my guitar teacher and I couldn't stop playing it. I hope I'm not annoying my family, because I play it all the time. Seriously, I could play it all day. Sometimes you play a song and never realize what it means, which was the case for me, until last night. As Sarah was writing a blog post I played it for her for inspiration and I really paid close attention to the words. It was so encouraging and comforting to hear the words. Pay close attention to these words and I pray they will be encouraging to you too.

"Come thou fount of, every blessing,

tune my heart to sing Thy grace.

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise. 

Teach me some melodious sonnet, 

sung by flaming tongues above. 

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it, 

mount of Thy unchanging love. 

Here I raise my Ebenezer, 

hither by Thy help I've come. 

And I hope by Thy good pleasure, 

safely to arrive at home. 

Jesus sought me when a stranger, 

wandering from the fold of God. 

He to rescue me from danger, 

interpose His precious blood. 

O to grace how great a debtor, 

daily I'm constrained to be.

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to Thee. 

Prone to wander Lord I feel it, 

prone to leave the God I love. 

Here's my heart, O take and seal it

seal it for Thy courts above." 

           I just LOVE the last verse. It's so true how I can so easily wander from God. I feel like sometimes I do my Bible study in the morning, feel so closer to God, close my Bible, and forget about everything I learned about in my Bible study. So easily can we wander away from God and cling to the things of this world.

This verse is soooo awesome.

"Let that grace now, like a fetter, 

bind my wandering heart to Thee."

NOW THIS IS SUPER COOL GUYS.

The definition of "fetter" is:

"a chain or manacle used to restrain a prisoner, typically placed around the ankles."

"Like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee."

Like a chain that restrains a prisoner, "bind my wandering heart to Thee."

THIS IS MY PRAYER EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

How can this not be your prayer?

That God may bind you to Him. That you'd never wander away from Him. That you'd be chained and bound to His Holy Spirit. That your heart would be close to Him. 

"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 

prone to leave the God I love."

Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

seal it for Thy courts above."

        I can't do this on my own, God. I can't live a second without wandering from You. I ask that You would take my heart and seal it for Thy courts above. Only You, alone can do that.

        Side Note: We've been talking in church history about justification. Some people thought that we could be saved by works, but justification means that WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE ALONE.

The Five Solos are:

Faith Alone

Grace Alone

Christ Alone

By Scripture Alone

For God's Glory Alone.

We can't be saved by OUR works.

ONLY GOD CAN SAVE US.

Okay back to the song I'm talking about. 

OH MY.

Whoever wrote this song, was seriously thirsty for God.

I PRAY THIS IS YOUR PRAYER.

That you would truly want God to bind your heart to Him. 

"Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; give me life in Your ways."

Psalms 199:37

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right^[a] spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psalms 51:10-12

bouncing in to say bye,

                                    Bernie

Hello March

Hello guys. I'm pretty excited cause I'm posting my February Highlights. yeahhhh this month was very busy, but exciting so I'm pumped to tell you about it ;)

February Highlights

Sunny and Warm Days with Friends

It's been reaaally warm around here. All month it's been 70 degrees. Even though I love winter I really liked it being warm too. UNTIL I GOT A MOSQUITO BITE. Anywho, we walked that cute dog (the mayor's dog. yah we're cool) and it was awesome. Then, we strolled around town with a scooter and a bike. it was like back to my childhood days when I scootered everywhere. seriously scooters are so fun though.

Valentines Day Banquet

Our church band does a show every Valentines Day where the youth perform songs from different genres in the olden days. You know cause it'd be like Throwback Tuesday to the old people ;) So we did old gospel songs in the Grand Opry. We dressed up in country dresses, boots, and lots of rhinestones. Before we performed we served them with a delicious dinner. It was a lot of work, but sooo fun. The best song was He's Got the Whole World which had a very interesting twist in it. Please check it out on Youtube right here. It's really good. And if you watch it, tell me if you liked it ;)

IHOP and Mall Adventures.

Once Sarah and Mila finished their book we wanted to celebrate by going to IHOP. I'm pretty sure it was my first time going there. and it was really goodddd. After that we went to the mall. We have this thing about going to stores, trying on weird clothes that you'd probably never see us in, and taking pictures together. We've done ugly Christmas sweaters, old lady clothes, suits, and then we did dresses. I was in a black lace dress, Sarah was in a white sparkly dress (we all agreed she looked like a three year old with her pink pants under them), Mila was in a romper (that was funny. she looked like she just got our of jail), and Ellie was in a really long black dress (and she just got back from prom lol not really. it looked like it though). So there you are, now you know what we do at malls. #secretrevealed

Piano Festival

Although it was very nerveracking, it was fun. Basically piano festival is where you play for judges two songs that you've been practicing for about 5 months and they judge you. For the five years that I've been doing it I've got a superior (the highest score you can get) every year. This sixth year I got another superior. So, I was really excited. Danny and Sarah got a superior too!! After our festival we went to Golden Corral. AHH FOOD. it was sooooo good. I was glad to get another year of festival done.

Gymnastics

So two things that are really cool happened this month concerning gymnastics. Firstly, I went to my first gymnastics meet. EEP it was awesome. If I do competitive gymnastics this fall I will compete the level I got to see. I didn't expected it to be as advanced so I'm really excited to do all those skills. Lordwilling I'll be competing this fall. AHHH anywho that was really fun. Secondly, I did an ariel (no handed cartwheel) for the FIRST TIME this month. All by myself in my backyard. I was super encouraged by that because I barely even practiced with my coaches. So it's kinda weird that I would just GET it. but it's really exciting. :D oh one more thing hehe :P Every week we practice any skill we want on the trampoline (a perfect time to do my front flip) but I was scared to because I fail at it a lot. One day I told myself to do it so I can get better and I did. It was a lot better than I thought. I'm finally starting to get a hang of it, but it's a very hard skill.

Roadshow Concert

Every year we go to this concert that has tons of Christian artists. We got to see Jordan Feliz, Passion, Rend Collective, Franchesca Battistelli, Family Force 5, and Steven Curtis Chapman. You might've not heard of Family Force 5 but you should check them out. They have great music to dance too ;P everyone else I really enjoyed listening too. I really liked Franchesca Battistelli, Family Force 5, and Steven Curtis Chapman. :)

Random fact: our youth group is going to see NF (a Christian rapper that IS AWESOME)!! I'm so excited. Look him up dudes. Therapy Session, How Could You Leave Us, and Mansion. Please.
YOU WILL BE PLEASED.




February Goals
Earn a superior in my piano festival. YESSSS I MADE IT

Drink more water. ugh noooo I definitely failed at this

Condition more. #proud yesss I did this :D

Do another photoshoot with Sarah. Teach her some tips on photography so she can start doing picture of me :P. ugh nooo

And finally do my roundoff right. so yeah I'm not totally perfect on this but I definitely got better so ima gonna check it off ;P

March Goals

write more letters

draw more

make a special St. Patrick's Day dinner

I literally don't really have anymore.

(watch me publish this post and think of like a hundred goals for this month)

so yeah happy March. I'm pretty excited about March because of St. Patrick's Day. dude, that's like my holiday because my favorite color is green hehe :P. I'm gonna wear green a lot this month and I'm going to make a special Irish dinner yup :D


Btw, I failed at trying to post this before March ugh maybe next time. Sorrrryyyy

thanks for reading

bouncing in to say bye,

                                bernie

What I Like About the Song Offering

The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven

It's only by Your blood
And it's only through Your mercy
Lord, I come

I bring an offering
Of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves
The praises that I sing

Jesus, may You receive
The honor that You're due
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

I love this song because of the verse "No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing."

I love that verse because it's so true.

NO ONE

deserves

NO ONE

is worthy

of the praise that I sing

to my

AMAZING

Father.

This songs sings about how

HOLY

ALMIGHTY

POWERFUL

AND GREAT

he is.

I pray that we will go to Jesus today and thank him.

And praise him.

For all he has done for us.

bouncing in to say bye,

                                Bernie

What I like about the song At the Cross

Welcome to Good Apples Friday

Today I wanted to share this song called "At the Cross" by Chris Tomlin.

There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies

There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide
Where all the love I've ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

[Chorus:]
At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I'm in awe of You
I'm in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You
I owe all to You Jesus

There's a place where sin and shame are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness
Where all the love I've ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

[Chorus]

Here my hope is found
Here on holy ground
Here I bow down
Here I bow down
Here arms open wide
Here You save my life
Here I bow down
Here I bow

I love this song so much. It's so peaceful.

I love the line "I'm in awe of you."

Whenever I think about Jesus dyeing on the cross I think about the sacrifice he gave up.  

How he died for the ones who were beating him to death.

He gave his life for us; the ones who constantly disobey and hate him.

"I'm in awe of you"

You are awesome God.

To die for us.

To die for them.

To love us so much that you would die for us.

And how do we apply to this message?

To this loving God who died for us.

How do we apply to this?

We bow down to him.

We follow him.

And we tell others about this amazing God.

Isn't God amazing?

Every single Good Apples Friday post I write I always leave saying,

"WOW. WOW. My God is so awesome. So amazing. So powerful. So loving. So caring. So forgiving."

I hope you feel this way to when you read about God.

Have a lovely week.

A great Reformation Day!

And that you may be reminded of how amazing God is every single day.

bouncing in to say bye,

                               bernie

What I Like About the Song He Will Hold Me Fast.

Welcome to Good Apples Friday

Today I'm sharing a song that we sing at church a lot.

It's called He Will Hold me Fast.

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast; When the tempter would prevail, He can hold me fast. Refrain He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast; For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold, He will hold me fast; For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast. Refrain I am precious in His sight, He will hold me fast; Those He saves are His delight. He will hold me fast. Refrain He’ll not let my soul be lost, Christ will hold me fast; Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast. Refrain I love this song because it's so comforting. When we go through trials. He will hold us fast. He'll never let go. I love the verse, "Oh my Savoir loves me so," It's so awesome to know that God loves you. Remember to know what God is holding you. You don't have to be afraid. bouncing in to say bye,                                    bernie P.S. Sorry about not posting Tuesday. I'm losing ideas for Bernie's Random Ramblings. P.P.S. Please be praying for our youth group. We are going to a mission trip this weekend. 

What I Like About The Song Behold Our God

Welcome to Good Apples Friday

Today I wanted to share the lyrics of Behold our God.

Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice

CHORUSBehold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!

VERSE 2 Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His Words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

CHORUSBehold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!

VERSE 3Who has felt the nails upon His hands
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man?
God eternal humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior risen now to reign!

CHORUSBehold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!

 You will reign forever!
 Let Your glory fill the earth

You will reign forever!
 Let Your glory fill the earth

You will reign forever!
 Let Your glory fill the earth

I really like this song because it reminds us of how great God is.

How this God has our life in his hands.

So don't be afraid!

Psalms 42:4-5 says, "These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One^[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God."

Our God is awesome!

He conquered death.

He's got everything under control.