Chloe Ensing
Roskamp
8B L.A
19 October 2015

The book “Grace Gold and Glory” is written by Gabby Douglas and Michelle Buford. The book tells the true story of two-time olympic gold medalist gabby douglas. The book shows how her faith and her family shaped her when she was growing up. I tells about the struggles her and her family went through we she was younger like being homeless, having a bad sickness when she was a baby, bullies at her gym, and wanting to quit when gymnastic seemed to hard. A theme is saw throughout the book Grace, Gold, and Glory is that with a strong faith in God, determination every goal is possible and there are several places in the story that this theme is supported.

As gabby grew up her mom was a great role model for her and her three siblings. Her dad was often gone and her family didn’t have much money so her mom had to do her best and lean on her faith to get through the hard times they faced. One of the hard times was when Gabby was a baby she got very sick. At the time her family was homeless and living in a van. Even in this hard time Gabby’s mom prayed and kept a strong faith in God and He answered her prayers, after a couple of months Gabby’s sickness had completely gone away and she was healthy again. I think that her mom is a big part of this story because her example of strong faith shaped Gabby and encouraged her through her life.

Throughout the book Gabby and her family continue to struggle with not having much money. She tells the story of when her mom and her are shopping at the grocery store. Her mom was going to use her food stamps but she is embarrassed because when they get to the check out her mom sees a friend. So she pretends to have forgotten something a does not check out until her friend leaves. The book tells about how her mom continued to send Gabby to gymnastics and dedicate a lot of time and energy to it so that Gabby could continue to get better at gymnastics. Gabby was great a gymnastics ever since she was little and was naturally talented. Her siblings helped teach her and also had to give up some things so that she could continue to work up to her goal of being in the olympics.

As Gabby grew up she continued to dedicate a lot of her life to getting better at gymnastics and working to achieve her goal of winning a gold medal in the olympics. As she got older she started going to bigger competitions and continued to do well. She moves away to continue her gymnastic training and lives away from her family with a host family. While she is there she gets discouraged and misses her family a lot. She considers quitting gymnastics and moving back with her family. Even though this is a hard time her family continues to encourage her and will not let her give up because she is so talented. I think that this must have been hard for her family to continue to encourage her because they must have also missed her so they could have let her quit because they missed her.

A theme is saw throughout the book Grace, Gold, and Glory is that with a strong faith in God, determination every goal is possible and there are several places in the story that this theme is supported. I think that this is a great book because it teaches you to be determined and to lean on God in the hard times and thank him in the good times. I think that this book is especially good for teaching these lessons because it is a true story written by a teenager. Some stories don’t seem like the lessons can be applied to our lives because they don’t seem realistic, but because this is a true story and written by a teenager I think is more easy to relate to.

Chloe Ensing

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8B

16 September 2015

Matthew 7:24-25

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

At the end of 7th grade at camp we decided on a theme verse for this year. Out of many verses and themes we choose Matthew 7:24-25. Our theme this year, “Built on the Rock”, means a lot to me as both an 8th grader at ZCS and as a Christian in the world.

As an 8th grader at Zeeland Christian this verse means to me that I should have a foundation on the rock. I think that the first part of this verse is very important because it tells about how not only do you have to listen to God’s words but you have to understand them and put them into practice in your life. I think that I can put this into practice in my life as a 8th grader by trusting God. I need to trust that God will be my strong foundation through out the storm of life if I trust in Him. Also since the 8th graders are the oldest we need to be a good example for the younger students. This also can connect to Zeeland Christian because this is it’s 100th year anniversary. God has shown us a great example through ZCS and how it was built on God’s strong foundation. Because of this it has lasted 100 years and grown in so many ways through God’s blessings since the first year.  

Throughout my life it will probably get harder to be a christian and have a firm foundation in God. Right now in eighth grade I am surrounded by christians and teachers that encourage me to be a christian. But as I go into the world I won’t always be surrounded by christians and some people may encourage me to turn away from God. So I think that this verse will remind me that I should always have my foundation in God because He is the only one who can get me through the hard times in life. If I stay close to God He can guide me and I can keep my foundation in Him.

Our theme this year, “Built on the Rock”, means a lot to me as both an 8th grader at ZCS and as a Christian in the world. I think that this is a great verse to remember through this year as an 8th grader and for the rest of my life as a christian. It can help me lead the younger and can help us be lead by God through my life.

Chloe Ensing

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8B

10 September 2015

The suitcase card reminded me of my family’s trip to Mexico last summer. It was my first time riding in an airplane and I was super excited. We had to wake up super early and drive to the airport in Grand Rapids. When we got there we had to wait in line and people scanned stuff in our suitcase. When we finally got into the airplane we found our seats and waited a while until we heard the engine start to make a loud noise then we started moving forward, faster and faster, until we lifted off the ground and I felt my stomach drop. I could feel the airplane going higher and higher. As a looked out the window I saw the people looked like little ants, then the buildings looked like ants until we were high above the clouds.

The American flag card reminded me of celebrating the fourth of July at my grandparents cottage. Every year all of my cousins, siblings, and me go to the cottage with my grandparents for a couple weeks. Then on the fourth of July my whole family comes up to the cottage and we do fireworks. Also around the whole lake people put red candles on their seawalls and a boat goes around playing “Ring of Fire”. The smell of campfire was in the air and I could taste the gooey s’mores. Every once in awhile you would hear the loud boom of a firework light up the dark sky.

The hourglass card reminded me of spending so much time at the beach with my dogs and my aunt. This summer I got a German Shepherd puppy and the week after my aunt got one too. We would go to the dog beach with my german shepherd, Ruby, and my little shih tzu maltese, Ollie. Also my aunt would bring her german shepherd, Stella, and her aussie, sadie. When we got there the dogs would run around and we could sit in our chairs and relax and hear to the waves crash, until a wet dog would run past you or jump on you and you could feel the muddy water soak into your clothes. It was hard to relax for long so we would play fetch with the dogs until they got tired and you had to swim out and get the ball yourself.