God at Work

In bible class we have been learning about Paul and what God did in his life when we went out and spread the word of God. One of the ways God helped Paul was how Paul was a tentmaker. At the time, Paul didn’t know why he was a tentmaker, but God had him be one so that when he went on his mission and went out and preached, he could make tents for himself and others to stay in. Paul knew many different languages so he could speak to everyone. Paul had Roman and Jewish citizenship that he used to his advantage when put in tough situations, he could say he had Roman citizenship so then they couldn’t hurt him. Paul was a very smart man, he used that to get out of tough places, learn more languages, know who to preach to and where to go, and many other things.

God is at work in all of our lives, and I’ve seen it throughout my life. One way that God has been at work in my life was when my aunt and uncle adopted my cousin Caden. I have 2 adopted cousins, Zachary is my age so I don’t remember when they got him but I do remember when they got Caden. I saw my aunt and uncle do everything for this little boy, they went through so much for the health of this little boy, they saved his life. I might adopt someday after this. In the past things might have seemed bad to a little girl like I was, but looking back at it now, they were actually things God put into my life to further his kingdom. One of my past experiences was when my little brother was born. I did not like that my mom was having another kid because I liked being the little baby of the family, I wanted to be the youngest. After little me knew that there was no turning back, I really wanted the baby to be a girl, and he wasn’t. I cried when I found out because I didn’t like what was happening. Looking back at it now, 8 years later, I’m happy he was him and not anyone else. He’s the best little sibling ever and I couldn’t ask for anyone else to have been born. I adored the attention my older siblings gave me when I was a toddler, so I knew that I could do that for him. I’m so glad he was born and I can use this for future situations with my kids someday, and tell them that God does everything for a reason.

Science Volcano Project

The volcano we made was Mount Etna. Mount Etna is a composite volcano. The volcano we made had a cross section so we could show the lava and ash layers, and also they magma chamber and pipe. We labeled 8 different things, pipe, crater, magma chamber, lava layers, ash layers, vent, side vent, and lava flows.

Spaghetti Tower Project

We built a spaghetti tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows. It’s in the shape of a pyramid made up of triangles for extra support. We made a nest for the egg at the top by using small pieces of spaghetti stuck into a marshmallow and wrapped tape around it for extra strength. We taped the whole thing to the cardboard so it wouldn’t slide around during the earthquake.

Theme Writing

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

I John 4:10-11

 

Our theme is an amazing theme that can be shown around the world. I think it’s good because it makes people feel happy and better. We can show our theme, Lost in Love, to others in our school and to people in the world.

I can show this theme in many ways at school. I can start conversation with the little kids and make sure they’re comfortable in family groups. I remember when I was in first grade, the 7th graders picked me up for family groups. I would be really shy and scared and not know what to say, I got more comfortable around my family group as I got older and talked to them more. I can try and include more people if they don’t really have anyone to hang out with. I remember earlier this year I really didn’t have 2 of my closest friend here because they changed schools, I eventually started hanging out with some of my other friends and they became even closer friends to me. I can make myself a good example for the elementary and even some middle schoolers. I remember being little I always would look up the the 8th graders and try to be mature like them, and I don’t want the younger kids to follow a bad example.

As Christians, we can also show this theme to the world. Donating money to places who need it is a great example of showing our theme. Whenever I here of someone donating money I look up to them and say to myself, “That is really nice of them, I wish I could be like that.” I want other people to see that and think that too. I can show people that I care for them by just doing little things or by praying for them, even around the area. It just makes them feel good if you compliment them or help them out. Whether it’s 1,000 miles away for even at school, people like if you show them you care by listening to them or shagging a ball for them at practice. I can listen to people and show them respect. People love it when you show caring and kindness to them by listening to them. Others see what you doing and follow, it’s like showing a good example toward others.

We can show our theme, Lost in Love, to others in our school and to people in the world. I really think that there are so many different places to show lost in Love, it’s a great theme. We can respect others and listen more because that shows that you love and care about them and that  you’re interested in what they’re saying.

Beginning of Year Reflections

I really enjoyed camp earlier this year. We went to Camp Rodger and we got to do high ropes, climbing wall, and zip line. I really liked bonding with all of my classmates and getting to know them even better than I already do. We learned about being leaders and that was enjoyable because we get to be the leaders of the school. We got to do fun bond/trust/balance exercises.

I learned how to be a leader at camp. That was fun because we got to do activities and talk about what it meant to be a leader. Now we get to pursue what we talked about and show the school that we can be leaders. I’m excited that we get to lead our first chapel in October, we set the example for the rest of the school.

I’m looking forward to a lot of fun 8th grade events that we do later in the year. I’m excited for small group activity day later today. Im excited for Serve and Skate, Secret Santas, Bowling, Banquet, Timber Wolf, and a ton of other super fun activities later this year. Im looking forward to being leaders this year for our school.

Science Boat Project

Our first trial didn’t go the best because it was way to heavy in the front, we needed more back weight. We are going to be Adding more back weight and (maybe) make thinner. Weight was defiantly our biggest issue. I hope we do a lot better and our boat doesn’t sink in the front, we will get first!

Summer

This summer I spent most of my time at Sandy Pines. There’s many very fun things to do there, there’s a lake and a couple pools. This summer we also moved in early June. We only moved a couple miles but it feels like a lot more than that. We got another puppy who is only 11 weeks old, we named her Mavis. My older dog Charlie is taking time to adjust to the new puppy because she has been our little baby for almost a year now. In mid July I went on a mission trip for my church. It was called Love Zeeland, it was a mission trip in just Zeeland. Every Wednesday I would go down to Benton Harbor, MI to help my dad at his work. I would make food for them on Tuesdays and work and bring it to them on Wednesdays.

Cultura Colombia- 6

Personas en Colombia juega el fútbol, el béisbol, el golf, y patín.

El deporte favorito en Colombia es fútbol, fútbol tiene una red y el gol. Colombia juega patín, patín tiene los patines. El deporte en Colombia es béisbol, béisbol tiene el bate y el guante. Colombia juega golf.

Africa Intro. Activity

New things learned-

People live longer in Northern Africa than Central Africa.

A lot of Native Africans don’t even look like Native Africans.

Things already knew-

The majority of people are more poor but some people are actually wealthy.

Questions: I wonder…

Why Africa is more poor than North America? Who chose it to be that way?

Why it is that Northern Africans live longer than Central Africans?

How many languages there are total in Africa?

 

The Eagle Huntress

The film is about a young 13 year old girl who wants to become an eagle huntress. No one accepts her for being a girl and they’re all negative about it. She catches he own eagle and trains it then ends up winning the very difficult eagle festival competition and they still were negative and didn’t accept her as an eagle hunter/huntress. She went out with her dad and they went out eagle hunting and caught a fox. This film was very impactful on me and I know it’s probably on others also. It proves that people shouldn’t be judged or labeled by their gender, girls are just as tough and strong as boys are. Girls can do whatever they want.

MountainFilm Festival

My favorite film that we saw today was Generation Up. It was about these 2 kids who are brother and sister, at the age of 14 and 15, who are amazing rock climbers. It was cool to see these young kids doing crazy, dangerous and amazing things. It was a good message to all kids telling us that we can be and do ANYTHING we set our minds to, no matter our age. It gave us a great confidence booster for our dreams. Even as kids we can make a big impact on others, whether that means rock climbing to send out a message to help kids believe more or donating money to others who need it. We can make a difference.

Camp Reflection Day

One of the verses that stood out to me was Isaiah 44:6-8. It says how there is no other God besides our one true God. This is meaningful to me because it shows how one God can help, save, and answer prayers from around 7.1 BILLION people. It a really cool thing, there is no one helping God, he is the only God, yet he can easily help tons of people.

“This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Some of our goals as a class were, trying to be a welcoming class, fun-loving, helpful, caring, etc. I don’t think that I’m doing to bad at achieving the goals personally, but I could defiantly improve. I’m going to try to work harder on all of them, they are all important traits that I should know and there is room for improvement on all of them.

Bible Blog 8- Slide to Destruction

For a long time there was the same cycle happening over and over again with Israel. (Israel worships baal) → (They take advantage of the poor) → (God sends a prophet) → (Back to start) and that cycle when on for a long time. But they ended up going into exile. If you keep breaking the same rules eventually you will get kicked out or sent in prison or something else major, you have to learn your lesson. My symbol is a jail cell, it is a jail cell because it shows that if you keep breaking the same law or do something extreme like murder you will get sent to prison. It is not a good thing to do and it fits in with the Israelites case because the Israelites kept doing the same bad thing over and over again so they got sent into exile, which is not a good situation to be in either. No one wants to be punished which is exactly why we shouldn’t do something bad in the first place. In my life this fits in because I disobey my parents or am mean to my siblings sometimes. If I keep doing it over and over my parents will punish be by taking something I like away or sending me to my room.

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Bible Blog 7- Symbol of a Lamp

God made a covenant with David saying that his line would rule forever, meaning that as far as it went down like David’s son, grandson, great grandson, great great grandson and more, they would all rule and be king. Jesus is fulfillment to us. My visual is a lamp, it is a lamp because it reminds me of the light of Jesus. Everyone is tempted to do bad things because of sin but we just need to fight back and find the light, our light is Jesus. God makes covenants with us, helping us, making us feel better, we need to find our way through the darkness and the storms in our life and into the light. God’s light shines brighter than the sun brighter than anything in the universe we just need to find it. If you’re in an extremely tough situation all you need to do is trust and believe in God and he will help you find the light through the darkness and the toughness that you’re dealing with. I feel like that in my life a lot of times I get tempted to do something mean or disobedient but I just need to seek the light that God shines for us to find and store in our heart and soul and mind.

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Bible Blog 6- Sent to Promised Land

When the Israelites were in the desert wandering they had to trust in God to help them through it and provide them. They had to trust in God that he would help them get to the promised land and not die. They had to trust that he would provide food and help them cross the Jordan River and help them at Jericho. My symbol is a desert, the Israelites were just wandering in the desert for 40 years waiting for God to provide and trusting in him the whole way through. God has to help them and he did. We did this activity in class where we each had gotten assigned a role in the 40 years and my group got “desert wanderings” one of my group member had a connection with it that took place at 7th grade camp. We played a game called gold rush where the teacher hide gold bricks in the woods that are worth different amounts of points. Some of the kids wandered a little too far away and ended up getting lost. They prayed to God and asked him to help them find their way back to camp, seconds later a lady comes by running and told them to go in the other direction so they did and ended up being found by Mr. B. They prayed telling God to help them through their situation and he answered their prayers through a kind lady running at a time she never runs normally. God provides and will help you through all of your tough situations just trust and believe in him.

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Bible Blog 5- Sinai Law

The sinai law was also known as the ten commandments. The ten commandments were like wedding vows with God and Israel. Israel promised to follow the ten commandments and never break them. One of the commandments was “do not have any other gods before me” (meaning idols) but then they make golden calfs and turn aside from God. My visual is a gavel showing the law. We have to follow the law to be a good citizen. If you don’t you will be punished kind of like the ten commandments. We all have to follow the laws that our state, city, or country has. I feel like this is like the ten commandment because all of the Israelites had to follow the ten commandments or they would be punished just like we are if we break the law.

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Bible Blog 4- Call

God makes a promise and we respond, he calls us to do something and we do it. God has a plan for all of us and he calls us to do it. My visual is a bible stand. I feel like at church when our pastor is up on stage preaching he is being called by God to preach to us and tell us. I feel like it’s a call to me to be more of a follower and not just do what my parents expect from me. I feel like I am being called by God to listen more about him and learn and help others understand who God is. We are all called by God to do something, look for that call and answer it. We need to look for it in everything we do and say and remember God through everything.

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