Fifth Grade Assignment (awesome!)

I got this in an e-mail and I just had to share it with you!

A fifth grade teacher in a christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way and communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results:



God is like ....


Bayer Aspirin, He works miracles!

Ford, He has a better idea

Coke, He is the real thing

Hallmark Cards, He cares enough to send His very best

Tide, He gets the stains out others leave behind

General Electric, He brings good things to life

Sears, He has everything

Alka-Setzler, try Him you'll like Him

Scotch Tape, You can't see Him but you know He's there. ( That's one of my fav.)

Delta, He's ready when you are

Allstate, You're in good hands with Him

VO-5 hairspray, He holds thru all kinds of weather

Dial Soap, Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

The U.S. post office, Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, or ice will keep Him from his appointed destination

Chevrolet, The heart beat of America

Maxwell House, Good to the very last drop

Bounty, The quicker picker upper ... can handle the tough jobs and He won't fall apart on you




WOW! Pretty cool, huh?

Bri

Back to blogging!

And I'm back!!
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been quite busy. I was @ camp the 12th-18th and once I got back I had 2 days to get back on schedule till I had basketball camp for 3 days (from 8a.m.-4p.m.)
The bible camp I went to with my youth group (12th-18th) was in North Carolina called The WILDS. Our biblical theme was on Jonah which I learned a lot about. I never really paid a lot of attention to this story and all I would think is that is was about God giving second chances to Jonah and the Ninevites. That week I learned a bunch more! Every morning in chapel we would learn something about Jonah's Magnificent God. His magnificent presence, power, patience and persistence. I will share with you some of what I learned:

God's magnificent Presence: Jonah 1

Where do I start?! Well ... we all know that Jonah tried to hide from God. Did he succeed? NO! So, why did he? If you have an all powerful and mighty God the why would you want to run from Him? God is omnipresent and so it's absolutely impossible to escape from His presence.
How do we know God is always with us?
A. B/c of His all seeing eyes.
You can hide stuff from your parents, friends, family etc. But NOT GOD!
B. B/c of His unchanging faithfulness
C. B/c of His communication thru His Word. Sometimes we forget Gods word, so that's why He wrote it!
D. B/c of His INCREDIBLE creation!
There's not a square in. in this universe that doesn't show His creativity
E. B/c of His constant availability.
F. B/c of His fear in my heart
Do you fear God like you fear man? Be concerned what God thinks of you. Not your friends.
G. B/c of His power over creation
H. B/c of His conviction in my heart
I. B/c of His Desire to draw unbelievers to Himself

God does what is best for His glory and our good.
Remember you can't run from the presence of God ... and why would you want to?

God's Magnificent Power Jonah 2

God's Magnificent Power can be seen ...

A. in His creation and control of the great FISH
Jonah prayed to God in the fish. What is prayer? Praising and talking to GOD. If you love God you'll not only talk to Him, you'll talk about Him.

B. By the power of the sea.
He controlled the storm they were going thru.

C. In His control over Jonahs life
Jonah didn't forget God. Even when he was on the edge of running. Don't forget Him.

D. in His Salvation freely offered to all men!
Salvation is of the Lord. It isn't a choice between heaven and hell. It's between God and your sin. Repent, Believe and Christ Receive. Salvation is a heart issue and no one can do it for you. It's your choice.

God's Magnificent Patience (this one was my top favorite) Jonah 3

A patient God ...

A. Gives CLEAR warnings
So why is God so patient? He doesn't want any of us to perish to hell.

B. Loves and looks for a repentant heart

1. A repentant heart believes God
2. It is serious about brokenness
3. It allows God to break him
4. It is obvious by its humility
5. It intensely cries out to God
6. It willing turns from its evil

C. Holds back His anger against my sin
Know why God hates sin? B/c He loves you! Sin is the only thing that will separate you and Him forever and He doesn't want that!

Gods Anger:
1. While slow is easily aroused
2. Is to be dreaded
3. It's not to be provoked

D. Allows us to live another day!
Every day God lets us live is such an incredible blessing! Every breath we sometimes take for granted.

E. Promises forgiveness
You can't forgive yourself. Only GOD can!


God's Persistent Love Jonah 4

How do I know God's love for me never changes?

God's love never changes ...

A. When I'm Moody :)
Jonah was focused on himself. It was all me, me, me, me, me, me, ME!

B. Even when I disagree with Him
We're all disagreeable and argumentative.
Disagreeable:
Jonah disagreed with a gracious, merciful, patient, kind and forgiving God!
Why would we disagree with such a great God?!

C. When I'm incredibly selfish

D. When I'm angry with Him
Anger is anger no matter what 'degree' is the thermometer. It is always defensive and is right in its own eyes. You may be right but you were wrong in reacting. That is something I struggle greatly with. Anger is consumed with self and some people would rather die than be proved wrong. We learn to be right by being wrong!

E. Even why I'm constantly 'up-and-down'
This kinda goes with He loves me when I'm moody

F. Even when I'm defensive and stubbornly refuse to change
We get used to doing what we want to do. So we are saying 'no' to God

G. Even when I choose not to love others the same way God loves me. (another one I stuggle with)
That's being hateful! It's hard to love people who get under our skin. But then we need to think how God loves us and the person we find hard to love. Just think, we sometimes get so frustrated with one person and meanwhile God is loving over 2 billion people unconditionally in this world! WOW!!


Well, that is all of my 'Jonahs Magnificent God' notes I'll share with you. Once I get my Pictures on the computer I'll post those so you can see how much fun I had and how beautiful it is there.

God bless!

Bri

Are you content?

Contentment: Happy with what you have; not wanting anything else; satisfied

It's something that we all struggle in life; I often catch myself wanting something that isn't mine or I don't need. It clearly states in the last of the 10 commandments; "Thou shalt not covet." One verse in the Bible states: 'Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for HE Himself has said, "I will NEVER leave your NOR forsake you' (Heb.13:5) 'Not what I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.' (Phill. 4:11)
I am so happy with what God has given me; a home, a family, the Bible, a pool, food, and best of all, salvation. Sometimes I take these things for granted and I think I need/want more in order to be happy. My mom tells me that if you were happy without something you don't need before you even saw it, then you don't really need it after all.
Now I know I'm probably gonna want something in the future that I positively don't need I'm gonna try to discipline myself to not be greedy and to be satisfied with what I have.

Bri

Tubing and swimming

ME!!!!!!

This spider web is so cool

I have no idea what Braden was doing here! ;)

This will be fun!

Did I say fun? GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!

Circling the victim ...

Dad giving the boys a good splash!

Flying thru the water

I'm actually sticking my toungue out but you can't really tell.

I only fell off once cause I was on my knees on the tube; most of the time I was on my stomach; when I fell, I did a flip forward into the water. It wasn't cool then but it seems funny now :)

Hold on Benji!!!

What happened to him?

He finally fell off! It was pretty hilarious! I think his lifejacket is to big on him!

Pictures!! (FINALLY!!)

Yours truly and Lydia!

Kids from our church anticipating for candy :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Braden

Dad and Lydia enjoying the parade

Lydia @ the parade

Ain't she a cutie!?!?!

Doesn't Anna look cute 'frozen'?:)

Elizabeth and Rachel frozen

Freeze Tag

HELP!!!!!

When we were doing this families chores there was this bridge and Abby and I couldn't help doing some poses :)

Abby and Lydia

Natalie

Awwwwww .....

I'll post pictures of tubing soon, until then;

Bri

Still here ...

Hey guys!
Still at my grandparents. They live on a lake so my dad, brothers and I might go tubing today!!! Whoohoo!!! I can't wait! Sometimes I like to fall off the tube on purpose :D Only it's a challenge to get back on! I'll also be posting pictures from here when I get home.

Before I sign off I'd like to write one of my favorite life verses;

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified and do not be discouraged; for the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER you go.

This verse always reminds me that God is always with me and the I am never alone. God is always in control when there is a "storm" going on in our life and we need to put our trust in Him.

Bri

Weekend

In a little while I will post pictures of my 4th of July weekend, it was a BLAST!!!! We went to the R. families house on Friday night and just hung out and ate dinner. The S. family arrived once we finished. Later that evening, Jenna, Joshua, Abby, Bethany and I went to someones house so we could take care of their animals. It went quite ... interesting. I won't give you any of the details but I laugh at it now! :) The horses were my favorite; they were so beautiful!

When we got back we played freeze tag in the dark which was also fun.

My family left @ 11 that night; I think I slept better then the kids that slept in the barn! lol

My siblings, dad and I went to the Dorr parade on July 4; we sat with a bunch of our church friends. After the unending parade, we went back to the R. house for lunch and went swimming in our pool in the afternoon; but it wasn't the warmest :) We still had a lot of fun teaching people how to dive. I'll always laugh at that experience. (hee hee hee!)

We had a bonfire that night and roasted smores (well, I pretty much burned all of mine! lol)

We went home late again that night and sadly said goodbye to everyone. We enjoy doing this so much every year. I believe we've been doing this for like 5-6 years!!! ahhhhhhhh!!! lol

Right now I"m on my grandparents laptop so I can download the pictures; sorry!! :(
I'll post them tomorrow, until then, GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Bri

How it all started ...

How I got the name:

A couple weeks ago when I was seriously considering a blog I wanted the name to have something to do with basketball (I love to play basketball) and with my Savior. So I grabbed a note book and started doodling basketball terms that are used on the court: freethrow, basket, pass, team, run, sideline, slamdunk (I wish! lol) and so many others. I was down to about 3 titles and the word "backboard" just seemed to fit. I thought of how Jesus is my backboard in life: you can't play basketball without a backboard; the ball would go over the rim, you wouldn't have anything holding the basket and there wouldn't be any point in the game. If I don't have Jesus; then there's no point to my life. We need a backboard on a basketball hoop like we need Jesus in our lives.

I am very excited starting this journey. Hope ya'll enjoy it!

Bri