We wiffled & waffled

Hey waffle-sports fans! Here's some pics from the fabulous wiffle waffle. We played some dogpatch wiffle ball, ate some waffles, had batting practice with waffles & then proceeded to engage in all out waffle warfare. Good times, good times.

Wiffle Waffle

Sunday, July 30th // 6-8pm








wiffle ball to play. waffles to eat.

From RELEVANT MAGAZINE'S 850 Words : : Like a Rabbit Loves to Run by Kate Noah

Like anyone who grew up in church, I've heard hundreds of times that God is our Father. That He loves us deeply, hurts when we hurt, cares about our welfare and happiness and will never forget about us. I've always thought that if God were a Father like my dad, He must be a pretty good one.

Despite holding a generally stable and favorable view of God, I catch new glimpses of His character from time to time. Often these brief flashes give me greater insight into His healing power or His unfettered delight in us, but I get caught the most off-guard when I see the raw tenderness of His love.

My minister, Mike, was talking recently about the last section of Isaiah—chapters 56-66, where God promises to create new heavens and a new earth and wipe away Israel's former pain and disgrace. Mike has endured some pain in his life, including the death of his mentally handicapped daughter and the unexpected death of his nephew from a heart malfunction. A year and a half ago, he almost lost his younger son in another tragedy—a van rollover on I-20 near Putnam, Texas, that involved seven kids from our youth group and an adult sponsor, on their way back from a conference. Three of the boys, including Mike's son Chris, were rushed back to a children's hospital in Fort Worth. Nobody was sure how badly they were hurt, or even (for a while) if they were going to make it.

Mike talked about being in the hospital waiting room after the wreck, and a doctor friend of his ("Dr. Jim"), who had traveled from Abilene to be with the boys and their families, coming in to tell him he could see Chris. Dr. Jim warned Mike, "He's in there. But it doesn't look like him." Telling the story to us at church that night, Mike admitted, "It didn't look like him. I couldn't have picked him out of a lineup. But I got down next to the bed and whispered in his ear, 'Like a rabbit loves to run.' And I could see it in his eyes … it was like he started to come back, out of a coma. Because every night all his life I'd put him to bed with the poem, 'I love that boy like a rabbit loves to run. I love that boy like a rabbit loves to run. Love to see him in the mornin', love to say, 'Good mornin', son.'"

Hearing that, I was struck by two things: the depth of Mike's sorrow and care for his son, and the uniqueness of the words he whispered to Chris. Many fathers would have whispered to their sons, "I love you; you're going to be OK"—and that's really the message Mike's words carried—but the words Chris heard were meant just for him, based on the years of love that lay between him and his dad.

As Mike continued talking about God's intimate love for us, I realized that God speaks to each one of us, too. He has words for everyone, written down in His Word and painted in broad, brilliant strokes all over His creation. But when He wants to speak to me, He picks out certain words—a particular song lyric, a call from a close friend, a passage in a book that rings deep and true in my soul—and whispers them into my ear. The words turn a key or pry open a door in my heart and bring me back, reminding me that His love is still there, waiting for me to turn and embrace it.

Mike's father heart, twisted with worry, grief and fear, rejoiced at a small spark in his son's eyes, a look that told him Chris would come back, that he would make it. (And he did make it—18 months later, Chris is spending his summer playing All-Stars baseball, going on trips with his family and doing all the things a healthy middle-school boy does.) While Chris was in the care of doctors and nurses who were able to help him, it took a word from his father—a specific, unique, familiar word that really meant "I love you"—to call him back.

God has long used His Word—the Bible—to call people to Him and back to Him, of course. But I think He knows we need words that speak singularly to each of us, phrases or incidents that wake up our souls. They come from all kinds of places, and they surprise us when they reach our stopped-up ears. But they always wake us up—just enough to remind us that God loves us passionately, constantly, tenderly.

Like a father loves his children. Like a husband loves his wife. Like a shepherd loves the sheep he watches over. And like a rabbit loves to run.

Katie Noah is a writer from Texas who loves good books, travel, knitting, coffee shops and spending time with friends. She is learning to trust God while she searches for her first post-college job.

For the Christian, it is enough to believe that the cause of all created things, whether in heaven or on earth, whether visible or invisible, is nothing other than the goodness of the Creator, who is the one and the true God. . . . In this universe, even what is called evil, when it is rightly ordered and kept in its place, commends the good more eminently, since good things yield greater pleasure and praise when compared to the bad things. For the Omnipotent God, whom even the heathen acknowledges as the Supreme Power over all, would not allow any evil in his works, unless in his omnipotence and goodness, as the Supreme Good, he is able to bring forth good out of evil. What, after all, is anything we call evil except the privation of good?

-St. Augustine from Handbook on Faith, Hope & Love

IMPACT // Master Provisions
Saturday, July 22nd 8:30am-12 noon. Meet @ AHUMC to go pack clothes. Make a difference in your world, all before 12 noon.
http://www.masterprovisions.org/


Coney Island // Sunday, July 23^rd 5-8pm $9
We’re going to meet at Sunlite Pool @ Coney Island, eat food and NOT wait 20 minutes until we swim.It’s going to be wild.Wild.

Burrito Thursdays in July!

Who hasn't felt like this burrito at some point?

COME GET A BURRITO! : : Thursday, July 20th 12 noon

The Spongebob Movie- WAAAAAAITEEEEER!!!

Sundae Sunday was a huge success! We didn't break anything (that I'm aware of) & we set a record for the largest Sundae (at 10' long) ever created and/or consumed at Anderson Hills.

Though . . . if you ate too much, you may have ended up like these cats::

Sunday Sundae//July 16th//6-8pm @ AHUMC

Colossal ice cream sundae & more. Don’t miss it!

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FYI ::

Chicago Man Wins World Ice-Cream-Eating Title // Culinary Student Wins $2,000

NEW YORK -- A Chicago man tasted sweet success when he won the world ice-cream-eating title last week.Culinary student Patrick Bertoletti, 20, ate 1¾ pounds of ice cream in eight minutes.That shattered the previous record of 1½ pounds in 12 minutes.The contest was hosted by New York's Water Club restaurant and featured vanilla ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

AHSM // Anderson Hills Student Ministry

Hello blogosphere.

This here blog is the online home of the Anderson Hills Student Ministry.