Robert

I must admit, writing this particular post is torturous for me, as it is bound to be oodles of fun and I will not be able to attend.  (Hmm, I should not have mentioned that, as nobody will come now that I will not be there.)  I will be playing at a jazz concert that night, so you will be deprived of my presence, which will be cause for much weeping.  But cry for me not, is a conucopia of activities to do on  this wenesday night.  First, you got your BBQ, prepared by master barbequer Thomas Winstonford Hoegel.  Then we will be playing volleyball out on the grass of Creekside Park, followed by a short discussion and then a journey to the land of Yogurt.  All junior highers are invited to this extravaganza, so get ready for some inter generational hooplahs.  Bring 5 dollars and show up at 5:30 o clock sharp if you are down.

Later

Robert

    It has been quite some time, I know, but fear not, I am back with a vengeance. I bet you are wondering what we are doing on this coming Wednesday night.  Well, I will get to that in good time.  Like right now.  So, tomorrow, show up in the youth room at 5:30 (in the P.M), for a night filled with wining and dining (well since Aleya will be there, more like WHINING and dining, haha get it?) at the wonderful Ravioli’s Italian Restaurant.  If you are wondering what they serve at Ravioli’s then I suggest you take a moment to reflect, as it is very obvious that they serve cheeseburgers and various german sausages. Just kidding, it’s italian food!  Perhaps they even have ravioli.  Anyhoodilydoodily,  we will then zoom back to church to discuss some aspects of the New Orleans Youth Gathering, with a big emphasis on service.  Hopefully we will get good service at Ravioli’s.  Man, I am on fire with the jokes tonight.  Feel free to come to the meeting even if you are not attending the gathering, as we will also be talking about service in our own backyard (well not literally our own backyard, unless you have a homeless shelter or soup kitchen back there or something.  In that case, get to work.)  So, thats the low down.  Bring $10-15 for food, and let’s keep it G-Rated at dinner, no Lady and The Tramp situations with the spaghetti ok?

Later, 

Robert

This week we will be visiting a very special establishment for our dinner.  It is a cozy little place just down the road and very close to my heart (Literally, as I am sure that it has left more than a little cloggage in my ticker).  If you haven’t guessed by now, I am referring to the shrine to flavor and spice that we have come to know and love as Chipotle Mexican Grill.  You know what rhymes with “grill”?  Scrill.  So bring a wad of $10 (Scrill= Money for those of you not born and bred in the CPT* as I was) to finance your south of the border burrito bonanza.  After we are done with the feast, we will adjourn to the youth room where we will have a “Candlelight Discussion” which our own Julia Hoegel so aptly described as “by candlelight”.  Come at 5:30 to enjoy all this and more (if you can’t make the dinner, feel free to drop by at 715 for the discussion.  You will be marked tardy however).

Later bros and female bros

*CPT is actually the abbreviation for Cupertino AND The City Of Compton so I am allowed to say that I was raised there.

Tomorrow we are heading off to dinner ( In the wonderful Cupertino Square shopping plaza) where there is a new food court, and the classic Fresh Choice.  Then we will head on over to the movies in the aforementioned mall to watch a movie together.  Movie options include Taken, the Uninvited, Paul Blart, Push, and others that I can’t remember!  Bring 20$ for food and the movie. We will be meeting at Bethel at 5:30 as usual, so don’t be late. Hope to see you all there!  It will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys (Which are actually extremely entertaining).

Your youth Assistants (But mostly David and Robert (And actually mostly Robert))

I know its a little short notice, but we do indeed have an update for this week.  Tomorrow we will have a truly unique event here at Bethel, with a very special guest.  You have heard about him in Pastor Rick’s sermons about his many trips to Tanzania.  You may recognize him in his Giants attire (compliments of aforementioned Pastor I’m sure).  He is the one, the only, Pastor Godbless of the Kikarara Parish in Tanzania.  He is doing wonderful work there, providing schooling for the children of his congregation, and building mills.  Godbless will be joining us for a wonderfully barbaqued dinner compliments of Tom “Der Grillmeister” Hoegel.  Bring 5$ to cover the costs.  Afterwards we will be visited by the austere organization of CityTeam, who sponser the Adopt-A-Family program in which we participated this Christmas.  They work to provide gifts and clothes to underprivilidged families in our own back yard.  Hope to see you there, mostly for the service and fellowship, but also definitely for the succulent culinary stylings of our own Big Dog.

Keep it Real

Robert “Good in the Hood Rodine”

Just a quick reminder about this wednesday.  We will be focusing on the displaced youth of San Jose, so make sure to come down and see what you can do to help people just like you in your own back yard.  Bring your own sack lunch for dinner at 5:30 and bring an open mind to experience what should be an eye opening evening. More information is posted right below here if you feel compelled to find out more.

See you there!

Robert

This week will be a special event, full of holiday cheer.  We are going to have a super dope and off the hook christmas shindig in the fireside room with the junior highers.  There will be a sumptuous feast of pasta and salad, so bring 10 dollars to cover the cost.  The epic festivities will begin at 6:30 and end at 8:30.  Prepare yourselves for such classic activities as present (or people) wrapping, cookie construction and card decorations.  We also will be kickin’ out the christmas jams and playing radically wicked games such as scrabble and apples to apples.  Be sure you make it, as it will be a great chance to kick it with your homies and possibly make some new ones.

Look forward to seeing you there,

Robert

P.S  We will also be accepting donations to help support our adopted family, so that they can have a wonderful christmas and feel the love of Jesus through us.  Bring a ten dollar donation if you have yet to help out by getting gifts; your generosity will greatly help the Daniels family, which consists of 6 children ages 8  to 15.

Sorry for the short notice, but we are going to be doing things a little differently this week.  Come down to Bethel at 7 o clock for the First Annual House Party!  You heard right, junior and senior high are going to be hanging out together this week for a new worship event.  There will be games, music from the world renowned House Band, and fellowship galore. And best of all, its free, so we all hope to see you there.

Peace, 

Robert

P.S  I hear the bass player for the House Band is super cool, so you should all come if only to meet him.

The exact meaning of Thanksgiving has been lost throughout the ages, but scholars such as myself maintain that it roughly translates into “The expression of gratitude”.  This may be wrong, as my Latin is a little rusty, but I am pretty sure that this indicates that this day is dedicated to being thankful for what you have.  This means (at least in my house) that we all gather ’round the table, and hastily rattle off things that we are grateful for, rushing through to get to the mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Then it is time for football and naps ((in which we dream about what we want for Christmas (like an iPhone (hint, hint)).

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love overeating, football, and sleep.  They are in my top 5 favorite things (the other two being yelling at inappropriate times and the excessive use of parenthesis in church blog posts), but they are not what the holiday is about.  This time of year is often called the “season of giving”, and I personally take offense.  

The season of giving should by no means be limited to November and December.   Don’t wait for Target to put up the red and green posters to think of others.  I think that giving should have no season.  Have you ever given someone a gift that was just right and seen their faces light up?  Now compare that feeling of giving to the feeling of getting something that you hastily threw on a list.  Why does that joy have to stop on January 1st.  

When New Years Day rolls around and the turkey is long digested, and the new gadgets and toys long forgotten, the gifts lose their luster.  But those who give you those toys, gadgets, Apple products, etc. are the true gifts.  The items are just symbols of their love.

Remember this, and be a gift to others, and do it without reason.  Sometimes the “just because” gifts are the best.  

If you have any great gift stories, feel free to post them in the comments section (the link down at the bottom titiled “comments”, complicated, I know).  

Have a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, Veteran’s Day, Flag Day, and Thanksgiving again.

Robert