Gym Night, with a LOTR twist!

By Alex C.

This past Friday, we met together for our large group Bible study. Pastor Manny concluded the Genesis message series in which we had been following the life of Abraham throughout the book of Genesis. We were challenged once again by Abraham's response to God, even when he was asked to give up the one thing he had waited his whole life for, his son, Isaac. Through his life, we were able to get a beautiful picture of what a relationship with God could look like.

Of course, the Bible study was only the first part of the night. Afterwards, we all headed over to the Austin Sports Center for the final gym night of the spring semester! However, this time, the seniors were the ones in charge, while an all-staff team was formed to join the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in battling for victory. It was an epic night with various games based on popular ones - but all with a Lord of the Rings twist. The overarching question throughout the tournament was which class would be the one to rule them all?

Of course, the ever popular dodgeball was back, but was reskinned to "Mount Doom dodgeball." The twist here was the constantly moving center boundary - meaning that all of a sudden your team could be with their backs to the walls...

Then there was "Musical Orcs". Who would have known that 'orcs' with noodles could be so annoying?

People were never safe in "Ringwraith Handball". Some seniors joined in the fun as ringwraiths, who roamed the handball field, indiscriminately sending players to jail with their noodle swords.

For the finale, we played "Braveheart: Return of the King". It was crucial for the shieldbearer, with the sleeping mat shield, to protect the king and queen for each team, because each one was worth a lot of points.

And to end the night, the staff and senior bros sent in their best for a 5 on 5 basketball game - no Lord of the Rings twist here! While the seniors came back and almost stole a victory, the staff managed to close the game with a clutch three pointer to deal the seniors a loss.

It was definitely a fun-filled and exciting night! If you missed out, don't worry. Join us another week because we have plenty more activities and opportunities to both learn about God and have fun!