Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving at BFA. As I reflect on the Lord's many blessings, I am especially grateful for you all, for your support, your encouraging words, and your prayers. The Lord has truly answered those prayers, and I've had many mornings that I've felt so lifted up by the prayers of the Saints. Thanks so much for joining me in this ministry.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Thanksgiving
Hello Friends and Family,
Since my last blot post, we had another dorm parent weekend off, but rather than the normal 3-day weekend, they were gone for 5 days in Greece. By God's grace, we had help when we needed it, and I learned an important lesson of not biting off more than I could chew.
Because I'll be sending out an update letter to you all soon, I'll just give a bit of information in this post. First, tomorrow is when BFA celebrates Thanksgiving. It is a more neutral date for this international community than the Thursday of American TG. The Central Kitchen is providing the Turkey and mashed potatoes, but we are making all of the sides and dessert. It's been a blast! Today, I made my TG day favorite, corn pudding, and my first 3 pumpkin pies from scratch. :)
November is known for being the toughest month at BFA. While Spring semester has a 2-week Spring Break for students to spend some time with family and therefore to break up their long push, this semester has no such break. With the cloudy weather and the feeling that Christmas break is so far off, many of the students (and staff) become a bit down and edgy during this month. That made one recent conversation with one of my girls incredibly encouraging. As we sat and chatted on the couch in my room, one of my juniors encouraged me that I was exactly the answer to her prayers last year, and that she was so glad to have a staff member that she cold talk to. What a blessing, and what an affirmation in this dreary month. I'm really enjoying the chance to get to know these girls better as time goes on.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers.
Grace and Peace.
Since my last blot post, we had another dorm parent weekend off, but rather than the normal 3-day weekend, they were gone for 5 days in Greece. By God's grace, we had help when we needed it, and I learned an important lesson of not biting off more than I could chew.
Because I'll be sending out an update letter to you all soon, I'll just give a bit of information in this post. First, tomorrow is when BFA celebrates Thanksgiving. It is a more neutral date for this international community than the Thursday of American TG. The Central Kitchen is providing the Turkey and mashed potatoes, but we are making all of the sides and dessert. It's been a blast! Today, I made my TG day favorite, corn pudding, and my first 3 pumpkin pies from scratch. :)
November is known for being the toughest month at BFA. While Spring semester has a 2-week Spring Break for students to spend some time with family and therefore to break up their long push, this semester has no such break. With the cloudy weather and the feeling that Christmas break is so far off, many of the students (and staff) become a bit down and edgy during this month. That made one recent conversation with one of my girls incredibly encouraging. As we sat and chatted on the couch in my room, one of my juniors encouraged me that I was exactly the answer to her prayers last year, and that she was so glad to have a staff member that she cold talk to. What a blessing, and what an affirmation in this dreary month. I'm really enjoying the chance to get to know these girls better as time goes on.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers.
Grace and Peace.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Dorm Parent Weekend off...
Twenty girls, one boy, two college graduates and one weekend...
My mind is still whirling from these past few days, while our Dorm Parents took their weekend off, leaving Candy and I to run the dorm for two and a half days. Although this was the third Dorm Parent weekend off, it was the first one that we did not have any extra help.
Perhaps the most difficult juggling trick when DP's are off involves driving. Both Candy and I drive vans with 9 seats, but we can never leave any of the girls at home alone. Solving our dorm driving probles was like solving that logic problem with the fox, cat, and rabbit that need to get accross the pond, but the fox can't be alone with the cat and only one can cross the river at a time, etc. Anyhow, I think that my logic abilities have sky-rocketed recently, and so have our driving skills as I drove into Kandern 7 or 8 times on Saturday alone. :)
In addition to the commotion of driving and cooking some large meals, I started to learn more about the importance of my role as a consistent parent. While I always planned and looked forward to listening to the girls and being a loving voice that could speak into their lives, I did not plan on fulfilling this additional role. Several older and wiser BFA staff members have recently reminded me that kids need consistency, and not constant grace when they mess up-- consistency in discipline is truly for their own benefit. Although the students may hate having limits, they need some. Then, they can fiugre out how to live within those boundaries. I hate making people angry, but am starting to see that consistent discipline is an incredibly important part of serving these girls well. By God's grace, I am trying to be more of a parental figure now to some of my girls.
After the intensity of the weekend: driving, cooking, and parenting, Candy and I enjoyed many sleepy giggles on Sunday night. Finally, the Lord graced me with one fantastic conversation with one of my Juniors who really needed someone to listen and chat. I was so honored to be that person. We stayed up late, laughing and crying together. That conversation made everything else this weekend seem worthwhile.
My mind is still whirling from these past few days, while our Dorm Parents took their weekend off, leaving Candy and I to run the dorm for two and a half days. Although this was the third Dorm Parent weekend off, it was the first one that we did not have any extra help.
Perhaps the most difficult juggling trick when DP's are off involves driving. Both Candy and I drive vans with 9 seats, but we can never leave any of the girls at home alone. Solving our dorm driving probles was like solving that logic problem with the fox, cat, and rabbit that need to get accross the pond, but the fox can't be alone with the cat and only one can cross the river at a time, etc. Anyhow, I think that my logic abilities have sky-rocketed recently, and so have our driving skills as I drove into Kandern 7 or 8 times on Saturday alone. :)
In addition to the commotion of driving and cooking some large meals, I started to learn more about the importance of my role as a consistent parent. While I always planned and looked forward to listening to the girls and being a loving voice that could speak into their lives, I did not plan on fulfilling this additional role. Several older and wiser BFA staff members have recently reminded me that kids need consistency, and not constant grace when they mess up-- consistency in discipline is truly for their own benefit. Although the students may hate having limits, they need some. Then, they can fiugre out how to live within those boundaries. I hate making people angry, but am starting to see that consistent discipline is an incredibly important part of serving these girls well. By God's grace, I am trying to be more of a parental figure now to some of my girls.
After the intensity of the weekend: driving, cooking, and parenting, Candy and I enjoyed many sleepy giggles on Sunday night. Finally, the Lord graced me with one fantastic conversation with one of my Juniors who really needed someone to listen and chat. I was so honored to be that person. We stayed up late, laughing and crying together. That conversation made everything else this weekend seem worthwhile.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
First weekend off
I wanted to share some pictures from my first weekend off in the Swiss Alps with members of the BFA staff. It was wonderful to meet teachers and other BFA workers that are not involved in Res Life. Our conversations were inherently different, which I appreciated greatly. I hope to continue some of these.
Here's a quick description of the pictures before they come: Our hike was two days long, and we stayed in a youth hostel in the middle of it. A friend of mine let them know that we were celebrating my birthday, so one girl hiked with a little tiny cake and a candle for Saturday night dinner. Also, in the first picture, the man was actually waving his arm, but he was a life-sized robot that looked like a contstruction worker.
Thanks to you all for supporting me. This past weekend provided a much-needed respite from the chaos of life.
Blessings,
Steph
New Dorm Parents
Our dorm parents arrived last Tuesday from Canada. I had met them in Winnipeg during our Janz Team training, and we had said there that we would love to work together, so it is very exciting that we are finally able to actually be in the same dorm.
They arrived Tuesday night with their 7th grade daughter, Sorche, and their 10th grade son, Niall. Jim, Lynn, and Niall came with Candy and I to a new staff gathering that night. Kandern, being so tiny, is impossible to get lost in, but I managed to get this poor, jet-lagged family lost for an hour in the tiny town that I should know quite well. Oops!
They recovered quickly, and have been intentionally learning girls' names and personalities. They will officially take over as dorm parents on Tuesday. Please pray for all of us to have grace and patience in this process of transitioning again.
Friday, September 5, 2008
RA's working in the kitchen to clean up after our fancy (last) dinner together before the students came.Haymond and I at Hochblauen which is in Germany, but overlooks France and Switzerland as well. Sarah works in Personnel, and is a great pal for me.
Thanks for taking the time to check out these pictures. I am sure that there are many more to come. Tonight, we're planning on having a bonfire with the girls.
Blessings to you all!
Top Center: This picture shows the beauty of Storch. The girl on the bed is our seventh grader, Jin, the sweetest kid ever. Junior Esther is keeping her company while doing homework. The older girls here are so good about welcoming in the younger ones.
Left: A view of Holzen from my room. The Large roof is hanging over a horses' stable.
Top Right: The girls at Storch have a tradition of dunking Birthday Girls in the horses trough nearby. Candy's (my Co-RA) birthday was the Sunday of move in day. After we all settled in a bit, they welcomed her in true Storch style.
Bottom Right: The first day of school, Seniors walk into the opening ceremony carrying the flag that represents the country their parents are serving in. The girl the yellow shirt (Alyssa), the girl in the green shirt (Erin), and the girl peeking out around the flag (Autumn) are all Storch girls (aka, mine). :)
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Storchenblick
Hey Friends and Family!
I've decided to try to keep everyone updated with my blog so that I don't encounter as many problems with e-mail addresses. Hopefully this works.
School started for Black Forest Academy students this week. I'm in a dorm with 20 girls (actually, 19 for now, and the 20th is coming later). Our youngest is in 7th grade, and we have 6 Seniors. Our dorm name is Storchenblick, but we call ourselves "Storch" (pronounced in English "stork," and in German "schtork." It is appropriately named after the storks that are abundant in our little village of Holzen. We live next to a quaint church, whose roof is home to at least three different storks.
One of my Senior girls, Crystal, is helping me write this first blog note. She suggested that I write about our daily life in Storch.
Girls come down for breakfast between 7 and 7:30 AM. They do their morning chores between breakfast and leaving for school at 8:20AM. While they are in classes, the dorm staff works together to do grocery shopping, prepare snack, plan for the week, and pray for our students. Then, we get a "4-hour" break, which we're still trying to actually make possible. :) Storch is known for being a pretty athletic dorm, so many of our girls stay after school for sports (or just to spend time with friends). Others come home and get a wonderful snack from their fantastic and loving dorm staff. ;-) Between snack and supper, we can go out to the Eis Cafe (Ice cream), or go for hikes, or go shopping (briefly), or play some games on the field nearby. After dinner, which is prepared by a central BFA kitchen, which in my opinion is not nearly as bad as some say. In fact, I kind of like it. After dinner, many girls can either hang out or do their evening chores until about 7:15, when we begin 2 hours of study time. While the girls may not love that time, I do. It's great to be able to wonder around and help out with some tutoring, and it's a fantastic time to pop into people's rooms to chat with them. Lights out is at 10:30 for everyone except Seniors. They set their own bed times (and are pretty responsible about it).
Wednesday nights are Senior Snack. Candy, my C0-RA, hosts this in her room. Our first Snack was last week, and it was a fantastic time to get to know the girls and to have a good time. They even helped put some very-- CREATIVE -- outfits together for RA Olympics.
I'll try to post some pictures soon!
Blessings to you all!
I've decided to try to keep everyone updated with my blog so that I don't encounter as many problems with e-mail addresses. Hopefully this works.
School started for Black Forest Academy students this week. I'm in a dorm with 20 girls (actually, 19 for now, and the 20th is coming later). Our youngest is in 7th grade, and we have 6 Seniors. Our dorm name is Storchenblick, but we call ourselves "Storch" (pronounced in English "stork," and in German "schtork." It is appropriately named after the storks that are abundant in our little village of Holzen. We live next to a quaint church, whose roof is home to at least three different storks.
One of my Senior girls, Crystal, is helping me write this first blog note. She suggested that I write about our daily life in Storch.
Girls come down for breakfast between 7 and 7:30 AM. They do their morning chores between breakfast and leaving for school at 8:20AM. While they are in classes, the dorm staff works together to do grocery shopping, prepare snack, plan for the week, and pray for our students. Then, we get a "4-hour" break, which we're still trying to actually make possible. :) Storch is known for being a pretty athletic dorm, so many of our girls stay after school for sports (or just to spend time with friends). Others come home and get a wonderful snack from their fantastic and loving dorm staff. ;-) Between snack and supper, we can go out to the Eis Cafe (Ice cream), or go for hikes, or go shopping (briefly), or play some games on the field nearby. After dinner, which is prepared by a central BFA kitchen, which in my opinion is not nearly as bad as some say. In fact, I kind of like it. After dinner, many girls can either hang out or do their evening chores until about 7:15, when we begin 2 hours of study time. While the girls may not love that time, I do. It's great to be able to wonder around and help out with some tutoring, and it's a fantastic time to pop into people's rooms to chat with them. Lights out is at 10:30 for everyone except Seniors. They set their own bed times (and are pretty responsible about it).
Wednesday nights are Senior Snack. Candy, my C0-RA, hosts this in her room. Our first Snack was last week, and it was a fantastic time to get to know the girls and to have a good time. They even helped put some very-- CREATIVE -- outfits together for RA Olympics.
I'll try to post some pictures soon!
Blessings to you all!
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