Frohe Weihnachten!

Frohe Weihnachten!  Merry Christmas from Germany!  This Christmas season has been very full.  There were a lot of special events toward the end of the semester, and this break has begun with lots of activity.  I am so blessed to be a part of the BFA community and to have many opportunities to invest in others' lives.  Check out these Christmas highlights...

Fellowship time in the classroom with my students and their families after the elementary Christmas concert 

Small group Christmas party (more here!)

Christmas bulletin board -- note the construction paper and cotton ball Santa hats and beards I added to their photos!

Class gift from my students inside this beautiful stocking -- a gift certificate to my favorite restaurant!

Silly photo booth at our class Christmas party!  I love my 4th graders!

My roommates came to help with the photo booth!

Sharing with the Italian youth group about the BFA Mission Trip I'll be taking there in April (more here!)

Me with the Italian youth leaders at their Christmas party

A special visit from my parents and brother -- one of our days was spent in the Swiss Alps

Christmas Eve service at G5, the German church I attend regularly

Christmas Eve in Basel

Getting appetizers ready with my mom and roommate on Christmas day!

Christmas gifts from Dave -- Wheaton swim team t-shirts!

Spending an afternoon reading and relaxing at the Starbucks in Basel... hooray for break!

My prayer this Christmas is that we are all reminded of the greatest gift ever given -- Jesus Christ.  May our focus be on Him and Him alone as we head into a new year, 2012!

Italy-Bound!

Over the past few weeks, I've been gathering information and planning meetings for the mission trip I'll be leading in April!  Although it seems like it's still a ways off, it's important that we begin team building now.  Prayerfully, we will feel unified as a team by the time our flight takes off from the Basel airport in just over three months.

Last Sunday, I met with most of our team for a team-building meeting over pasta lunch.  We began the meeting doing "Zoom," an activity that helps everyone to consider different perspectives and use good communication.  Afterwards, we talked about why it is important to think about these two things for our trip to Italy.  One student pointed out that we have different perspectives since we come from different cultural backgrounds (Japan, Korea, United States, Canada, Germany, France, Holland, Slovenia...), in addition to interacting with the Italian teenagers who have an even different perspective.  We also prayed that we would communicate well with one another and those we will serve.  

We'll have a lot more pasta in Italy, but we're getting started now!  Each student received a bag of pasta in his or her mailbox, which we cooked together all in one pot to symbolize our unity.  While we ate, we talked about the importance of family and quality time during meals.  The students also told a little bit more about themselves.

You can follow our preparations for this trip here:  http://bfainitaly.blogspot.com.

I would appreciate your prayers as I travel to Italy today (!!) for a few days.  I hope that the meetings with the Italian youth leaders this weekend will be productive and encouraging.  Pray that we would have good communication and come up with ideas about what projects our team can do during spring break.  Most importantly, pray that God would give me wisdom and grace as I interact with the Italians as a representation of BFA, my mission trip team, and even my home church Grace Point.  Grazie!

Rushing Wind

As I sit on the couch in the living room, I hear the wind whipping along the side of the apartment and down the street.  I witness the wind's invisible power in the dancing branches of the evergreens and the sideways raindrops.  Windows rattle.

I am reading Jesus Calling, a devotional by Sarah Young that my mentor gave me as an early Christmas present last week.  Each day of reading this book, I have heard Jesus' voice speaking directly to me through Young's words.

Today, Jesus is saying this to me, to us....

"I am speaking in the depths of your being.  Be still, so that you can hear My voice.  I speak in the language of Love; My words fill you with Life and Peace, Joy and hope.  I desire to talk with all of My children, but many are too busy to listen.  The "work ethic" has them tied up in knots.  They submit wholeheartedly to this taskmaster, wondering why they feel so distant from Me.

Living close to Me requires making Me your First Love - your highest priority.  As you seek My Presence above all else, you experience Peace and Joy in full measure.  I am also blessed when you make Me first in your life.  While you journey through life in My Presence, My Glory brightens the world around you."

I have often heard messages and read verses about being quiet before God and listening to His still, small voice.  In the quiet of this first morning of Christmas break, I wonder to myself how often I actually take the time to be still.  Do I use the excuse of being busy with "good" things?  Can I claim that I'm not very good at just sitting and listening?

The loud cry of today's wind calls out to me again.  When spending time with God is no longer my highest priority, when "work ethic" is my taskmaster, I need to hear the loud voice of a rushing wind to call me back into His presence.

I want to live close to You, Jesus.  May Your glory shine through me as I seek You above all else.

GCC Alum Profile!

Check out my GCC Education Department alumni profile!

http://www2.gcc.edu/dept/educ/ecs/AlumFeature2011_HeatherBrown.asp

Sweets and Sweet Girls!

The last time my small group and I were together was for a few brief moments at the high school Christmas banquet in beautiful dresses and special hairstyles...

Tonight we put on our pajamas to celebrate Christmas in a different way!  My roommate Brittany and I invited our small group girls to come over for pizza dinner, a movie (Elf, of course), and lots of fun.  We just love having these freshmen and sophomores relaxing, chatting, and being silly in our living room!

While watching Elf, the girls could also decorate sugar cookies!  We made icing with powdered sugar, water, and food coloring (so easy!) and set out lots of toppings.

After some time to exchange gifts in our separate groups, we had fun with a photo booth!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

We Give Thanks

Thanksgiving may be "just another day" of teaching here in Germany, but we won't forget to give thanks.

Staff devotions about giving thanks

Thankfulness collages with my small group girls

Thanksgiving at our house - singing worship songs after dinner

Many, many blessings to be thankful for!

"Praise be to You, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.  Wealth and honor come from You; You are the ruler of all things.  In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name."  1 Chronicles 29:10-13

43 Boxes!

Operation Christmas Child has definitely been a highlight for my fourth graders this fall!  They were thrilled to have a bigger role in organizing the annual box collection, as each student in my class took on a specific job for the duration of the project.

During one class period, each student got an empty shoebox to pack full of donations that had been given to us.  (Most of our collection was individual donations, rather than completed shoeboxes.)  I had set up labeled "stations" around the classroom with school supplies, stuffed animals, hygiene items, gender-specific toys, and other objects.  The students visited each of these stations to be sure that they included all of the necessary items in their boxes.

Two of the students were designated "box checkers" for the project.  As we received completed boxes or as we packed boxes together in class, these students completed a checklist of required items and signed their names at the bottom of the sheet.  This was one of my favorite parts of the process... and I think they enjoyed it, too!

As an elementary school, we filled a total of 43 boxes!

Today, the final day of the Operation Christmas Child project, my students gathered around the boxes to pray for their recipients.  We brainstormed specific ways to pray -- most importantly, for the children to know God's love -- and then took time to pray quietly for individual boxes.  It was so neat to see the fourth graders take even more ownership of this project by dedicating it to God.

I took one student whose job was "box collector" with me to the grocery store (our nearby collection site) this afternoon to drop off all of our boxes.  They gave us a cart since we had so many boxes!

I am blessed by the generosity of all of the families who participated.  I'm inspired by the passionate involvement of the students.  I praise God for His work around the world through this ministry!

Thanksgiving at the Elementary School

Yesterday was the (somewhat random) day for the elementary school to celebrate Thanksgiving!  I was in charge of chapel, and then a number of parent volunteers led activities at 6 different stations for the whole morning.  It was great to see the German and English parents working together and all of the children enjoying themselves!

Fall Festival Murder Mystery

There's nothing like walking through a crime scene in your apartment.

Don't be too concerned!  It isn't a real crime scene -- just a fake body outline, fabricated evidence, and planted suspects.  My roommate and I decided to combine our small groups this week for a murder mystery!  We asked some of our friends who don't lead small groups to be our "suspects" (using scripts and information that we had provided), and the girls in our small groups had to interview them to figure out who was responsible for the "murder."  It was a fun night of listening, acting, and laughing together.

Perhaps these pictures can better tell the story of the murder mystery...

Brittany was the security guard at the door

The first stop for each group was Guy Lines, the "boy scout master"

A shot of the front hall... transformed into a crime scene!

Brittany as Detective Inspector Dick Lacey revealing the solution

Guy Lines, you're under arrest!

My small group girls, each dressed in their own costumes, too!

All of the suspects with Brittany (detective) and me (press)

All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day, an official holiday in Germany, which means that offices, grocery stores, and yes, schools, are closed for the day.  I couldn't be more thankful for the day off!

With our bilingual school (grades 1-3) off from school for "Herbstferien" (fall break) yesterday, the 5th grade teacher and I decided to plan something special for our classes.  The German "celebration" of Halloween is very dark.  There isn't any innocent trick-or-treating or candy sharing. Unfortunately, it's all about the scary, evil, immoral side of things.  The children who move here from North America often miss the fun traditions of dressing up in costumes and collecting candy, but those who have grown up here in Europe know the dark side of the holiday.  So, we decided that a Fall Party would be a fun middle ground.  Students could come in costume along the theme of "movies."  Some of the girls asked me to be a part of their Alice in Wonderland costume group... of course, I was happy to participate!

Susan and Lucy (Chronicles of Narnia)

Batman

Alfred and Larry-Boy

The Alice in Wonderland crew

I coordinated parents to bring fall treats and organized some games for the kids to play (autumn pictionary and skits in a bag), and Rob showed the "Little House on the Prairie" Halloween episode.  All of the students brought in a bag of candy to share with the other students, so each student left with a mixture of different candies.  The Fall Party was a huge success!  Both classes were able to get "normal schoolwork" done in the morning, and we had a blast together in the afternoon.

 Acting out a scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Creating a skit out of the items in the bag

One team's skit

Last night was the BFA annual trip to Herbstmesse, a big fall festival in Basel.  I made a quick change from my Alice costume to normal clothes and drove over to the main campus of the school to catch the bus to Herbstmesse.  My roommates and I enjoyed a yummy dinner on the Claraplatz, walked across the bridge over the Rhine, rode the ferris wheel at dusk, crashed into elementary and middle schoolers on the bumper cars, and relaxed with Starbucks before heading back to the buses.

As I said to someone last night, this is a great picture of life at BFA.  While the mixture of professional and personal lives can sometimes cause confusion, it definitely makes relationships richer.  What a blessing it is to give high fives to our students while we ride around on bumper cars, to laugh together in a fun environment, to share life together.

It was a long day... My voice was strained from running the games at school and screaming on the bumper cars.  The bruises on my knees were bumper car wounds.  My legs hurt from walking.  But it was most definitely worth it.