My Rock of Refuge

'Tis the season for multiple blog posts in one week...

Change is all around me.  I'm working on end-of-the-year report card comments.  We had our last small group gathering yesterday, where one of the girls shared that she will be moving to America next week.  One of my roommates moved boxes of her stuff to her new place this morning, and furniture is being rearranged in our apartment.  This week will hold awards ceremonies, class celebrations, closing chapels, and of course, graduation.  Indeed, change is all around me.

There's a strange feeling in my heart at this time of the BFA year.  It's an undercurrent of chaos, a tinge of insecurity.  Things won't be the same again.

It's not surprising that the devotion I read in Jesus Calling a few days ago pertained directly to these feelings:  "In a world of unrelenting changes, I am the One who never changes.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Find in Me the stability for which you have yearned.  I created a beautifully ordered world: one that reflected My perfection.  Now, however, the world is under the bondage of sin and evil.  Every person on the planet faces gaping jaws of uncertainty.  The only antidote to this poisonous threat is drawing closer to me.  In My presence, you can face uncertainty with perfect peace."

At a ceremony this weekend, the middle school principal made these three statements:  Change is inevitable.  Growth is intentional.  God is immutable.  You can't avoid change, especially at BFA and especially at the end of the school year.  People come and go.  Classes come and go.  Having said goodbyes before somehow does not make it any easier to do so again.  But, how I choose to respond and where I place my trust is what really matters.

Praise God, I can rest on the sure foundation of the Rock!   "Be my Rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress."  Psalm 71:3

A Post from "Queen Bee"

On Friday I got to be "Queen Bee" in my fourth grade classroom.  Our balloon countdown spirit day was "Be a Bee" in honor of the year-end spelling bee!  Many of the students joined me in dressing in yellow and black -- we were the queen bee and worker bees!

With about 30 spelling lists of 20 words each, the students have learned 600 spelling words over the course of the school year!  I narrowed it down to a list of about 130 for them to study, and only 48 words were used in the spelling bee itself.  I chose words of increasing difficulty for each round of the bee.  All 10 participating students made it through the first round, and several made it to the final round (round 8) to compete for first place.

To accommodate different learning needs and to keep students accountable for every word in the bee, all students wrote every word on a piece of paper.  When all pencils were down (within 30 seconds), then the speller in the spotlight would spell that word aloud.  Other students would not be eliminated if they spelled that word wrong, but I was able to later see students' overall scores.  Several students who were eliminated early in the bee actually scored higher overall than the finalists!

Of course, the spelling bee champ (from the verbal spelling bee) and the overall best speller (from the written test) both enjoyed their chocolate bar prizes.  Mmmm, M-I-L-K-A!

Recording Session!

You never know until you ask... So I did!

I wondered if it would be possible to take the elementary chapel band to the local recording studio in Kandern.  There is a strong music ministry here through my mission, as well as a music school for college-aged students called SchallWerkStadt.  They have a really nice recording studio and interns who are learning about recording techniques.  I asked if we could get a tour and record a track -- and they said yes!

On the day of our trip, it was torrential downpour.  As the two chaperone moms and I drove the short 5-minute commute from the elementary school to the studio, hail began to pelt our cars and the vehicles on the 80-km road slowed.  Closer to our destination, we encountered large puddles, mud slides, rocks on the road, and even an exploded sewage pipe.  The excitement of the storm on top of our anticipation of the recording had all of the kids jumping up and down.  I reminded them of the importance of listening to directions and staying as focused as possible so that we could get a good recording.

Mr. Davis met us in the lounge and showed us the control room, instruments, and sound-proof vocal recording area.  Each kid got a headset that would be connected to a microphone in the control room and my microphone at the piano (in another room).  We did a few run-through warmups of the song we would record ("Oh, Happy Day"), and then we began recording!  After three tries, the sound techs and I were satisfied with the product.  I'm not sure what we were more excited about... hearing the playback of the recorded track or watching Beni electronically mix the sound!

The trip to the recording studio was a great way to close out the year with these amazing students.  I have loved imparting what I know about music, worship leading, and loving Jesus to this enthusiastic group.  While I won't be leading the elementary chapel band next year, I'm looking forward to teaching the chapel band elective at the middle school.  Who knows, maybe we'll take another trip to the recording studio next year!

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."  1 Chronicles 16:23-24

Loving Well

This past weekend I was blessed to have the opportunity to lead worship with two other BFA colleagues for a women's retreat in Switzerland.  For many of the ladies from the international church in Basel, this was their first-ever women's retreat!  What a pleasure it was to lead them to the foot of the cross through music.  It was great to also hear solid teaching from the Beth Moore DVD on "Loving Well" -- loving people who are easy or hard to love, close friends or enemies or strangers.

Shelley (vocal), Me (vocal and piano), Brittany (guitar)

It's weekends like this one that I can especially sense the Lord's purpose and design for my time here.  I hadn't prepared any "filler" music, but there ended up being several times when they needed background piano music during meditation/prayer, and the Lord provided the notes and the chords for each of those moments.  I could really sense Him playing through me.  What a perfect reminder that He guides me and uses me in ways that I can't imagine!

Honor Your Mother...

Today we celebrated our moms with some fun games and special hand-made poetry books!  It was so fun to have ten out of the twelve students' moms join us for the last hour of the day.

Game 1: How much do you know about your mom?

(Ten trivia questions to answer and then compare with mom!)

Game 2: Mother's Day Pictionary

(Phrases moms say -- like "Do your homework," "Don't jump on the bed," and "I love you!")

Poetry share: Quality time with Mom!

Other fun in class lately...

Playing Apples to Apples to review nouns and adjectives!

Counting down the days until the end of school!
(It's hard to believe that we're already at 12!)

During finals week in college, many students blew up balloons to pop after each final.  Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea to modify this for my class.  I put slips of paper in each balloon with fun activities.  Each day we pop another balloon and celebrate the end of the year in that special way.  Today was barefoot day!

Fruit Detour!

J: "Oh no, oh dear..."
D: "I can't believe this!"
S:  "And this is where I come in.  I'm patience.  Most people want more of me, but they have a really hard time getting it..."

It was a thrill to watch my twelve fourth graders perform "Fruit Detour" this morning.  I wrote the script a few weeks ago to sum up what we've learned about the fruits of the Spirit this year, and it has been so fun seeing the characters come to life during rehearsals over the past week.  Although the students were nervous to perform for their parents and peers at chapel, they did a great job!  (Can you tell I'm a proud teacher?)  I even got to have a cameo appearance as a banana... what a thrill!  :)

I shouldn't have been surprised that tonight's reading for high school small group also mentioned the fruit of the Spirit: "What disturbs me most is when were not really bothered that God living in us has not made much of a noticeable difference... When we exhibit the peace that surpasses the world's understanding, that's when the world notices.  That's when people say, 'Your Lord -- He is God!'"  (Francis Chan in Forgotten God)

I pray that my fourth grade students, small group girls, co-workers, and friends all see the fruit of the Spirit in my life.  That they would be drawn to worship Him.  And ultimately, that they would be compelled to live lives surrendered to the Spirit.

Tag der Offenen Tuer

This past Saturday was the Tag der Offenen Tuer (Open House) at the elementary school!  We welcomed families of our students, as well as members from the German community, to tour our school, hear presentations from the elementary choir, enjoy a buffet of finger foods, and visit various "fair-like" stations.  

In addition to creating the posters and programs for the event, I had a blast running the "photo booth" station.  For a backdrop, I hung a black sheet on the German chalkboard mounted in my classroom.  This chalkboard is unique because it slides up and down along the wall to adjust height!  This of course worked out perfectly for a photo backdrop that needed to fit behind tiny toddlers and tall adults.  

I also had a variety of props from the high school drama prop closet -- wigs, vests, capes, boas, hats of all types -- which made the photo booth even more fun!

Taking photos also gave me a chance to talk to families, some of whom were locals from the town.  It was a stretch for my German :) but also a great opportunity to make them feel welcome at our school and continue to build bridges into the community!