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.

Operation Christmas Child!

Operation Christmas Child, the annual Samaritan's Purse project for children in need, is nothing new to the elementary schoolers at Black Forest Academy.  Every year the classes pack shoeboxes filled with toys and personal items to send to children around the world.

What's different this year is that the 4th graders are heading up this project!  I created different "jobs" that would be needed for OCC (ambassadors to the other grade levels, publicity, secretary, box packers, and box collectors), and each student completed an application for the job of his or her choice.  What fun it has been to see these fourth graders get excited about and take ownership of this project!

On Wednesday we kicked off Operation Christmas Child with a special chapel presentation.  The fourth graders put on a skit, and I shared how to pack a box.

What is this poster all about?  What is this paper chain for?

Haven't you heard?!  It's Operation Christmas Child!!

OCC volunteers deliver a shoebox and a Bible

 Explaining how to pack a box

Our class bulletin board outlining all of the jobs and showing a collection calendar

Please pray that the students would gain a new understanding of generous giving and God's greatest gift to us!

Lobpreisabend (Worship Night)

I don't usually think about taking pictures at church, but I thought I'd capture a moment from the worship night at our church on Tuesday night.  We sang songs, took communion, prayed in small groups, and sang some more.  I learned this song, which has become a new favorite!

"Second Chance" (by Hillsong United)

You called my name, reached out Your hand

Restored my life and I was redeemed

The moment You entered my life

Amazing grace Christ gave that day

My life was changed when from my shoulders

Fell the weight of my sin

So it's with everything I am I reach out for Your hand

The hope for change the second chance I've gained

On You I throw my life, casting all my fears aside

How could greater love than this ever possibly exist

Consume my thoughts as I rest in You

I'm now in love with a Savior

Bearing the marks of His love

So I'll wait upon You now

With my hands released to You

Where a little faith's enough

To see mountains lift and move

And I'll wait upon You now

Dedicated to Your will

To this love that will remain

A love that never fails

Journey Across America Celebration!

After teaching about each of the regions of the United States, I planned a "Journey Across America" celebration for my class.  Several parent volunteers helped to run the stations for a creative project: create your own state!  Each student thought up a new state to add to the United States.

At one station, students had to draw the outlines of their states and place them on the map.

At another station, they recorded facts about their state, such as state bird, flower, motto...

Students also had to think through what someone could do if they visited the new state.  They named new cities, landmarks, mountains, and lakes.  Some sports aficionados even created sports teams for their new states.

Finally, students also created their states' flags out of colored construction paper.

To continue our North America unit, we are in the midst of a two-week unit on Canada, and we'll travel to Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean after that.  The journey continues!

First-Ever Chapel Band!

There are some specific moments when I feel like I'm part of the bigger picture.  I can sense that God is calling me to Himself as He calls me to specific roles here at BFA.  And one of those is the brand new elementary chapel band.

Ten 4th and 5th grade students have joined BFA's first-ever elementary school chapel band, and I am thrilled to be leading worship with them!  I've split the kids into two teams to lead singing on alternating weeks of chapel.  We have talked together about what "worship" means, how they can lead by example, and why we sing songs to God.  I am inspired by the passionate, pure worship of these elementary schoolers!

This Wednesday, four students led us in singing "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and "How Great Is Our God" (in English and German), while I played keyboard and another student operated the Power Point slides.  The other children responded so well by doing the motions along with us and lifting their voices in praise.

Please continue to pray that this won't be about us, but about Him.  Pray that I would be an honest, Christ-focused leader for these impressionable children.  And pray that the students on the worship team, as well as all of us at the elementary school, would live sincere lives of worship for Him.

Journey Across America

Over the past few weeks, I've been leading my fourth graders on a journey across North America!  We began in northern Maine and are working our way through each of the regions of the United States (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West).  Following our study of the USA, we'll head to Canada and then down to Mexico and the Caribbean.

The students are divided into five pairs and have designed "cars" in which they are driving across America.  Each week, the students complete projects (researching landmarks, sports teams, weather, etc. for the states in the region of study) to earn points, which allow them to move their cars across the grid-paper map one space at a time.  It's not a race; the goal is to get to as many states as possible before our unit is over.

One highlight of this unit has been "hosting" guests from each of the regions!  Some guests have been through email, others over Skype, and even a few in person.  Today we welcomed two of the moms from Texas for a Southwest Celebration!  They greeted us with "Howdy y'all," shared with us about life in the city vs. country in Texas, taught us how to sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and danced along with us to "Cotton Eyed Joe."

One of the students whose "home base" is in Texas (although he has lived in Germany for almost his whole life) made Texas-shaped cookies with Texas flag-colored icing!  Yum!

The kids were adorable in their cowboy/cowgirl attire!

Yee-haw!