Farewell, Elemenz Cafe

If you live in Kandern (and maybe even if you don't!), you undoubtedly know how much I enjoy Elemenz Cafe.  I first heard of Elemenz on the eve of 2012, a few months after its opening.  How had it taken me months to discover this place?!  Its tasty bagel sandwiches and flavored coffee drinks soon became staples, and the flickering candlelight set the stage for many meaningful moments.

My mentor, Candy, and I savored Latte Macchiatos while talking about life.  Sometimes I'd slip away from school for a few precious minutes of alone time during my afternoon prep period to draw or journal.  My roommates and I had a favorite table by the window, where we would chat over a meal or catch up on grading.  I sampled "hot berries" ice cream and "Miss Chocoholic" muffins with my high school small group girls.  At Elemenz, I deepened friendships and even formed new ones, including a friendship with the cafe manager and her roommate.  (Shout-out to Melina and Ramona, who have inspired me with their passion for serving Jesus!)  This week when the shortcut road to Elemenz was closed, I even took the long way around to get to my favorite cafe.

You can see why the announcement of Elemenz's closing rocked my world. 

Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration.  But saying farewell to my favorite cafe has caused me to reflect.  You see, Elemenz has become more than a place to eat...

"Das Leben Lieben.  Love Life."  The cafe motto reminds me that Jesus came to give me abundant life (John 10:10)!  Even more, He has given me eternal life and has called me to love Him with all my heart (Matthew 22:37).

The call to hospitality.  I loved being able to connect with other people at Elemenz.  A meal at Elemenz almost guaranteed a long conversation, too.  Yet my calling to "show hospitality" is not contingent upon whether the cafe remains open (1 Peter 4:9).  I know that I can continue to connect with others, perhaps in new ways, by opening my own home and heart.

The warm, inviting atmosphere.  I frequented Elemenz not because of its great food, but because I could feel at "home" in its comfortable seats.  I think it's important to have places like this that feel safe and secure.  However, even when I am way out of my comfort zone and far beyond the familiar, the arms of my Father provide an even greater warmth.  There is an open invitation to just come, and He will give rest (Matthew 11:28).  And this is the only place that we can truly feel "home" forever (Hebrews 11:13-16).

So, as Elemenz closes its doors to the public today, it is a bittersweet farewell.  No more Apple Pie Lattes or Cranberry Turkey sandwiches.  Although I'll miss this cozy cafe, I am thankful for the wonderful meals and conversations I've enjoyed there.  Even more importantly, I resolve to remember these lessons which have seeped into my soul over the past year and a half.  Thanks, Jesus, for Elemenz.

You and I: Intimacy

In February, there was a panel event for high school small groups of girls about identity, reminding students and leaders alike that God has created us and His grace defines who we are.  

Last week, we had a follow-up panel called "You and I: Intimacy."  Nearly sixty high schoolers sipped fruit smoothies as they listened to our panelists.  Melissa and her husband have two daughters, and her husband teaches high school Bible.  Taylor was an RA for the past two years and now works as a high school guidance counselor and leads a small group.  Valerie is a recruiter for the personnel office and has a two-year-old to keep her busy.  Finally, Michelle is an RA at a guys dorm and getting married (to another BFA staff member) this summer.  

These four women shared their thoughts and experiences about what it means to cultivate a personal relationship with Christ and what it looks like to be pursuing God on a daily basis.  They shared some practical ways that they worship God and get to know Him more.  I appreciated their vulnerability and genuine commitment to Christ.  What a great encouragement for us all!

Please pray for my small group, as we continue to think about and prayerfully consider how to apply what we heard at the panel.  I am planning a mini-retreat for my girls later this month to take time to pray, read Scripture, and worship through song and silence.  Pray that God is glorified with our choices and priorities in each day.

The frame used for the event advertisement was taken from Hello Literacy.

Twenty-five!

So, I'm officially a quarter of a century old.  And I feel 100% blessed!   I'm so thankful for this community I call "home" for now, for my past "homes," and for the many amazing friendships I've made along the way.

Again, I quote my favorite Psalm:

"Lord, You alone are my portion and my cup;
You make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body will also rest secure,
because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will You let Your faithful one see decay.

You make known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand."
Psalm 16

I love the Campbell girls!

My lovely small group girls (minus Brianne!)

Birthday week buddies - Happy early birthday, Megan!

My wonderful roommate made me feel so loved on my birthday!

My awesome sixth grade class!

Recipe for Spring Break

Deep cleaning, early mornings, fresh snowfall, and giving a presentation.  Does that sound like the normal recipe for a teacher's spring break?  Perhaps not.

Deep cleaning:  Sweeping and vacuuming, cleaning the refrigerator, wiping doors and furniture, washing windows... you name it, we did it!  On the first two days of spring break, BFA staff members gathered for "spring cleaning" of the high school campus in preparation for the International Christian Educator Conference (ICEC).

Early mornings:  Each morning of the ICEC began earlier than a normal school day, but the speakers proved to be worthy of our attention.  This conference was especially meaningful for me as I reflected on how much has changed since the last one of its kind.  Three years ago, I attended the ICEC at BFA as a college senior, having just committed to come to BFA to teach that fall.  I was eager to meet my future co-workers, see the campus, and gather as much information as I could.  Now, three years later, I am loving my life in this community and am continuing to learn about what it means to serve missionary kids.  This conference also brought a special Grove City College mini reunion!  Several other GCC alums work at BFA and another school in Spain - plus, one of my education department profs and two current seniors came over to present several workshops!  Sharing meals and conversations with them was a true blessing.  Needless to say, the early mornings and long days of processing and reflecting were well worth it!

Fresh snowfall:  Isn't it spring already?  We Kanderners are beyond ready for warmer weather and sunshine, but the two days of snow during the ICEC were a real treat for some of our African visitors who had never/seldom seen such weather before!  Now, please, let it be spring!

Giving a presentation:  I'm sure that many of you are familiar with Pinterest, a social media tool for bookmarking hyperlinked images of favorite things on the web.  Pinterest is often used for recipes ideas, travel inspiration, and home improvement.  However, Pinterest is also a marvelous resource for teaching ideas!  My friend CB (an elementary teacher) and I presented a workshop at the ICEC about making teaching "Pinterest"ing.

Now it's REALLY time for spring break to begin!  I'm thankful for time to catch up on grading, rest, reading for pleasure, and just being.  That's the recipe for the rest of spring break!

Opposite Day!

Almost all of the middle school students and teachers participated in our school-wide spirit day on Friday... Opposite Day!  Here are some snapshots of our sixth grade opposites:

Princess and Frog

Goofball and Businessman

Nerd and Gangster

Gangster and Nerd

These two did their own opposites:

black and white / dressed up and casual

Happy (pink) and Sad (blue)

The teachers participated, too!

Coffee and tea, Texas and China, city and country, winter and summer, and two teachers dressed as each other

Exclusive CD Release Party!

Welcome to the VIP lounge!

Yesterday we welcomed the chapel band students to an exclusive CD release party for Hillsong United's newest CD project, "Zion."  Brittany decorated our classroom with balloons, streamers, and colored cloth.  The students enjoyed music note- and star-shaped pastries, popcorn, cream puffs, and punch as we watched the lyric videos of the new releases.

How much do you know about Hillsong United?  I tested the students' knowledge of this well-known worship band with some trivia questions.

Too bad you can't see my guitar pick earrings in these photos. :)  #welcomezion

Who Am I: Identity

 Who am I?  It's a question that we ask ourselves at all stages of life.  On its heels are a myriad of others... What am I good at?  What is my purpose?  Where am I accepted and loved?  What do I have to offer?  Who or what defines me?  Am I beautiful?  Am I enough?

You are created with a purpose, designed by the Creator of the world!

He has gifted you uniquely.

He values you.

He loves you.

He accepts you.

His grace defines you, and it's more than enough!

These are the truths that I wanted to convey to my small groups girls and other high schoolers this Valentine's Day.  So, I asked three BFA staff women with different life experiences and family backgrounds to share bits of their stories and to answer the students' questions about identity.  The panelists were honest, encouraging, and full of love for the girls - what a blessing to see!  The Lord was definitely at work.

Each girl left with a rose, a reminder that they have been created beautifully!

Part 2 of this panel series is coming in April on this theme: "You and I: Intimacy."  Pray for God's work on the hearts of the young women at BFA as different adults share about their relationships with God and others.

Note: The frame used for the event advertisement was taken from Hello Literacy.

Snapshots of School Life

It's been almost a month since my last blog post... what have I been doing?!  Take a look at these snapshots of life at BFA Middle School!

We welcomed 2 new members into the chapel band for the spring semester, so we now have a new vocalist and keyboardist.  Just for fun for the first chapel of the new semester, we had all 10 students participate in leading worship!!  (6 vocalists, 1 guitarist, 1 keyboardist, 1 Cajon drummer, 1 on drumset) We totally maxed out the sound system, but it was great to see them all working well together!  

For the second semester of the Classroom Economy program that I've been using in Advisory, I decided to have the students go through an application and interview process for their new jobs.  I recruited my roommate, Brittany, to help me interview the students.  The newest position for this semester is the Insurance Broker.  I am introducing the students to the way insurance works and will be simulating natural disasters and vandalism/theft.

Here's our class auction, which is the culminating experience of the Classroom Economy each month.  Instead of using the normal auction format that I used all fall, January's auction was a first-price sealed-bid auction.  Students wrote their bids for various items on slips of paper and placed each slip in the item's corresponding jar.  Then, I read each of the bids and announced the highest bidder.

The students created pipe cleaner "grammar glasses" for our nouns and pronouns unit.  Here we are modeling our glasses!

To practice what they learned about nouns and pronouns, the students completed a "grammar lab."  They read a children's book with a partner, then identified all of the pronouns in the story.  They also stated common, proper, and compound nouns in the story.

After learning about the three main learning styles, I gave the students an opportunity to study our week spelling list in the style of their choice.  The kinesthetic group did stretches while spelling the words and acted out their meanings, while the auditory group chanted after one caller.  Pictured below is the visual group working on posters of each word with a meaningful sentence.

I have also added another class to my schedule!  I now teach German to the sixth graders during third period.  This class alternates with P.E., so the boys and girls are in two separate classes of seven students each.  I have organized each class into three leveled groups based on their background with the German language (which ranges from very basic to fluent!!).  Sometimes the students do individual practice using Rosetta Stone (pictured below), other times I work with small groups on topical lessons, and occasionally we are all together for a special application activity.  I am excited for the opportunity to help the students grow this semester!  (And meanwhile, my German is improving, too!)

Chapel Band Fun!

Because there is a special chapel at the high school tomorrow, the middle school chapel band didn't need to prepare songs to lead worship this week, which left us with two extra chapel band elective periods!  Here's what we decided to do...

Learn new songs!
I played some of Chris Tomlin's new CD ("Burning Lights") for the students, and we attempted "Lay Me Down" together.  (Check out the video below for a clip of this song!)  We also played 3 other relatively new songs together - "One Thing Remains" (Jesus Culture), "Find You on My Knees" (Kari Jobe), and "Cornerstone" (Hillsong Live).

Try new instruments!
We challenged the students to play their secondary instruments or even a totally new instrument to them!  Amazingly, they had no problem playing the new songs on new instruments.  These middle schoolers are incredibly talented!  In the picture below, I teamed up with one of our usual singers on keys.  She wanted to play the keyboard, but only knew the C chord... so she played C, and I played everything else!

"Play" the iPad!
Brittany (the other chapel band teacher) showed students how to use Garage Band to play along with the other instruments.  Each student had a turn with the iPad guitar, keyboard, drums, or stringed orchestra.

Jam together!
We have had a BLAST just playing together this week!  Take a look at the video on my Facebook for a peek at our jam session.

Sharing My Story

Many of you are familiar with my "story" of learning about opportunities to teach at BFA, applying to serve with TeachBeyond, and beginning my life overseas.  This Christmas break I have enjoyed catching up with friends and family who know my story well, who have committed to pray for me and have given sacrificially to enable me to serve overseas.

I have also had the unique privilege of sharing my story many times this Christmas break.  I spent 5 days right after Christmas at InterVarsity's Urbana missions conference, which happens every three years.  I attended as a student in 2006 and 2009, and I believe that the speakers and experiences at those conferences greatly impacted my understanding of missions and desire to be a part of God's work in the world.  It was so exciting to be in the St. Louis dome filled with 16,000 missions-minded students!  In the afternoons, I had conversations with many who are interested in teaching abroad or serving at a school in some way (residence life, nurse, chaplain, etc.).  How encouraging to not only share a bit of my story, but also hear their stories and personal passion for serving God overseas!  Please pray with me for these young adults as they prayerfully pursue God's leading in the years to come.  May they (and we!) be faithful to listen to His voice and follow His direction.  (And as a side note, if YOU are interested in serving with TeachBeyond, I'd love to talk with you about it!  I know a lot more about our schools now!)

The TeachBeyond booth - ready for students!

Our silly shot :)  Can you tell we had fun together?

I also had the opportunity to visit a German class at the high school I attended.  It's hard to believe that nearly 7 years have passed since I sat in those same seats!  I opted not to do the presentation in German (phew!), but instead shared stories about the Kandern area.  I talked about Kandern's geographical location, nearby cities, local festivals, and cultural tidbits, as well as the unique multiculturalism of BFA itself.  Very quickly, the hour-long class was finished!  How fun it was to see my former German teacher again and share about BFA in that context.

In 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane to return to Germany.  I'm so thankful for the time I've had on this side of the ocean, making new memories and reconnecting with people.  Thanks, God, for your faithfulness and provision, wherever we go!