Time to Breathe

Last Wednesday my small group girls and I had a fun movie night together. It was needed to just relax in some comfy clothes with popcorn and hot chocolate. I am so blessed by my time with these awesome ladies and for a chance to take it easy together.
 

Small Group movie night!

This Friday was the Thanksgiving celebration at the elementary school. The parents helped to organize a wonderful event with activities and food for all the students.

 Unfortunately, I got a stomach bug the night before and was battling a fever and flu-like symptoms. No fun! Although I missed this fun event I still got some cute pictures from the day's festivities from a friend.

I am on my way back to a settled stomach and figuring out what to eat and not to eat. I would really appreciate your prayers as I hope to go back to school tomorrow.

 

Making Crafts

 

First Graders dressed up like pilgrims

Eating Thanksgiving food together

Despite feeling completely out of it and under the weather, I am learning the importance of rest and trusting that the Lord knows just what I need. There are times when we just need to stop and rest. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Learning to rest in Him and know that it is all in His hands.

 

Five Fun Favorites

Here are five fun things that have been happening in the last week or so!

1. Hike to Castle
Guess what! I can hike to castle ruins from my house. How cool is that? A little over a week ago, Heather Brown and I went for a beautiful fall walk to Sausenburg castle which is just over 3km from my house. I have been wanting to hike there since I moved here and I finally got to go. It was so beautiful and I had great company :)

 

2. First Snowy Day
Last weekend it snowed in Kandern. There's something so magical about snow. I loved it!
(It has all melted by now and we are back to living in fall.)


View from my kitchen window

3. Scientists
My students are wonderful scientists. We did a leaf investigation a little over a week ago and the students did a great job studying and classifying their many leaves! It is so fun to be able to do hands on projects in science using natural materials!

 
4. Praising Jesus
This last week was a fall holiday for the German students and so I just had my English students in class. There were so many times during the last week where my heart swelled and I smiled as I watched these student's learn and grow together and demonstrate their love for the Lord in so many ways. One of these times was as the students created a "Thankful Mural" of the many things they are thankful for. I put on worship music and the students sang songs of praise to the Lord as they drew pictures of family, friends, Christmas trees, houses, and foods. What a joy to watch!!

 

5. Herbstmesse
Wednesday the middle school and high school students of Black Forest Academy traveled to Herbstmesse, a fall festival in the nearby city of Basel. There are fun rides to go on and great food. I met up with some of my second graders who were there with older siblings and their families, and I went on a few rides with them! What a great experience to make memories together outside of the classroom :)

 

Castles, hiking, snowy days, science projects, singing songs, giving thanks, slides and second graders, these are some of my favorite things! My heart is so glad to be able to enjoy the beauty of the Lord's creation and to delight in His children. Jesus is making these words ever more clear to my heart, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:3-5. These children continue to teach me more about the love of my heavenly Father and I am so glad to be able to share His love with them daily. More stories to come! 

 



Thanksgiving Chapel

Last Thursday 2nd grade volunteered to lead our school's chapel time. Because we are a multicultural school we try to celebrate Thanksgiving in between the various dates countries celebrate Thanksgiving. We thought that this time in October would be a fitting time to give thanks to God for who He is and all He has provided for us.

Morning theme: "Jesus loves a thankful heart"

Acting out the story when Jesus heals the ten lepers and only the one comes back to give thanks to Jesus.

The second grade students performed 2 skits, sang several songs about giving thanks, shared what they were thankful for, and helped their fellow classmates learn a Bible verse in English and German.

Learning our verse, Psalm 107:1, with hand motions :)

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever."

Pslam 107:1

"Danket dem Herrn; denn Er ist freundlich , und Seine Güte währet ewig."

Psalm 107,1

Students performing a skit in German reminding us that everything we have comes from the Lord.
Mont Lawn Camp friends: I taught the entire school "Back of the Loaf" and my whole school dropped that beat!!!

 At the end of the time students wrote their thanks to God on a leaf and added it to a school tree displayed in our entry way. Everyday as I walk past the tree I am reminded to give thanks to God. He has blessed me with a wonderful class, opportunities to share His love, and a great place to teach.

Thankful tree covered in leaves giving thanks to God!

Giving thanks to God daily for his abundant blessing and for being our Creator, Provider, Savior, Father, and Friend.

Field Trip!

On Tuesday second grade went on a field trip to Rüttehof, a nearby apple farm. We had so much fun learning about how apple juice is made and seeing where they pick apples! It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day. We walked to the farm through the lovely countryside and brought along some snacks for eating. At the farm we sampled some fresh apple juice and some freshly picked apples. I had so much fun and I know the kids did too!

The best part: the kids learned a lot about apples. I took lots of fun pictures and had a hard time picking just a few! Here are some of my favorites from our morning adventure!!



Posing by the sign for the farm



Walking there on a beautiful fall morning



Love these great girls!



The farmer telling the students about the process (all in German!)



Watching the juice come out of the bottom of the machine



The dried apples come out the back once all the juice is squeezed out. I love his face!!



Sampling the freshly pressed apple juice



Enjoying their juice together with mom!



Eating snack



Checking out the crates of apples in the store room and picking one to keep/eat!



So sweet! I LOVE my students :)



You can only imagine what these boys are like in the classroom... lots of fun!



Second grade class at the farm!



All the bottles of the warm cider. We didn't want to take our hands off of them. All these bottles were nice and warm!



On the way back I thought it would be fun to take a jumping picture! haha!



Walking passed the apple trees on the way back to school.



Walking through the town of Wollbach on the way back to school.

It was so much fun to visit the farm and to make great memories with my students! We certainly learned a lot. I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

 

Fall Days

The days are getting cooler and the leaves are starting to turn yellow here in Germany! Herbst (fall) is kicking in. Here are some fall happenings!

Last week it was time for my students to draw the "October" picture of a tree we are observing in the backyard of the school. I took a few pictures as the students diligently drew the details of the bark, leaves, apples, and branches of the tree. What great observers! They did an awesome job capturing the changes of the tree since September. We will come back again to observe our tree in November and to record our findings!

 

 

 As school and life continues this fall I am still adjusting to life teaching and living here in Germany. I truly appreciate the prayers of so many people for my students and for my own transition to this new culture. I am discovering more and more what I want my routine to look like and what areas in school and home that I want to adjust to keep a balanced and Christ-focused life. I appreciate your prayers throughout the ups and downs of these fall days. Check out Amy's blog post for a great look at what a typical day looks like at our school, CSK. A second grade day looks slight different, but for the most part it's very similar!

This Saturday I took a short trip to a nearby town called Titisee with some friends. It is a picturesque, small town in the Black Forest that was so fun to visit this time of year. Here are some pictures from the neat shops and beuatiful lake that we got to visit! I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful area!


Elizabeth and I took a paddle boat ride out on the lake! It was so fun!



Cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest

Enjoying fall with friends :)
 

These fall days are filled with long school days, scarves and sweaters, fun adventures to nearby places, grading and planning, and also remembering to take time on this Sunday afternoon to look again at the bigger picture: the power of Christ's love. I shared with my students this week a verse that I needed to be reminded of. Philipians 2:14 says "Do everything without arguing or complaining." In the ups and downs of each day it is easy to complain or get bogged down with the many tasks to be done. Instead, we must turn our eyes to Christ who offers the strength and patience needed for each moment.
Paul goes on to write: "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain."
What an awesome reminder of the love and focus Jesus offers to us.

In the cool, beautiful days of fall, His love is enough.

Letters to God

Second grade is learning about prayer. Right now the students are learning the Lord's Prayer in English and in German with my partner teacher Katharina. I am trying to learn it in German right along with them! After talking about prayer with the students a few weeks ago I had them write letters to God where they could give praise, thanks, a request, or make a small confession. It is so cool to see what the students wrote to the Lord. Here are a few! I have blocked out their names for privacy purposes and included a translation and clarification!   


"I love you and I believe in you and thank you for a class and a school and a teacher named Ms. Nicholson" 
(so sweet!)

 


"Thank you for dying on the cross."

 


Translation: "I love God. God is big. God is strong. God has power and God has the whole world. God please help my friends."

 


Translation: "Thank you for my friends and for the world."

 


"Thank you for this world and all the things you put in it. And I'm sorry for all the things I have done wrong."

 


This is a German student writing in English!! Pretty good!
"Thank you for the delicious food and for my family and that I have a bed and pets and that I have friends and a house."

 What a joy to watch these students express their heart to the Lord and to learn that He hears their prayers each and every day. Please continue to pray for these students that they may learn the love God has for them and all that He has in store for their lives!