The Last Month

It's hard to believe that a month has gone by since my last blog post! At the end of the school year time seems to fly by. Many things have happened in the last month that I hope I can sum them up for you and paint of picture of what is to come this summer!
 
My first year of teaching has come to a close and I couldn't have asked for a better year. I have had so much fun teaching and learning with these students over the last 10 months. They have been such a joy and it has been truly amazing to watch them learn and grow.
Some of the highlights from our last month together have been:

• Our Poetry Reading Celebration
• Field Day
• Eating lunch outside on nice days
• Studying Outer Space
• Sommerfest- an open house and concert at our school for the entire community
• Making pizza together
• Reading and watching "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo
• Sharing our "favorites" from our year and writing notes to each other

Making pizzas and cutting up apples on the last day of school

The last day of school for the English students and teachers was June 13th. I felt such closure as we celebrated the students' achievements and our wonderful year together. I have learned and grown so much and truly think second grade is the best! :) God has worked in wonderful ways in the lives of these students and in my heart as well. Because of the way the German school schedule works the German students and teachers will continue until about mid-July.


Last day of school hugs and love with my partner teacher too!

Here's what my summer looks like!
My parents arrived on June 15th for a time to vacation together and to show them where I live! It is so nice to have them here and to be able to explore a beautiful part of the world together.
One of the highlights of our trip so far has been going to school to see the German students and acting out the story of Lazarus and Jesus in the Bible. It was so fun to introduce the students to my parents and to act out this story together.

My parents in my classroom with the German students.

We then traveled to Munich, visited Dachau, explored the city, and drove down to Salzburg for a day. We made a beautiful stop in Schwangau, the sight of Newschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles and did some lovely hiking. On the way back to Kandern we stopped in Meersburg along Lake Constance and also in Titisee a beautiful town on a lake in the Black Forest. What a week!
We are looking forward to some great hiking and sights in Switzerland this next week.

By Wolfgang Lake outside of Salzburg in Austria

 

Dad and I at Neuschwanstein castle

 

Mom and I in the Mirabel Gardens in Salzburg on or way to a piano concert.

Once my parents head back to Pennsylvania, it is my plan to stay in Kandern for the summer. While I will miss returning to the States with them for the summer, I hope to have a busy but relaxing summer in Germany. I will be working on several projects at the elementary school as we bring in some new resources and curriculum for next year. I am also working on our school's handbook. In the beginning of August I will attend "Teach Beyond Institute" which is like part 2 of my mission organization's training program.

Another big task of my summer will be moving apartments. Because many people come and go at Black Forest Academy they would like to use our apartment for a family because it has several bedrooms. In our small town there can be limited housing and they often need to shuffle families and individuals around. This means that I will be moving around the end of July. I am sad to be leaving the apartment I am currently living in. Not only have I enjoyed living with my 3 other roommates and in a great space, we also have had very affordable rent and can split expenses four ways. Unfortunately, because I must move into a 2 bedroom apartment (still in town with my lovely roommate Amy) my rent and expenses will increase.

I tell you this for two reasons. First, I ask that you would please pray for this transition and change as I pack up and move down town. In addition, as my supporters and friends I ask that you would prayerfully consider joining my monthly support team to help with these additional living costs. I will send more information about this later, but please let me know if you're interested in becoming a partner in ministry here!
God has been so faithful to provide for me in so many ways. I know He will be faithful to continue to provide for all my needs. I am so thankful to be able to use his gifts, resources, and love to serve and live here in Germany. I will send more information both financially and about this past year in my next monthly letter. Let me know if you'd like to receive these letters via email!

My roommate Amy and I picking tulips!

More pictures and stories to come!
 

Important Poetry

We are currently having two English weeks at school. The German students are on vacation and it's just me and the English kiddos!
While we really miss having the German students and teachers around, it is really nice to spend some quality time with these kids. They are full of creative ideas, insightful thoughts, and lots of laughs! In addition, it is fun to have a small class of just 9 students for 8 days!

We started our poetry unit on Tuesday and we are writing and reading all different kinds of poetry.

Today we wrote "Important Poems" based off of, "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown. The students could pick something about themselves that they think is really important to write about. I told them they could do anything from "The important thing about me is I am a good friend" to "The important thing about me is that I love ice cream."

I was so impressed with their sincere and thoughtful poems. I wanted to share with you!

Student 1:
"The important thing about me is that I am a missionary.
I am honest,
and I am friendly,
and I trust,
but the most important thing about me is that I love Jesus with all of my heart!"

Student 2:
"The imporatnt thing about me is that God made me.
I am loved,
and I am watched over,
and I am special,
but the most important thing about me is God made me."

Student 3:
"The important thing about me is that I love Jesus.
Am imporant to Jesus,
and I am loving to Jesus,
and I know he died on the cross to wash away my sins,
but the most imporant thing about me is that I love him a lot!"

Student 4:
"The imporant thing about my mom is she cares about me a lot.
She is kind,
and she loves me,
and she is sweet,
but the most important thing about my mom is she cares about me."

How special to read about what is most important to these kids! They are each so unique and special.

Hike, Castle, Kids!

On Wednesday second grade went on another field trip! We first went for a hike on a journey to a neaby castle in Lörrach. On the way we had fun looking at beetles, spiders, and different kinds of leaves. It's amazing the bugs that seven and eight year olds will discover and pick up on the way!  We also sang songs, held hands, and enjoyed the short time that the sun came out!

Finally, we made it to the castle in time for our tour. Our tour guide showed us all the parts of the castle and didn't leave out any rooms or staircases. The kids were able to climb to the top of every tower with a great view of the surrounding area where you can even look into nearby Switzerland and France.



This is one of my favorite class pictures from the year!



Looking at the view!

After the tour of the caslte we invited all the parents and siblings of our class to join us at the castle for a cook out! We grilled our bratwurst on the fire and had a great time together. In the beginning of the picnic the students and families could roast bread dough on sticks over the fire. This is a traditional German treat! Then, after eating our dinner some of the American families brought along s'more supplies so that people could try an American treat. One of my favorite parts of the day was watching some of the German parents try the s'mores! They thought they were VERY sweet, but tasty! We love the bicultural expiences. So fun!

 

 

It was so nice for our class to make some wonderful memories together and to share some time with our parents and friends. It was an exhausting, but fun day!

 

World Missions Chapel

Time to catch up on some fun events and activities that have been happening here in Germany both at school and in life!

 

Two weeks ago, Katharina and I organized chapel for the school with the focus of "world missions". When we first began to brainstorm what we could do to encourage the student's awareness of sharing Jesus around the world, the task seemed overwhelming. Here we are teaching in a school where students at a young age have already lived in several countries. Many students have parents who have been missionaries for as long as they have known and have connections to places like Tajikistan, Laos, and Kenya. Many of the student's siblings just came back from BFA mission trips to various places around the world. And on the other hand, we have students at our school who are still understanding who Jesus is and why would we need or want to go tell others about him?

 

However, with prayer and great ideas our chapel time came together!

We invited the sisters of some of our second grade students to share about their mission trips over Spring break and the students interviewed them. One of our very own teachers from CSK was leaving the next week to begin a missionary journey in Tanzania and this was the perfect time for us as a school to pray for her and her husband and to send them with our love and support. We sang songs, learned a verse in German and English, and played a quiz game about Christianity around the world.

 

Our hope and prayer is that these children continue to understand the love that God has for the world and the important role we can have in sharing his love wherever we go!

All the grades come in to one room to worship together.

Many students are eager and willing to participate!

Singing songs

Playing a chapel game

When my hand is on my head, everyone is supposed to get quiet :)

Interviewing her sister about her trip to Kyrgyzstan

Interviewing her sister about her trip to Romania

Learning lots!

"God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
1 Timothy 2:4

I got a car!

I am so thankful to report that I was able to get a car last Friday!!!

 

I have been praying about getting a car for the last few months and am so glad that the Lord has answered my prayer. Thank you to everyone that has been praying for this along with me. It means so much to me.

 

I finally have a German license, registered the car, got the license plates, obtained insurance, and lastly, picked up the car!

 

This car is going to help me here in Germany in many ways. Here are the two big ones.  

 

First, I am dependent on others to get to and from school everyday. This means that I have little time to prepare and to clean up each day before and after school. Many times I have to leave the classroom a mess at the end of the day because I have to take the bus home with the kids. Otherwise, I would be stuck at school for the night or would have to walk about an hour back to my home in the next town.

This Saturday I drove myself to school and finally filed away all the papers that have been piling up. It felt so good!

 

Meet "Little Blue" :)

Second, having a car will really help me with grocery shopping. Since the grocery store that was closest to my house closed it now takes me over an 1 1/2 to walk to get groceries and to walk them home. I can only buy what I can carry.

Now I can make the short drive across town to the store and put everything in the trunk!

This is going to be so wonderful.

My new car will also help as I travel to and from places, am able to drive others around, and I can even drive myself to church!

There are many more reasons I could share about how this car will help my ministry and overall quality of life here in Germany.

I am so thankful and I feel so blessed!

 

Enjoying the sunshine and practicing driving stick!

 

 

GCC Visitors!!

Over the last view months I have had the pleasure of hosting and visiting with some awesome friends from Grove City College. I feel so blessed to be able to stay in contact with these girls and wanted to dedicate this blog post to them!!

It is so fun to be able to share a piece of my home here in Germany with them and to show them around this unique section of Europe. I have been so encouraged by their company and feel so fortunate to maintain such great relationships with college friends. Having visitors here really helps to validate what I'm doing and to feel connected back home. My hope is that it is a blessing to them as well!

Jocelyn and Sarah were both studying abroad as juniors in Spain and came to visit during the Christmas season back in December. We had a blast visiting Christmas markets, going for walks, and they even got to attend the Elementary Christmas Concert! It was an AWESOME weekend! I was so glad they were able to come visit :) I love these girls lots!

Enjoying some punch during Christmas season in downtown Kandern.

Exploring Freiburg together and going to the Christmas markets.

Making pancakes in my kitchen!

Going for a walk in the beautiful snow. :)

Alicia and Rachel are currently studying abroad as juniors in Berlin. They are studying German and doing so well! They flew down from Northern Germany to see a bit of small town life in Southern Germany. We had so much fun going for a hike together and exploring a bit of Basel, Switzerland. They even got to come to my German church with me on Sunday and could understand a lot of what was going on! It was so neat to exchange stories about living in Germany with one another. I was so blessed by our conversations and the heart these girls have for learning and for being a light to others!

Posing by a sign that says "City Kandern"

On top of the local castle looking out over France, Germany, and Switzerland in the far distance.
(You can only see Germany in this shot though!)

Alicia and I at the foot of the castle tower.

Hanging out by the Rhein in nearby Basel, Swtizerland.

Monica and Christina are currently seniors at Grove City College. They were able to come to Kandern for the ACSI conference to present some educational research at workshops during the conference. I was so happy to host them in my home and to attend the conference together. We learned so much! Then, after the conference we planned a fun trip to Munich and Salzburg and had so much fun exploring some of the classic sights in and around these two cities. They were such an encouragement to me and I was so blessed by our time together. I can't wait to see what the Lord has for them in the future as they graduate this May!

Monica and I at the conference.

Such great traveling companions!

Visiting Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein!

Exploring Salzburg!

Even though miles may separate, the bond between friends can transcend any distance. But when the opportunity presents itself for someone to come and visit, it is all the more sweeter! I think all these girls would agree that our time together was super special and brought wonderful memories that will stick with us!

If you are ever in the area or are able to find the means to make a special trip to Germany, I would love to host you! It is so fun to share this part of my life with others and to be reminded of what a priveledge it is to serve here.

Now back to planning for school which starts up again tomorrow!!

 

Connecting Around the Globe

Last Saturday through Tuesday was the International Christian Educator Conference put on through ACSI and held right here in Germany at Black Forest Academy. The conference is designed for educators from Europe and Africa who are teaching in international schools in many different countries.

I was blessed by this conference in so many ways.

I learned so much from listening to the speakers, attending seven workshops, and the time I spent conversing with teachers from around the world. I was encouraged in the work I am doing here in Germany and the chance to hear from others teaching in many unique settings. I was so thankful for the chance to reflect on the last few months and to gain new ideas for my special classroom.

Annika and Laura Lee were some my roommates back in Minneapolis for TeachBeyond training and great friends!

While I learned a lot, one of the biggest blessings was connecting with friends teaching around the world. Several of my friends attending the conference I had met back at my TeachBeyond orientation that took place in Minneapolis, MN in June. Check out my blog from after orientation here.
Back at the end of June we were figuring out where we were going, in the midst of raising both financial and prayer support from family and friends, and wondering what the Lord had in store for us in the various countries we were going to serve and teach.
During the conference we had time to converse and catch up with one another about how far the Lord has brought us. It is amazing to see His faithfulness reflected in our lives. From Czech Republic, Albania, Hungary, and back to Germany, God has showed us his goodness through the joys and challenges of serving Him overseas. It hasn't always been easy, but God has grown and stretched us in many was. It was really amazing to reconnect with these friends and to encourage one another.
 

Great friends serving around the world!

 

Awesome times worshiping together with hundreds of other educators.

 

Alumni, professor, and students all from Grove City College :)
So fun to connect with one another!

I am so thankful for the chance I had to attend the conference and for the wonderful relationships that I was able to form with other teachers. I am looking forward to putting the many ideas that I gained into practice and to have fresh perspective going back to school after Easter.
Finally, after the conference I was able to travel around inexpensively with some Grove City friends. I will have to post some pictures from our travels soon! Germany is so beautiful and I was so excited to finally be able to have the chance to see this country during my break!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!! He is Risen indeed!