Life

It was good to be back at school (work) today. I took yesterday and this morning off for personal reasons, but was able to go back to work this afternoon. The last week and a half have been difficult and emotional. I have been processing the unexpected deaths of two people in my life, one of them a friend and colleague here at BFA, and the other one my grandfather. On the same day, Easter Sunday, I found out about the death of my friend and was also told the news that my grandfather had been transferred into an inpatient hospice facility. My grandfather passed away on Tuesday, the same day that we celebrated the life of my friend in a memorial service at BFA.

I have been processing many emotions. Grief, sadness, joy, longing, sorrow, peace. It is difficult to be going through all of these emotions and feelings so far away from my family at home. I wish that I could be with them. To give to them what comfort I can and to be available to help. I think that many times I process things better when I am able to help, to serve by doing. Being so far away means that I am not available to help; I can only offer encouragement from afar. It is difficult to be so far away.

I am incredibly grateful for my many friends, at home in Seattle, as well as here in Kandern. I have been deeply encouraged by their very visible care and concern. My heart has been filled. I find it difficult to express just how grateful I am for my friends. Know that you are loved.

The title of this post was deliberate. Though I have been filled with grief over the death of these two people, I am also filled with joy knowing the life that they now share in the presence of Jesus. LIFE.

I was encouraged simply by returning to school today – seeing the students, hearing their laughter, being enveloped in their heartfelt hugs. I enjoy living life with them. It is to serve them that I moved so far away from home. Though it is difficult, I do not regret it. I love serving these students, no matter the cost.

I am grateful for the time that I had to know both of these individuals, for how they impacted my life. I only hope that I can love Jesus as much as they did.

Becoming

This last week Jill and I took our small group on a short 15 minute hike up to the Gazebo, on a nearby hill that overlooks the town. The girls were full of energy with Spring break only a few days away. We ate ice cream, watched the sun set over the distant hillside, and shared prayer requests. Each of us volunteered to pray for someone else. After we had all shared, we prayed together. Literally. We all prayed out loud at the same time for the person we had selected. Before we started one of the girls asked, “What language should we pray in?” To which I responded, “In whatever language you feel most comfortable speaking.”

As we started praying I heard prayers being spoken around me in English, Korean, Russian, and French. Even now as I recall that moment I am filled with awe and incredible joy. One of the girls told me later that it was an “Aha!” moment for her – an experience that gave her a new perspective of God. It was a poignant visualization of  the fact that God hears all of our prayers, at every moment, in whatever language we speak. Not only does he hear our prayers, but he understands us, each in our own language.

These are the moments that I love. Revelations of God’s love for us. Experiences that deepen our understanding of who God is and how he works in this world and in our hearts.

Recently I have been reflecting on my life and the changes I have experienced over the last year. I am a different person than I was a year ago. I live in a different country and I work in a different job – but these are only the obvious differences. I am filled with greater hope, greater faith, and greater love. I see God with a different perspective, as an incredibly creative God who made us all in his image with unique languages and cultures. I am immensely blessed by the new friendships I have made and by the faithful, solid friendships that I have kept.

I love these students. In many ways they are very unique. Deep down though, they are normal teenagers. People who are craving love and acceptance, and who are seeking to find their place in this vast world. I love the opportunity to live life with them. To heal their hurts. To give Band-Aids, Tylenol, and cough drops – when that is what they need. To be a listening ear, a trusted friend to pray with, and someone to give encouragement and direction.

I love the life that I am living in this place. I love the beauty that surrounds me – the many paths to wander in and roads on which to ride my bicycle. I love the friends that I have made. I love the students that I work with and for. I love learning the German culture and language. My heart is being filled and I am being changed. I pray only that God would continue to open my heart to his purposes and that I might respond with obedience and joy. For as long as I am in this place, I want to serve Him. I want to be changed, so that I may become more like Him.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:12-14

A week in review

I have been consistently busy these last few weeks, nevertheless it is a busyness that I enjoy. My life is decidedly event-oriented. I plan and prepare for one event and then quickly move on to the next.

Here’s a quick peak at some the highlights (and events) of the last week:

Jill's guitar class playing outside...as viewed from the staff room on the third floor (Wednesday, March 21)

The weather has been incredibly beautiful the last week and many classes have chosen to move outside during their class period – a sign that Spring is here!

Kristi's English class enjoying the beautiful weather, while I ate my lunch nearby (Thursday March 22)

A few visitors stopped by my office to say hello...

...and gave me the rest of their gummy bears! (Friday March 23)

Last Friday was the annual BFA Talent Show:

Annual BFA Talent Show in which my good friends Lexi and Kristi served as MC's

MC's in character

Four-man push up contest during the intermission

A group of students who formed a band - and who are incredibly talented

On Saturday and Sunday Lynette and I attended the Overseas’ School Health Nurses Association (OSHNA) annual conference near Kaiserslautern, Germany. There were school nurses from all over the world in attendance.

The hotel in Hohenecken (near Kaiserslautern) where the OSHNA conference was held

International School Nurses' Conference (Saturday-Sunday March 24-25)

Yesterday a group of us traveled to Basel for a concert at the Stadtcasino. It was a performance of Brahms Requiem by the Kammerorchester Basel and the Camerata Vocale Freiburg. Thank you to my awesome orchestra-teacher-friends Marit and Jill for inviting to hear this beautiful piece!

The group (minus Chris who took the picture) who went last night to the concert in Basel

The concert hall (Monday March 27)

Basel at night, with the moon shining in the distance

Today at track practice we did several simulated races. The weather was again beautiful and warm – a perfect day to be at the track!

100m men

100m women

800m men - my distance runners!

800m women lining up

And there you have it – my week in pictures!

As seen from my bicycle

Today after school I went for a bike ride. It was not an incredibly difficult route, but it had a few good hills. The sky was blue and the sun was just beginning to slide down. So here you are – a few pics from my evening bike ride…

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Just a normal Monday…sort of

Today was a normal Monday, except for the part in which I was a guest speaker for the Intro to Med Science (the second semester of Anatomy and Physiology) class. There are two sections of the class and they are currently finishing up a section on the immune system and the teacher asked me to come in and talk about stem cell transplantation. I was only supposed to talk for 15-20 minutes. I ended up talking for the entire period! It was really fun to have the opportunity to talk about something I have firsthand experience with. The students were very inquisitive and had a lot of very insightful questions (one of the reasons it took longer than planned). There is a strong possibility that I may teach this class next year and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see what it would be like to be in front of the classroom.

One of my small group girls is in the first section (1st period) and I asked her to take a few pictures for me.

Obviously paying very close attention from the back of the room...

Her co-conspirator in cheesy poses (who is also one of the distance runners that I am coaching in track)

Here’s a few photos of me in action:

 

Not exactly a normal Monday, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Moments

Recently my days have been completely filled with activities, projects, or events from the minute I wake until the minute my head hits the pillow.  I love my life here, and the many opportunities I have to connect with the students. When I am not at school I am usually hanging out with friends or exploring the area in my running shoes or on my bike.

At the end of the day I often reflect on how the day transpired – the people I talked with, the activities I engaged in, and the various events that filled my day. Most often, it is the brief moments that stick out in my mind. Moments that seem unimportant at the time – that pass by quickly or that are crowded out by other more pressing circumstances.

This week has been filled with many of these moments.

Every day at track practice (I’m one of the distance coaches), we all do several warm-up laps together. We then do stretches, which are led by one of the team captains. We hold each stretch for 15 seconds. Someone will count out-loud to fifteen and the rest of us repeat each number as they are called out. On Monday we counted to fifteen in 9 different languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Turkish, Russian, Korean, and Chinese.

On Wednesday I ran with the distance runners on a 40-minute out-and-back run along one of the nearby trails. There were eleven of us. Three students who are fast runners were up ahead. Four students who are a little slower were running together behind me. Which left three of us in a group in the middle. Two of them were girls who are in my small group.

I loved it! It struck me as we were running and chatting together, how fun it was for me to be able to run with them. Four of the seven girls in my small group are participating in track. I love the opportunity to see them everyday at practice and to hang out with them outside of our small group time. Not only am I having fun being a “coach” but I also love the opportunity it gives me to build relationships.

On Thursday I subbed at Blauen, as I do every other Thursday. It was a long day going from work to track practice to the dorm. The more times I go though, the more I love the girls. We are getting to know each other. One of the girls even saved a chair for me to sit next to her at dinner.  This week I made banana chocolate chip muffins for their breakfast the next morning. One of the girls helped me, while another read us Shakespeare (it was the Ides of March, after all). We may have eaten enough batter to make another 1 or 2 muffins, but there were still 48 cooked muffins!

Later on that evening I chuckled to myself as I sat reading on the couch at the dorm. There was a group of three girls sitting nearby working on homework. Well, I assume it was homework anyway. They were speaking Korean, so there’s no way for me to actually prove that it was homework!

These are the moments I love – that fill my day with laughter and with meaning!

 

Heathrow

(I wrote this on the flight from London to Seattle)

I am on my way home to Seattle for the first time since moving to Germany. My layover took me through London Heathrow, an airport that I am starting to become familiar with. The first time that I ever set foot in Heathrow was almost exactly 10 years ago. En route to Kenya on a short-term mission trip, we had several hours to waste until our next flight. By several hours I mean twelve. Courageously braving the border officials, the first stamp in my passport was from the United Kingdom. We spent several hours in London before returning to the airport to continue our journey to Nairobi. On our way back we again had an extended layover in Heathrow. Except this time we were exhausted from three weeks of continuous work and travel and opted to nap within the terminal rather than venture out to the city.

Setting foot in London, and in Heathrow specifically, recalls many memories associated with this place. I remember enjoying the fellowship of close friends, excitedly gathering at the Starbucks for a little taste of Seattle across the pond, seeing pounds and pence for the first time, inwardly delighting at the ever-growing number of stamps in my passport, curling up awkwardly on a row of airport benches trying to catch a few minutes of sleep while others of my friends did the same, and individually and collectively processing the experiences and emotions of the previous few weeks’ service in Kenya.

Little did I know that my experiences in Kenya would have so decided an impact on my life that it would cause me 10 years later to be similarly bound for Heathrow. This time it would be as a layover on my way to Germany. Again as a missionary, but this time I had no return trip planned.

Heathrow, on my way to Germany

It has been just over six months since I moved to Germany. I am returning home to Seattle, but only for 10 days of holiday. My travel started in Basel, again with a layover in Heathrow. My flight landed in Terminal A but the connecting flight to Seattle was in Terminal B. I made my way to gate B46, and to my surprise I ran into someone I knew. It took me a few seconds’ reflection to recall her name – Megan McPherson. Someone I knew from youth group back in junior high and high school.

Here’s what struck me: she was returning home to Seattle from the same trip to Kenya that I took 10 years ago! She went with the same leaders who led the trip that I served with. They had stayed behind in Kenya, otherwise I would have seen them as well.

God spoke to me in that moment. Two things He impressed on my heart: that He has a plan for my life and that I can rest secure in knowing that He has even greater things in store for me, and a hopeful desire that maybe one of the students who is now returning from Kenya may one day decide to become a full-time missionary just as I am now. God uses many events and circumstances to influence the route that our path will take; mine has been influenced, at least in part, by the bustling terminals of Heathrow Airport, which I look forward to passing through again in my travels to and from Germany!