More of VW

As we're working on VW's final History project (a self-invented board game), he has me cutting out little circle soldiers while he works on the catapults and centurions. Of course, he only needs 4 catapults, but he's asked for 220 circle soldiers. So, I'm cutting away while he's drawing, when a parent walks in. She starts asking me about her two kids and their homework status, and naturally I put the scissors down to devote my full attention.

Barely two minutes into the conversation, VW looks up. "Hey, less talking, more working!"

Final Week

My last week at BFA for this first year hasn't exactly gone as planned. In fact, it's been rather tough in a year that's been rather filled with tough weeks. More bad things happened, and more tears were shed on behalf of students I've come to love and care for deeply. On Wednesday night, I found myself engrossed in a deep conversation with God, wondering what the point of being here was if the cost to my heart was so great. The spiritual weight felt heavy on my chest, and I went so far as to question MK schools as a whole. Were they really all that wonderful? Did I want to go back to the states and defend them to supporters and friends? "Sure, send your kids to an MK school where they'll be emotionally dragged through the mud!" I stood on my bed, peering out my skylight window, and praying over and over that God would bring more healing (theme of the year). It was a late night, and there didn't seem to be any answers, so I feel asleep exhausted.

48 hours later, and I'm still tired. I've been staying late at school and coming home to pack more boxes for the big move on Tuesday. There are errands to run, bills to pay in advance, suitcases to pack for the states, and good-byes to be said. And in the midst of this chaos, God just gave me a gift. 5 minutes ago, my work was interrupted by a pack of squealing boys out on the square. Yes, you read that right: squealing boys! I ran to the skylight over my bed to see what the commotion was, and I saw some strangely clad boys dashing around and looking behind lampposts, around the fountain, and under benches. One of them screamed louder, and the others congregated as he pulled a neon yellow hat out from under the bench with a crumpled piece of paper. He put the bright hat on his head, proceeded to read what I assume was a clue to the others, and then they all ran off squealing some more. It made me smile.

Maybe this place is a place worth investing in. Maybe these kids, who certainly have seen a lot of bad things in this world, need a haven, and just maybe BFA can still be one. I got to thinking. What if the bad things that happened this year would have happened somewhere else, where they couldn't have been caught or curbed or healed? What if being at an MK school actually was God's way of pulling them out? What if the people who are here are here for a reason this year? I may not know all the staff yet, but the ones I know really do care, and the students I know best have sensitive hearts. I feel honored to be a part of it.

Funniest Moment of the Day

All the seniors are stressing out about meeting their community service hours quota before graduation. Those are basically volunteer hours that they do for people in the community for free. I have 6 helping me move next week.

So today on my way home, I saw two of them sweating in the sun hauling bricks.

Me: Ah, trying to rack up those hours, huh?
HVDM: No, this is for the joy of the Lord!

Made me laugh. (By the way, those really are all HVDM's initials.)

God's working

I still look back at the last three months and cannot believe all that God has done. Here's a work in progress of my attempt to express some of it:

Out of February's grime, you brought May's identity.
Out of rot, you brought worth.
Out of ashes, beauty.

You turned February's scars into May's completeness.
You turned trash into a crown.
Shame into honor.

For February's storm, you exchanged May's rays.
For driftwood, you exchanged a temple.
For brokenness, healing.

February grew winter. May found spring.
February held loss. May gave gain.
February saw death. May was life.

I love VW

I continue to be amazed at VW's progress. He was less than happy this morning in History, and it was all I could do to drag him through the lesson. We had almost reverted to the old days of his never answering my questions and not even making eye contact.

But then this afternoon, the 5th graders came over to visit the middle school, their new home next year. The 6th graders were assigned various jobs in showing their underclassmen the ropes, and VW was given the task of tour guide down the main hallway. My heart was filled with warm fuzzies when I heard his strong voice and Swedish accent drifting through my door:

"And here is de computer lab. You will learn many dings in dere about computer programming and typing. Now Room 405 is de storage room. You will not need to go in dere. Here is de Resource Room. Come along now. Hurry, please."

Adorable!

London, baby!

(Sarah Helget, that title's for you.)

The AP trip to London was SO MUCH fun - good kids, fantastic city, and a break from the routine. Hurrah! The youth hostel was really the only downer what with the stench, the nasty public showers, and the attached disco, not to mention the drunken fist fight right outside one's door in the middle of the night.

On Thursday we arrived, hit the British Museum, took 1/2 the students to the Imperial War Museum, wandered around Covent Garden, and saw Phantom of the Opera. My feet were shot by the end of that night. On Friday we went to Greenwich, saw maritime stuff at their museum, paraded around the Natural History Museum, snuck off to Foyle's bookstore, and attended a Globe production (that sadly left some things to be desired, such as proper clothes for some of the characters). On Saturday we visited Blenheim Palace and Oxford, where my friend Adeline joined me for the day. And on Sunday we hit some main sites in London such as Parliament, Westminster, and Buckingham (all from the outside), and returned to BFA 3 hours before they shut Gatwick Airport due to the ash cloud. Praise God!

Prime Meridian

old-fashioned tennis balls

the Globe with the rather promiscuous rendition of Midsummer Night's Dream

Definite highlight: Foyle's bookstore that the show Foyle's War was named after; I bought a book on Anglo-Saxon history in Britain (yep, I'm a nerd)

Got to see Adeline (friend from Ecuador)

Last adventure of the year - apart from moving in 2 weeks, though I'm not nearly looking forward to that one as much. Love you all and can't wait to see most of you soon.

Retro Day

I think I'm mourning the fact that Austrian schools never had spirit days (can you imagine!) by completely overkilling my costumes when we have spirit days here. The theme this time was 60's, 70's or 80's. Here's one of me with other middle school teachers and the principal - my future colleagues! Makes me happy.(If you couldn't tell, I was supposed to be a hippie.)

Kids and Colds

I should invest in the hand sanitizer stock market. Every day after my middle schoolers leave, I practically run to the hand sanitizer in the hallway, load up two paper towels and wipe down every surface I can in my room. Yesterday, one particular middle schooler finished blowing his nose and threw away his tissue (after the usual routine of his putting it on the table and my asking him to throw it away), and then he returned to his seat with a giant, hot pink booger hanging out of his nose. In revolt, I pushed my chair away, hurled another tissue at him, and pointed aghast, "What's that?" He wiped the hot pink booger into the kleenex, studied it for a minute, and said, "Must be my nose medicine. My mom told me not to blow it out." For one lingering, dreadful second, I thought he was going to sniff it back up into his nose, but to my relief, he crumpled it up and placed it on the table (until I once again asked him to throw it away in the trash).

Look what God has done

I'd never understood what people were talking about when they were glad to see a month end. Sure some months were often tougher than others, but I never blamed it on the month itself. Until this past February. It was bad from start to finish, full of crises and challenges and bad news. Those of you who helped pray me through it remember! March didn't come soon enough, and it definitely turned a corner. High school retreat picked up our spirits, and then we all headed in spring break with mission trips and uplifting conferences. I looked back at February 2010 and said, "Good. Riddance!" February was rot, dust, ashes.

Last week and today, the Black Forest Christian Fellowship (the English-speaking church that meets at school) had baptisms. I decided to forgo my German church to see some of my current and future students make this big step of obedience. Well, no one told me EY was among those getting baptized. EY was the one who helped blow the whistle on the sexual abuse case in February, and so many of you have prayed for her and her healing process since. Today I saw some of those prayers answered. God has brought beauty out of the ashes!
There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Especially from all the boys you can see in the front of the picture - her dorm brothers. During the prayer time, her mother asked everyone who'd invested in EY's life or at any time ever prayed for her to stand. The entire auditorium was on its feet, and I couldn't help but think of all the people and supporters around the world who'd also laid EY at Jesus' feet. It was a beautiful picture. Do February storms also bring May crowns?

Not to overlook all the other students who took big steps today as well, here are some other snapshots. The first one is a girl who'll be my student next year! The middle one had a testimony of loss that also made me sob, and the final shot is one of the boys from the dorm I volunteer at every Thursday. Such sweethearts all of them!