A Day in the Life

Me and Callie (far right) with some of our gals

 Oh me, oh my, so much has happened! We are now in the third week of school, and finally starting to get into the swing of things. It definitely takes a while for all of us to start adjusting well, seeing as how there are new students, old students are gone, there are two new RA's, the RA's from last year are gone, some people have never lived away from home, we're in a country that we aren't particularly familiar with and don't speak the language, etc. Sixteen teenage girls and 5 staff members living together in harmony takes work! But it's rewarding!

It has definitely been a pleasure getting to know these girls better and to work alongside Steve, Stacey, and Callie. There are so many opportunities for great conversation, for hugs, sipping hot tea together, listening and wiping away tears, laughter, and learning. We're living life together, just in a way that not a ton of people experience at the high school age. I'll go ahead and give you an overview of what a typical day might look like at Storchenblick...

Messages left on my board the 2nd week :)

I get up at about 7am, unless I have to make hot breakfast, in which case I get up earlier. We eat breakfast and start cleanup at 8am. The girls leave for the bus at 8:20. Stacey, Callie, and I line up at the door and give hugs as they leave. Then we have a bit of time to get ready for the day, then either meet together to talk over what's going on in the dorm and pray, or go grocery shopping, bake, and the like. Around noonish we get to have lunch and then have free time until about 3:30pm. I usually take a nap, read a book, write some emails, or something like that. Occasionally I'll get out and do something a little more active, but honestly the time to just do not much of anything is nice. Someone has snack duty and starts getting that ready for students so that when they arrive home at 4:15 they can walk in and have a bite to eat (haha, I always think of “The Terminal” when I hear that phrase). The girls have free time until dinner, which we pick up from the central kitchen at the high school and bring home to eat at 6:15. After dinner is chore time, when the girls do their assigned chores. From 7:30-9:30 we have study hours, then at 9:30 we do lunch prep (we put out things they can take for lunch and they assemble it themselves). At 10 we send them to start getting ready for bed (except seniors), and at 10:30 we have lights out. Callie and I do “tuck in” for our respective floors, which means we get to go around to every room and see how the girls are doing and tell them goodnight. This has been a great time for me, and I really appreciate that we do it. I usually don't finish with tuck in until almost 11 since there's always something to talk about or someone to encourage to hurry up :) Just tonight I was able to read a couple Psalms aloud to one of my girls per her request, and we talked about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Sunset over Holzen; Photo by Stacey Babich

I have had many amazing moments already of girls opening up to me and pouring out their hearts, struggles, fears, joys, etc. It really took me by surprise actually, that it started with some pretty big stuff in the first week! But how great that there is already that level of trust! Praying for them and encouraging them has been so awesome for me. I also praise the Lord for the great dorm staff that we have here, and how we are able to work as a team. Please continue to pray for us that we would grow in unity and love. I've been discovering more and more how important it is to be filled by God first and then to overflow that out into my work and relationships. This is true in any life, but it certainly becomes very evident when you live with this many people! There are times when I've felt inadequate to meet the needs and answer the questions of these precious young ladies, but then I remember that I really AM inadequate, but God is MORE than adequate, and HE is the one working in and through me! Pray that He will be glorified in my life and in this ministry at Storch dorm, as well as in the other dorms and BFA as a whole.

Storchlettes cheering at a football game

Thank you for your love and support! I see that people read my blog and am encouraged just to know that you are keeping up! May God bless you all abundantly as you walk with Him!

Philippians 2:13

...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

They're here!!!

View of Holzen from my window

New students arrived yesterday to Storchenblick, and returning ones are arriving today. It's so great to start filling up the dorm with all these young ladies!! I've definitely enjoyed meeting them and some of their parents. There is a lot of diversity among them, which I think is just great, and it will be interesting to see how community life unfolds as time goes on. I look forward to a fantastic year ahead of us!!

So here are some more details about what's been going on over here in Deutschland. This past week we had All Staff Orientation for BFA, as well as additional Res. Life training. It is all well and good to have orientation for 3 weeks, but let's just say that I feel like I'm oriented for the rest of my life and will never need to go through orientation again. Meetings. So many of them. Glad they are over. On a positive note though, it was really good to be here that far in advance in order to get more settled, become familiar with the area, develop relationships with staff, and start to get over the initial shock of being in a completely different country. I don't feel entirely clueless at least!

My desk, where all this literary magic happens

I had my driver's test with our Res. Life supervisor this past week. I've stalled a vehicle twice since I came to Germany. I stalled a vehicle twice during my driver's test....seriously?!? Performance nerves, I'm telling you! I still passed though, so it's all good. I seem to have had a few embarrassing moments this past week...I'd like to attribute it to mental exhaustion, so that's what we're going to do. During All Staff Orientation us newbies all had to give our testimonies to the entire staff (3 mins), and there was a list of what order we were to go in, and I got so zoned into the whole “I have to get up there and just get it over with” (I'm not a public speaker...) that I completely skipped the person before me, even though she was sitting just a few feet from me and was already in the process of getting up there. Didn't even register. Lord have mercy. I gave her a good introduction though for when it was her turn. :) Another incident (that same day!) was at the grocery store. So here in Germany grocery stores don't bag your groceries. If you've ever been to Aldi, it's like that. Except here they expect you to put your groceries in the cart as they scan (having emptied it and put everything on the conveyor belt and taken it to the other end of the register). The belt is really long, and then on the other end there is like maybe a foot or two of space before your groceries start to overflow off the counter and the cashier gives you a dirty look. That actually wasn't my embarrassing moment. So because they don't bag your groceries you just take your cart out to your car and bag/box them in there as you load it up. What they don't tell you is that you aren't allowed to take out the shopping basket as well. I found that out when I walked out the door, the alarm went off, I stopped, looked at my friend and she said, “I think it's your basket,” so I turned and went back through, setting the alarm off again. Thankfully I had a bag in my purse so I just discreetly (ha!) put my stuff in the bag, returned the basket to it's rightful place, and scooted out the door, trying not to make eye contact with the many Germans who were staring at me. Sigh. Welcome to acculturation.

A lovely town, Todtnau, that has falls nearby

Well, our new girls are about to get back to the dorm from their day of new student orientation, so I should go help with snack prep. Tomorrow are opening ceremonies and then classes start on Wednesday! I'm looking forward to getting into the routine and having everyone feel more at home. Keep us all in your prayers, especially the students as they say goodbye to family and adjust to dorm life! Also for us, that we would provide a great loving home for them!

I John 3: 1a

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!