Ich bin eine Baustelle

In the middle of our travels through the Midwestern states, we find ourselves this morning in Branson, Missouri looking out across a beautiful college campus while eating our breakfast on a porch. Like most colleges, this one is fixing facades, cleaning out storage rooms and generally updating buildings and grounds during the summer holidays

The German city that we left two and a half weeks ago has also been undergoing some updating. The river that runs through the town of Kandern is being widened to avoid another flood like the one the town experienced over 100 years ago. The Germans plan ahead! The construction project has meant uprooting trees, purchasing portions of private property, widening riverbeds and rerouting water flow. The project has already taken over 18 months and is likely to be "Im Bau" another 9-12 months until completion.

Kandern construction as viewed from our living room window.

As we have re-entered the states and have been able to see friends, family and supporters, God has gently shown me the "Im Bau" signs in my life. Anxiousness and fear seem to characterize my interactions with others, and the overflow of my heart is not peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness or self-control.


Instead, I want to control Isaac's driving: "Turn here;" "You know, you can go through that light." I tend to make quick judgments of people and places: "This isn't how they do it in Germany." Some of these things are natural repercussions of reverse culture shock, but I sense their roots going deeper. There are attitudes to be uprooted and mindsets to be widened. I am reminded of Paul's challenge in Romans 12:2 to "be transformed by the renewing of [my] mind..." 


When friends ask about what we will be doing during this year of furlough, Isaac has graduate school to put on the conversational plate. My plate is empty. But through three weeks of pneumonia and three weeks of traveling, I am hearing a call to be purposely under construction this year. 


Ich bin eine Baustelle. I am a construction site. 


These words were on the bathroom marker board at our dear friends' house last night: 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to the Lord. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Phil 4:4-7

Isaac took the picture of Kandern construction so that we might see their amount of progress when we return to our assignment in a year. I pray we are able to see a great amount of God's progress in us during this same year. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Our Calling: MKs

Want to discover a bit more about what we do in Germany? Watch this short video (we're in it a couple times, too).

 
Black Forest Academy: At A Glance from Black Forest Academy Videos on Vimeo.

The Well Is Deep

Jesus' encounters with women never really fascinated me until adulthood. The sordid pasts of his mother and great-great-grandmothers gave me hope when I first came to understand them: Tamar, the trickster; Rahab, the harlot; Ruth, the foreigner; Bathsheba, the adulteress; and Mary, who became pregnant out of wedlock. If he chose them, then maybe he could choose me: Suzanne, the sinner, the desirer of her own way.

Jesus & the woman at the well

Today through a domino series of link clicks, I found myself connecting with the Samaritan woman Jesus encounters at the well. Jesus approaches her in a manner that she can understand and is deliberate in his questions of her. She is honest in her responses, though it means sheer vulnerability of her own imperfect heart. Thirsty and in need of well water for her own and her family's well-being, she is confused and unsure of the ability (maybe even sanity) of the man talking to her when Jesus offers her "living water." "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep" (John 4:11). 

Today I can relate to this woman. Jesus, I can't see your bucket, and the well looks so deep. Help my unbelief in your desire and ability to fill me until I overflow. 

 "My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— 'Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.'" ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Lord, through this season of Lent, help me to trust you in your mighty power, your infinite resources and your very great love for me.  Bring me into the light. Amen.

Piano Classes

Group piano classes are not a common offering at the high school level, but it is exciting to watch them thrive as a good use of our personnel and facility resources. Not to mention, they're just fun. :) Things I love about group piano:

• Positive peer pressure: it is healthy and motivating for students to learn music in a peer group. As a teacher, I work hard to help each class build camaraderie and a spirit of encouragement. I must admit, that's pretty easy to do with the students at BFA. It is so much fun to watch them challenge each other.
• Varied literature: students are learning two to three times the amount of music that they would be learning in private lessons as they listen to their classmates perfect performance pieces alongside their own.
• Ensemble playing: The first time I really played in an ensemble was in college. The experience was transforming to my playing and in helping me realize how God had put me together. I am energized by people, and when given an opportunity to play with others it is really incredible. For introverts and extraverts alike, the experience of playing with a group emphasizes skills like steady tempo, playing through mistakes and sight-reading. These skills are essential for a budding musician.

The picture below is of one of my Piano 1 classes last fall on a performance day. They're a mix of day and boarding students. All but one of them are in a Piano 2 class this spring. I have especially enjoyed watching them grow over two semesters this year. What a privilege it is to teach!

Normandy Trip

Isaac led his third class field trip to the Normandy beaches in October. Students and sponsors visit key American, Canadian and German cemeteries and memorials to World War II battles and the soldiers who fought them.

I am in awe every year of how the trip affects our 16- & 17-year old students as they realize how young these soldiers were and the difference they made.

After one night on a bus and two on a cold, hard floor, the junior class spends 12 whirlwind hours in Paris. It's a great educational and bonding trip in the early months of a new school year.

You Know School's Out When...

Congrats, class of 2011. Photo by Michele Phoenix.

1) you're reading a new post on our blog

2) Suzanne knows how the Tigers are doing.

3) graduates trickle down our alley whispering tearful goodbyes.

4) our nightstand book piles get a bit taller.

5) the median age of the population of Kandern rises overnight as students return to their home countries for the summer. 

It has been a long, good year. We are spent, and we are full. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

A Staff Recital

"All the believers were together and had everything in common." Acts 1:44

What a treat to plan a musical evening with believing colleagues. This will definitely be an annual event.

Our lovely Estonian voice instructor, Jane.




Brian teaches Bible and is most comfortable in a pastoral role but is also a dedicated guitar student.




My first solo performance with new music in eight years.



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