Advent and Creating

Tonight, I was inspired to create and craft. I miss you old friend. It's been quite some time. I'm not sure what kept me from you. But I think I know what led me to you. A hunger to spend time with my Creator, reflective tunes courtesy of The Brilliance, and words from a friend. It's good to be back. 

My book bookshelf I made earlier this year

Advent Creation

Words from my dear friend Taylor

Besinnliche Adventszeit....Have a reflective and thoughtful Advent-season

"May we love as you love" --- words from The Brilliance


Much love and grace to you,

Amy

Beauty in Words

I'm simply and utterly captured by this quote.

"Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by transfer your thought to God and say: 'O, my God, if thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all.'"

---Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

This morning as I sat with God, I began reflecting on who He has been to me this past year. I filled the last pages of my journal, started on March 25, 2011. This always causes some sentimentality for me. I want to share my words with you this morning. They are close to my heart but I do want to sing out who God is, who He is in my life. So here goes...

Father! I love you :) I love seeing you at work. I love your gentleness, the way you create beauty, the way you overcome me, those moments when in the pit of my stomach I feel your presence and my heart quickens and I feel as though I will just burst because I am so full of your presence. And know your love so deep within me, so real. You are real. You are alive. I'm so excited to live my whole life for you. To spend it all for you. Thank you Father for knowing me for letting me experience glimpses of you. And for hearing your voice. You have been so faithful in letting me hear your voice this past year. Each time I was at such a broken place. I had nothing and was so weak and vulnerable. And you spoke. And you brought hope. And newness of life. And each time I was so amazed at your faithfulness. How you meet me in those times of suffering. How you made me desire for you. And you weren't scared of my anger and tears or my roller coaster emotions. You comforted me. You gave me time alone with you. You are such a gentle God. And you showed me my sin more clearly. And you beckoned me to put my hope in you. My identity. And my failures and faults didn't seem so overwhelming anymore. Because you loved me in them. And your desire was to walk with me as I grew in you. As I discovered more of who you are. And sometimes I was really disappointed. I didn't understand why life couldn't be easier. Why pain couldn't disappear. I wanted to run from it. I did. But I didn't get anywhere. And my heart was still filled with bitterness. Then you gave me the courage to look at the pain in my life with you. And my soul started to wake up. I saw your hand in the pain. In the brokenness. You are beautiful. You breathe life into me. I'm inhaling it Lord. Sweet breaths of you that give me peace. hope. A delight in you. A guttural thankfulness. You are with me. You are my song. My joy. My desire.

Summer Nights

Today was a beautiful warm summery day. And sadly, we have not had too many of them here in Germany lately. But today was such a day. I wanted to go be a beach bum for the day but since I couldn't I went to eis cafe. I love those late summery nights when it's 9:30 and the sun is just going down and it's still warm enough out for shorts. Tonights choice of flavor was pfferminz and schokolade. Delightful :) Here is me demolishing a cone :) Zwei Kugel, bitte! Thank you Jesus for summer nights, ice cream, and walks! 

fluffy clouds and changing skies

The weather is constantly changing here. Today was such a day. This morning was clouded over with drizzling and downpour intermixed. Those poor JV soccer girls. They got the brunt of it. I think they kind of enjoyed playing in the rain though! The day turned beautiful around 5:00. I was so taken by the fluffy clouds that I just had to go take pictures! So early evening I sat under the changing skies and the fluffy clouds and read. I felt God's grace and love wash over me as I sat among God's creation reading One Thousand Gifts. I was particularly struck by a verse the author shared from Isaiah 14:24. "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand" (NASB). I drew so much strength from these holy words. Seeing events in our lives through the lens of God's plan. And his love and goodness towards his children. It was a moment when everything was so full and perfect. Full of life in the light of Christ. Thank you Father for fluffy clouds and changing skies. You are good!

up-do's, pretty dresses, and celebrations

Tonight was a special evening at BFA for junior's and senior's. It's especially a night of celebration for the senior's as it is one of their last big events before graduation. Just like any celebration the guys pull out their tux (and get ready in ten minutes!) while the girls spend hours getting ready! Except this year due to it being on a school day, the girls only had an hour or so. But, the girls looked absolutely stunning. Tonight I was able to go and take pictures of the kids before their night of celebration. The event was hosted at a place called Funfschilling. It's a beautiful venue with amazing food, fresh produce, an apple orchard, and outdoor/indoor seating. I loved seeing these girls all dressed up and even had the opportunity to style a girls' hair! Thank you Jesus for night's of celebration!!

Taylor and Rachel! I'm loving Rachel's one shoe on/one shoe off!

Taylor made her date a boutonniere from a lightbulb....impressive!

Hanna!

ElleBelle! She's being silly :)

Tay Time

Today I am so very thankful for an afternoon visit from my friend Taylor. She is such an amazing woman of God and we always have such a great time with one another. We have walked through life with each other at Moody and now at BFA. And one of our four year old friends wonders why were not sisters. She tends to get us confused. Anyways, thanks Tay for being such a great friend! And thank you Father for a community of friends :)

Sitting outside on a warm, sunny balcony sipping coffee. 

Gilmore Girls

Yesterday, I was so thankful for Gilmore Girls. So thankful, in fact,  that I watched it instead of posting about it. From the witty humor and fast dialogue to the quirky characters and relationship between Luke and Lorelai that is always on the brink of beginning. So good!! Especially when you're watching them with someone who has never seen them...thanks Roomie :) I always want to eat and drink coffee while watching Gilmore. But, if I had a cup of coffee every time they did in an episode...I would have a complete coffee buzz. Not sure if that's the right terminology. But, you get my drift!

If you haven't watched them, check em out. Well maybe not if your a guy. They usually don't like them!

Spring Fragrances

Today I am thankful for the fragrances of Spring. From the fresh, dainty flowers to the misty smell after a Spring rain. Not to mention the bonfire smell in the air. They feed my soul :)

Grandma's Letters

        I didn't have the opportunity to post yesterday. Even though I was thankful for moments in the day, I couldn't bring myself to write. It had just been such a hard day. But on Monday I truly was thankful for a card from my Grandma. After receiving bad mail, aka medical bills, I opened a card from my Grandma. Dorothy Jana, G-ma, is a prayer warrior for all of her grandchildren. She is always encouraging me and of course keeping me updated on all the events happening in our large family! Since I came to Germany, I have received a letter from her every month, talk about faithful :) This letter could not have come at a better time. In her letter, she told me the Pastor at her church prayed for me on Sunday. Tears started streaming down my face as I read those words and realized I am not alone. I draw so much strength from knowing her church and many others are praying for me. I am so very thankful for my grandma, my family, and my ministry partners. Thanks Grandma for your letters :)

Hopscotch

               Today, I am thankful for kids. How creative and bold they are. On Saturday, my roomie and I, along with our downstairs neighbor family, were invited to a German open house grill out. This is pretty unusual for several reasons. Germans do not usually invite you to their home unless you know them very well. They are very private people. It is also unusual because all of us our American and our neighbors are all German. Hence, a potential language barrier. But my roommate Emily and I decided we shouldn't miss out on this opportunity. We walk up the road, nervously knock on their door. He swings it open wide with a "Come in, come in, welcome!" Not expected! It turns out he studied English in University and works for an American company here in Germany. Very unexpected! We were actually able to communicate with many of the neighbors. Not due to my own smarts but theirs. I was so thankful they spoke English :)

               The best part about the night was watching our neighbor girls play with the German kids. They all played with a parachute, jumped on the trampoline, climbed trees together. They just made interacting look so simple when they don't speak the same language. They played with them for over 3 hours! And my favorite part is this!

They created a 200 square hopscotch from our German neighbor's house to ours! So cute :)

Here is the back gate to our house.

 
     Thank you Jesus for children and hopscotch and cross-cultural relationships!

Coffee, Scones, and Strawberries

          Today, I am thankful for warm, strong coffee. I am thankful for the buttery vanilla goodness of homemade scones. Made all the more delicious by making them with my roomie at 11 pm the night before! I am thankful for strawberries so good you can actually smell the flavor. The sweetest strawberries I have had yet this season. Enjoying them all with the bright sunlight streaming through the window on a Saturday morning. Thank you Jesus for these small blessings. Small blessings that begin a day well and show me more of you :)

Fresh scones baking in the oven. Oh, we didn't have enough flour. So we TRIED to alter the recipe. Let's just say the scones were huge and not quite so fluffy. But with all that butter and fresh vanilla bean how could they not be delicious!

Coffee, Scones, and Strawberries

Inspiration for Project Thankfulness

            Lately, I have been quite discouraged. To speak honestly, this past year has been hard for me emotionally.  But I was beginning to experience Spring in my life. A rebirth of joy and gratefulness and just plain happiness. But I'm back in a slight funk as my physical health has demanded rest from me and little movement. Don't get me wrong I'm not dying and I'm not alone. Friends and co-workers have been so caring and gracious to me here. But not being able to go to work this past week has put a damper on my ministry and interactions with high school students. Which saddens me more knowing I only have 5 weeks left with them.

             Needless to say, I have a lot of time on my hands. This always gets me thinking. Sometimes I'm too analytical for my own good. About a month ago I began reading a book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. It is a story of her own personal journey. I'm still only 60 pages in, I read too many books at one time. And working at the library doesn't help my already bad habit of starting new books before I finish old ones. Whoops. My dear friend Taylor loaned me the book. I was instantly interested in reading it because of the aesthetically pleasing cover design! As I began reading, many aspects of the book drew me in. A significant one being that she is a farmer's wife. I'm no farmer's wife but I am a farmer's daughter. I'm sure from the outside, this woman looks like she has it all. A husband, 6 children who adore her, oh and she home schools them. Pretty impressive. Not to mention her amazing writing skills. But she still experiences sadness and the daily drone of life.

             While studying the Word one day, she stumbles across the word 'eucharisteo' meaning 'he gave thanks.' 'Eucharisteo' translating to thankfulness with grace and joy caught up in it. Jesus was constantly giving thanks to His Father. 1 Corinthians 11:23-24; Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:16; John 11:41; Psalm 50:23. As her story unfolds, she is challenged by a friend in her life to name one thousand blessings. Or gifts-- hence the title of the book. One thousand things she is thankful for.

              Sometimes when I go to pray I feel as though my mouth is glued shut. There is so much I want to share with God but nothing comes out. So I just go on living life without really engaging in prayer. I was having one of those times yesterday. Reasons why I journal. God always seems to at least unstick my mind when I have a pen in hand. Which usually leads to my lips unsticking and a conversation.

This time it has led me to this blog post.

"And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).

"When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows" (58).

"And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me" (59).

A..."Dare to write down one thousand things I love. It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me" (p. 59).

             My mind began reeling as I read these statements. What would it be like to capture my thankfulness? My heart literally began quickening its pace as I considered. A rush of joy and hope. To practice thankfulness and experience richer relationship with My Father through thankfulness.

            Project Thankfulness: take a photo each day that captures my thankfulness, for the remainder of my time in Germany. An experiment to connect more deeply with God, notice his blessings, see his goodness. And an opportunity to share thankfulness.

Perhaps if you look VERY closely you will see what I wanted to capture. Floating all about this beautiful tree in my backyard are tiny white dandelion fluffs. They looked so free and dainty floating all about the yard. Thank you Jesus for dandelion fluffs!

Feel free to keep checking out Project Thankfulness :)

Warmly,
Amy

An Open Heart

Well the year took off at a sprints pace. The last girl arrived at midnight on August 22^nd and we had a full house of 22 students and five staff members. We had opening ceremonies the very next day. All of the seniors carry in flags, many of them representing the countries they are from. There were over 50 countries accounted for—it is truly a moving ceremony thinking of how God has brought us all together for this season of life.

Since opening ceremony, I have been settling back into the dorm, establishing a new routine, and getting to know the new girls and staff members. Even though I returned to the same dorm and many of the same girls, my role this year seems changed. There is much more responsibility. Training the new dorm parents and RA’s along with being the staff member all of the 15 returning girls would present their problems too, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs has been overwhelming. But this past week, I sense a shift. The girls are becoming more comfortable with the new staff and the new staff are settling into routine and life here.  I’m excited for this. I thank you for all of your prayers during this time.

Please pray that God would place on my heart a fresh desire to serve whole-heartedly. I am confronted once again with God’s word to lay down my life for him. My time here is not about me. It’s about serving him through serving these girls. I have days where I don’t feel like serving and that is so discouraging. Yet God reminds me that when I open my heart to him, he will fill me. He will give me what I need for the day.

This past week was spiritual emphasis week for the students. The closing ceremony on Friday night was optional; every single one of our students went!! The girls are longing to grow in their relationship with God. From listening to the girls it seems the theme of the week was obedience to God in whatever he may ask of you. To take action upon what he calls you to and do it and especially to reach out to the millions who do not have a relationship with Jesus. These girls are taking the challenge seriously and really seeking what God has for them. I’m astounded and excited for them in their personal walk with God—to think all of the different places God is going to take each one! 

A picnic dinner with a boys dorm, HBR, followed by a game of Aplha Wolf in the woods!

During half time of the boys flag football game, the girls got a chance at playing. Wittlingen won!!

Thank you for your support, prayers, and love for me and these girls,

Blessings,

Amy

Resting in God

Life has been insanely crazy since my return from spring break. Events have been jam packed into the past 3 weeks. And let me tell you it has been a blast. I love these girls sooo much and feel so loved by them. I came back from break with an endless amount of energy. But as it turns out no one has endless amounts of energy (although I wish I did) and my body crashed. On my day off this past Monday, I came down with a cold. Thankfully, I started my weekend off this Friday and am off until Monday. I am reminded once again that I do not have the strength to pour into these girls lives. I need rest, and I need rest in my God. I constantly need his strength. This weekend I am staying at a family's home that has been an unexpected blessing in my life. They have an absolutely gorgeous house up in the black forest hills and I have the entire redone basement to myself. I walked into my room to find a tray filled with tea (of which I am drinking delightful earl grey tea as I write), cute tea cups, chocolates, fragrant flowers, and an encouraging card. God is good! In the card, she wrote this verse,

"The Lord will continually lead you; He will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water." Isaiah 58:11

Even though, I have felt so blessed by my relationships with the girls, I feel so parched. So, to read this verse is like a breath of fresh air and a breath of hope and joy. My God feeds me even when I'm parched. He gives me renewed strength. His promises are life-giving. I'm looking forward to being watered this weekend. 

Well, let me share some pictures of all the fun and activities we have been up to! Because it has been good!

Two of the girls in my dorm invited me to join them on their field trip of kayaking! We were all pretty beat afterwards!

HEHEHE! I love this picture. That's a slug in case you are wondering!

A trip to the Titisee waterfall. 74 degrees when we began our road trip and 43 degrees complete with rain and slight hail when we arrived at our destination. But we still managed to have a blast with these girls flexible and positive outlook!

A Friday night drive up to Hochblauen! After this, we headed over to HBR (guy's dorm) for an outdoor movie!

Watching the soccer games with ElleBelle:)

Hannah and Jojo being tanks out on the soccer field. The girls won the game 5-0!

All the beautiful seniors with Erin and I at JSB (junior/senior banquet)

It's tradition at JSB that all the juniors make some sort of tribute to the seniors in their dorm. The juniors performed a live tribute for the seniors. They sang "For the Longest Time" but improvised words in about the seniors. They did a wonderful job.

All together:)

I got to treat the junior girls to McDonald's after JSB.

So there is about half of the activities we have been up to over the past 3 weeks! I can't believe there are only 14 days left before the year ends. While I'm excited to go home and see family and friends, I am also sad to say goodbye to the seniors and to the rest of the girls for 3 months. I am sure it will be a day full of tears.

Blessings of Peace to you,

Amy

Spring Break

For the past 2 1/2 weeks BFA has been on Spring Break. A much needed break for everyone. The first week of Spring Break entailed many students going on mission trips. Nine girls from Witt went on mission trips to either Uganda, Burkina Fasa, Moldova, Slovenia, and China. While other girls left to return to England, Bulgaria, Russia, Israel, Albania, Macedonia, Korea, Switzerland, and other parts of Germany. I'm excited for all of them to return and have our 'family' reunited from all parts of the world. It will be great to hear of all their adventures and the ways God spoke to them and grew them during their time away.

I wanted to share a bit of what I spent my Spring Break doing. My parents came!!!!! They came a few days before the girls left and were able to meet and spend time with them. I loved having them here so they could see even more visibly what it is I do over here. Around our area they were able to see the school, many of the dorms and how spread out they are, my favorite restaurants, the windy curvy roads, beautiful weather in full spring bloom, and places that I love around here.

We traveled around for ten days along with our neighbors and family friends, the Groman's. We went into Switzerland, France, Austria, and around Germany. They were long full days of traveling, seeing sights, eating, and learning more about the culture and history.

Hochblauen, I came here my first week in Germany. It's the highest point in our area.

And let me tell you to get there you have to take some sharp hairpin turns. It was a bit cloudy that day, but still beautiful!

The Swiss Alps. We stayed in a chalet nestled in the alps!

We took a cable car up, up, up and this is where we ended up.  
Completely surrounded by the alps with snow. It was so warm out!

This is the "Chapel Bridge." It's in Lucerne, Switzerland and was built in 1333.

We visited the concentration camp Dachau in Germany. This is the gate leading into this horrific place stating, "Freedom through Work." It was a hard place to tour and such a clear picture of sin.

   

The Abbey of St. Gall. A beautiful cathedral with the foundations built in 719 AD.

The home of the captain and children in the Sound of Music

Neuschwanstein Castle, an inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty.

A Storch in the town of Holzen. There are Storch's all over this town, building their massive nests on top of the church and trees. Holzen is home of a girl's dorm at BFA, ironically called Storch!

My lovely parents at a restaurant in Switzerland. At this restaurant I accidentally ordered us all dessert, whoops! Still working on my German. But, hey everyone said it was the best part of the meal:)

It was wonderful having them visit and sad to see them go. The second week of Spring Break I spent time with other RA's. Honestly, mostly just bumming around. These girls tire me out! But, I am ready and excited for them to return tomorrow:) We only have 5 weeks left in the semester and I'm sure they will quickly fly by. I will keep you posted on the activities that fill our last 5 weeks.

Blessings,
Amy

Famous Couples

This past Tuesday Wittlingen held it's traditional famous couples night. Each girl in the dorm selects a 'famous couple' they want to dress up as for the night while their roommate/friend picks the guy she will go with. Erin (co-RA) and I then call up the boys and tell them who they will be dressing up as for the night. Both of them have no idea who their date is until they show up; then they find each other by their costumes. It was such a funny and fun night. Here are some pictures so you can get a glimpse of the evening!

We did a fifties, Happy Days theme for the evening.
Even though, half the kids had no clue what the tv show was!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  Jordan's hair was amazing!

Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato....impressive!

Aladdin and Jasmine

Darla and Alfalfa

The Seniors, Ken and Barbie, Eminem and Rihanna,
Mickey and Minnie, and Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Calvin and Hobbs

Then last Friday we headed off to high school retreat in Lenk, Switzerland. It was a great place and time for the kids to get away and be refreshed. The speaker talked a lot about being vulnerable and healing from God. I'm praying the girls will have the freedom to be open, honest, and vulnerable with friends and mentors in their lives. I went as a small group leader since their leader could not get away for the weekend. It was  great to see the Witt girls interact with their friends, usually I just see them with girls in the dorm. I also really enjoyed getting to know students outside of my dorm and leading a group of senior girls. This weekend, I didn't have the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, driving, and disciplining which made it awesome concentrated time of great conversations and chill time with them:) 

                                           Hanna taking some time to soak up the Sun and the Word!

The group of Senior girls I got to lead for the weekend AND
the beautiful Swiss Alps in the background!!

Jordan, JoJo and I got to take a walk into town on Saturday afternoon.
Always enjoy times with these girls:)

Meet my small group leader, Jen. She has been such a blessing to
me this year, such a woman filled with Jesus! OH we have matching coats too:)