Half Year Mark...

February 9th marked half a year of serving at Black Forest Academy again.  We didn't have any big celebrations or anything, we just took it as another day.  In fact we really didn't think too much about it until recently.  I (Clarence) have just been so enamored and honored to be able to be doing something that I love and enjoy with people whom I love and enjoy also. 

I was very happy to learn, around that time, that I would be able to keep my position as MS Chaplain for as long as the Lord would have me in that position.  It's been an awesome role to have and I just love being able to do something that I am passionate about and to be surrounded as well by people who enjoy this age group as well is so great.

This weekend (Mar.1-3) is our school's annual Retreat in Switzerland....in the Alps.  I know, the Alps, right.  So awesome and I bet you're also saying so jealous too.  But all that aside, this weekend is a weekend that I would invite you to join us in prayer as the students and staff join together to fellowship, worhsip and praise God in his marvelous creation!  Pray also that the hearts of all attending would be ready to hear the truth of God's Word and also that they will put the truth that they hear into action in their journey of faith. 

Thank you to all of you who have prayed, are praying and are supporting us financially throughout this adventure.  Without you and without the Lord working through you we would not have been able to accomplish anything here over the past 6 months.  If you know of people whom you feel would like to know more about our ministry and possibly join you in building the kingdom of God together here at Black Forest Academy, please have them send us an e-mail or direct them to our blog.

God Bless :)

Multicultural Sunday

At our church yesterday, Black Forest Christian Fellowship, we had a Multicultural Sunday.  Since most of the people who attend the church have lived or were raised in different cultures, we took some time to celebrate our great diversitiy.  We worshipped through songs, prayers and Scripture reading in at least 10 different languages:  English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Tajik, Korean, Cantonese, American Sign Language, Turkish, Russian.  There might a few more I'm forgetting.  Many people also wore 'native clothes' reflecting another culture where they have lived or visited.  One family was dressed with maple leaf gear and warm toques - made me miss Canada!  lol.  It was neat to remember how God made everyone so different, and that people of many different cultures and languages all worship Him.  Also, a good reminder to pray for God's work in various countries around the world. 

Also this weekend, we had a chance to be substitution dorm parents at our of the girls' dorms.  The regular dorm parents had a weekend off, so we stayed at the dorm and helped out the female resident assistant for the weekend, primarily cooking and driving the girls to various activities.  It was fun to get to know some of the girls who lived in that dorm a little better, especially for me (Anna), as I don't often have as much regular interaction with the students.  Austin and Silas LOVED spending the weekend at the dorm - they enjoyed playing pretend with the dorm girls and entertaining them their their silly knock-knock jokes and riddles.  It was neat to see them getting along there. 

As some of you may know, we had initially thought we would return to BFA to be dorm parents.  We were surprised and excited when God provided Clarence with the job as Middle School Chaplain instead.  It is truly a great fit for him and he's really thriving there.  But it was also fun to spend a few days back in dorm life this weekend.  Occasionally helping at the dorms seems like a better fit for our lives right now.  Not sure if we really took any pictures, but I'll see if I can add some later.

Christmas and New Year's

My goodness the time has totally just flown by.  It seemed like we had just celebrated Thanksgiving and then it was Christmas and then 2012 was done.  2012 had a lot of surprises and transitions for us as you all well know.  It began with a letter welcoming us to the staff of BFA and an invitation to join them as the Middle School Chaplain.  Thus beginning our new journey towards moving overseas to Kandern, Germany to BFA and partnering with the Lord. 

Since we've been here we have been able to meet some amazing students as well as wonderful families who have invested and taken care of us.  As Christmas approached Anna and I were thinking that it was going to be a very hard time for us as we would be away from our families but it turned out to be a wonderful Christmas as we started new traditions and learned about new traditions of German cultures.  One of the greatest things was the chance to see the excitement and wonder of our children as they experienced Christmas German style this year. 

New Year's Eve was filled with fun and enjoyment as we were able to go to my (Clarence's) old dorm to hang out with some of the new friends that we have made here.  Fireworks here are totally legal and in fact you just buy them at the local grocery store.  We bought some kiddo approved fireworks and Austin and Silas got to play with them and one was totally amazed, Austin, but Silas was not quite sure about them.  It was a great night with our friends and it ended with a full fireworks display across our little town provided by everyone because anyone and everyone could set of fireworks right in the middle of the street.

Another blessing for our holiday time was the special gifts that we received from our supporters and friends of our supporters.  I can say that God has really revealed himself as Jehovah Jireh to our family this year and I am thankful that you all have been a wonderful part of this journey.

Thank you all for partnering with us and as we end. We would like to share this video from our school to see and get a feel of what we (you and us) have joined the Lord in here at Black Forest Academy.  Please follow this link http://vimeo.com/56899247 to hear and see why Black Forest Academy does what it does. 

Long Awaited Before and After Photos

Here are some long awaited photos of our new home in Germany.  As we said it was a bit of an older place with a lot to fix up but Anna has done an amazing job with our place so here we are:

Before Pictures

 

Living Room

Living Room

Former Master Bedroom

Hallway/Storage Room/Bedroom (Bad Wallpaper Room)

 

Former Office

Tub Room/Laundry Room

 After Pictures with Anna's Touch

New Living Room Curtains on Right

New Master Bedroom

Boy's Room

Ugly Wallpaper Room Transformed

A little more of a homey touch

 Well we hope you can get a glimpse that our home is growing nicer and we are definitely more settled into our home now that we've been able to decorate and put up our stuff. 

Feeling Thankful

22 November 2012

Tonight we attend our THIRD Thanksgiving dinner, so I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on thankfulness this year.  Here’s a list, in no particular order.

Home.  After being unsettled for 4 months, we are sooooo thankful to be unpacked and in our own home.  Our apartment is quite old, but we’ve quickly made it feel homey and loved.  Our shipment arrived on October 17^th at lunchtime, and I had everything unpacked by dinner!  I was really ready to be all unpacked!

God’s faithfulness.  I am so thankful that He’s always faithful, even when we struggle and doubt.  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!  Lamentations 3:22-23

 
My three boys.  I shared this at our second Thanksgiving dinner and Austin quickly piped up:  “Mommy, you only have two boys”.  Well, I was including Clarence, trying to be cute.  ;)    I am blessed to have a wonderful husband and two wonderful sons.

Clarence’s team of co-workers.  All of the staff that Clarence works with are so great and encouraging.  It’s neat to see him thriving in his position as Middle School Chaplain.  Also, several of his co-workers are single females, and it’s been fun for me to get to know them as friends as well.

Skype, email, internet, phones, etc.  Modern technologies have helped so much for staying in touch with family and friends around the world.  When we first moved into our apartment, we had no phone and internet at home for a month, so we were especially thankful when we finally got it!

 

Heat.  Yes, Germany is a Western country, but the heat in our apartment often stops working, so I remember to be thankful when it works!

 

German chocolate.  No explanation needed.  ;)

A great team of supporters.  We are thankful for every single one of our prayer warriors and financial supporters.  We could not be here serving without you. 

 

Amazing students.  The students here at Black Forest Academy are all so great; it’s a blessing to be here serving and teaching them.  Our own boys love having tons of goh-goh’s and jeh-jeh’s (big brothers and sisters) to play with!

Our stroller.  Living in a small town, I love that we can do most of our errands – including buying groceries – on foot.  However, Silas isn’t quite up to that much walking yet, so I’m thankful for our sturdy stroller with a nice big basket underneath.  I’m also thankful for the warm stroller sack made by my Aunt Nancy.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and Happy November to our Canadian friends!  God bless!

 

We have housing!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support and encouragement through this crazy housing process!  We have found an apartment to move into this week!  It's an older apartment and definitely needs a little 'facelift'.  A bit of a fun challenge to figure out creative (aka inexpensive!) ways to personalize the place for our own.  It's a two bedroom apartment - not huge, but big enough to work for us.  We will be moving the bulk of our stuff and doing some painting on Wednesday (a German  holiday, so no school) and then doing a final move on Saturday, hopefully.  We hope to post some before and after pictures of the place to you can follow along with our progress.  :)

Still Looking for Housing

Thanks to all of you who have been praying about our housing situation.  Please keep praying as we still do not have another place to move into, and we need to be out of our current place in 2.5 weeks!  I'm getting a little anxious; definitely teaching me about trusting God.  Again.  ;)