Middle School Overnight

On Friday, September 26th, I had a chance to chaperon the middle school overnight in Loerrach. 56 young students and 9 adults spent time hicking, playing, watching movies, singing by the camp fire, eating hot dogs and praising God for good weather, friends and the beauty of his creation. Notice that sleeping was not one of the activities listed!

Do you know what Creeking is?

On Thursday night, our night to volunteer at the dorm, we were introduced to a new term, Creeking. Well, we got a chance to see it in full swing as the young men of HBR went out and captured the lead singer of the band playing, Jeff Dresser, at BFA for Spiritual Emphasis Week. They brought him back, carried him down (carefully) and lowered him into the creek. The water here in Germany is a balmy 16 degrees Celsius, otherwise known as 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So, needless to say the boys had fun making Jeff an honorary member of HBR. There were some questions to answer with the head of Residential Life the next morning, but we are not fired, yet.

Learning to drive in Germany

Do you know Heather drives a mean bumper car? Given the fact that she has had neck issues for the past few months, we decided that on our first date night we should go to the bumper cars. While this is not really the case, we did stumble across a random bumper car ride and decided to bring some levity to our night. While there were only 4 of us driving, there were many collisions and some major confusion on both Heather and my part as we didn't know how to get the cars into reverse.

Dorm Parents - Not Really

Heather, the boys and I had an opportunity to sub for Greg & Danielle Storrs, the dorm parents at

Haus Bad Riedlingen (HBR). HBR is a dorm at BFA where 24 young men live and spend a great deal of their time outside of the classroom. We will be covering for the Storrs every other Thursday night so that they can have a few hours off their amazingly busy schedule. Last night we had a chance to get to know these men a little better and hopefully lay the groundwork for some meaningful relationships. We also had an opportunity to get to know Brandon and Anna, the two RA's and work with them. We had a great time and look forward to serving there again soon.

Chapel Time

Once a week there is chapel time for faculty, students and parents during the school day. This was the first Friday of the year and our first exposure to chapel time. It was awesome to see the student led worship team and the music they played was upbeat and fun. Many of the students gathered around the stage like a concert and jumped and sang with the band, creating a very interactive time of worship. I must say the deliberate conversations about God and faith embedded in all that is done at BFA has been enlightening and refreshing. Our whole family has enjoyed and benefited from this environment greatly.

Opening Ceremonies

Today was the Opening Ceremonies for the new school year at BFA! It was an interesting and powerful experience. As the students gathered outside the auditorium, you could hear the buzz and excitement about reuniting with friends and the start of a new year. The student lead procession began with the seniors carrying in flags representing their home and passport countries. Once the ceremony began, Mary Ellen Reisser, a long time faculty member, read off all the countries our students represent and it was great to see their pride as they stood. I counted 52 countries in all, many of which I am embarrassed to say I couldn't locate on the map. Once the Opening Ceremony was complete, it was time for good-byes. This was powerful as parents and students were faced with the reality that they would not see each other again until the winter break in December.

You know you're in Germany when ...

You know you're in Germany when you are excited about receiving your garbage can! We have been here for 3 weeks and we have had one Gelber Sack day where our recyclables (plastic and some cardboard containers) have been picked up and we now have a garbage can. Things are getting real exciting. We still need to drop off the glass jars (pasta sauce, jelly, etc) we have piling up at the recycling center, but we are getting used to the seriousness of garbage here in Germany. I am beginning to think that forced recycling is a good plan and something we will bring back with us. It is amazing how little true trash you have when you separate those things that can be reused.