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| Well, I see that it has been about 6 weeks or more since I last updated my blog. At BFA the end of the year has a tendency to sneak up on you and then it seems like there is nothing else for a while. In the midst of all the craziness and busyness I was able to see God's hand of blessing on our dorm, especially as we said goodbye to the seniors. They will be sorely missed next year as they brought a level of maturity and class to our dorm. I will especially miss their tight community and the great example that set for the rest of the dorm. To get a good idea of the myriads of activities that the end of the year brings, check out pictures on bfacademy.com. Here I will focus on two things - ribs and renovation.
Ribs. What is it about guys and meat, anyway? Guys dorms have a tendency of bringing out the masculinity in adolescents and multiplying it to the nth degree. BBQ'd meat is no exception. There are 33 people in our dorm - 28 guys and 5 staff, and we bought 37 kilos of ribs. Rib bowls were overflowing with bones and guys had BBQ sauce everywhere. Below are some pictures of the eating process and the post-rib comas that followed. Teens. You gotta love 'em!
Renovation. This last week I was working at Palmgarten, one of the girls dorms, doing a bit of renovating. It feels great to work hard all day with the total absence of emotional drain and then leave your work at the end of the day and not have it follow you. We emptied the rooms of furniture, trashed most of it, hauled it to Recyclehofs, and then proceeded to rip out carpets and wall paper and paint the rooms. We're almost done - I think about two more days of work. I've enjoyed spending the evenings with Dan and Michelle as they are invited to various families' homes for dinner (they're leaving for a year so people want to say goodbye). We've had beautiful weather recently, so it's been nice to eat outside and enjoy good fellowship.
One more week until I return home. I fly out on Friday the 20th - can't wait!
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| This past weekend I was excited to be able to travel to Fuessen for a couple days. Tim McAdam was playing in a hockey tournament. His sister, Kristin, came from Marburg, up north, and I traveled the four hours by train to see him play. Tim played really well in the one game in which I saw him, but unfortunately injured his shoulder and was not able to participate in the rest of the tournament.
Other than watching lots of hockey I had great times talking with the McAdams, learning Pinochle (apparently not my natural strength), and going on a hike. All in all it was a restful and refreshing time with good friends!
The last member of our dorm arrived back from spring break this last weekend. He injured his knee in basketball season and was recovering from surgery back home. He is on crutches and is handling the three flights of stairs in our dorm with a lot of patience and grace!
Right now I'm reading One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel Fick. For any young men (or women) out there considering the military, I recommend it. He gives a fair, honest account of the joys and challenges he encountered in Afghanistan and Iraq. Most importantly he does not make blanket statements in either direction but talks solely from his own experience and perspective.
Below are some pictures from the hike and one of Tim from his game. Enjoy!
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| Soccer season is finally upon us! We opened the season on Saturday
afternoon with two exciting men's games against Vienna Christian
School. VCS did not travel with a girl's team, but our Lady Falcons did
a great job of cheering on the guys. Varsity played a close game
and came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. Our HBR seniors and
juniors played very well and I was proud of all of them. Junior Varsity
put up a good fight but ended up losing 3-1.
We came back to the dorm, enjoyed making and eating pizzas, and then
drove 'up the hill' to two dorms' open houses. Open house happens for
each dorm once a year and it is the only opportunity the kids have to
showcase their rooms to their friends of the opposite gender. Needless
to say, in high school this is a big deal. The dorms Sonnenhof (guys)
and Blauen (girls) are across the street from each other. Blauen is a
very cosy but frankly small dorm, so it always pairs its open house
with Sonne's to help with congestion. When I was a student here at BFA
I spent four years at Sonne. It was good for me to go through the rooms
and see what the students had done with them. Our guys had a great time
eating good food, seeing rooms, and hanging out with their friends. All
in all it was a very good Saturday.
My brother, Dan, and his wife Michelle and their family also live and
serve at BFA. He is the physics and physical science teacher and
basketball coach, and she is a busy mom of two. Recently we had the joy
of welcoming Rachelle Elizabeth Tebbe into the world. She is growing
and has recently begun smiling. My other niece, Hannah, has also grown
in leaps and bounds this year. Hannah has now mastered important terms
like "Yeah", "No", and "Uncle". It's a joy to spend time with my family
here and to watch little ones grow and change so much. Below are two
pictures of me and Hannah taken earlier this year.
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| I recently returned to BFA from an absolutely wonderful ten days back home. It was the kind of time that was difficult to leave behind, but I have been surprised at how excited I am to be back. While my time back home was refreshing and good, a lot of it was not very clearly defined and I played a lot of it by ear. It's good to be back to the place God has called me with a clearly defined structure and understanding of responsibilities and tasks; in short, a routine. While some of the students really struggle with the schedule and structure of dorm life at BFA, I find myself thriving on it - probably a good thing if I'm a staff member here.
This afternoon we played 'pole soccer' out back (a variation of soccer where the goals are the posts to two basketball hoops). It was fun watching guys dribble circles around me (soccer is not my forte) and working up a bit of a sweat. I have spent too many hours to count playing soccer with our dorm guys this year and one of the things I am looking forward to most about this Spring is seeing those who made the soccer team play with each other instead of against one another. I suppose in a way it's a bit like a dad spending long afternoons working on his son's baseball swing and then watching him play his first game.
I am sorry there are no pictures this time around. I will try to get some up when I have some time this week. I hope all of you are doing well!
Blessings,
Andrew
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