May in Kandern:

We're facing the last eight days of classes over the next two weeks. Each are four day weeks due to the religious holidays still honored by the German calendar. A week and a half ago there was Ascension Day, tomorrow is Pentecost and next week Corpus Christi day. Days like these reflect the longevity of the Christian story in form here in western Europe even though it is not an essential part of a great many lives here. Stores close, the streets are quiet, and no one mows lawns on these holidays because it is bad form to do so on a "holy day" but that's the extent of it for many.

If you New Englanders reading this are perversely proud of the changeableness of your regions weather, I think southwestern Germany could offer you some stiff competition. A given Spring day here will include glorious warm sunshine, drenching downpours, cold mist and the odd rainbow tossed in. Rainbows appear often and you can actually see the ends of them on the hillsides here. Unfortunately I don't have a recent photo to post of one - this post's rainbow is from English Camp 2006.

The best news of May: We have a new granddaughter and she's a beauty! Isabelle Grace Lavoie was born on May 14, 2010. Brad, Amanda, Cameron and Isabelle are all doing well.

Soon we head back to RI to visit Isabelle, other family, friends, supporters and churches. After that it's back to Kandern for English Camp season.

April wanderings

Hannah on the roof on Burkina Faso

It's been a busy month of travel for us. Hannah went off to Burkina Faso to raise a few roofs, Diane went to Lübeck, Germany to train folks for running "Partner" English camps, hundreds traveled to Kandern for a conference of Christian educators, and Diane, Carl and myself spent some time at a conference near Stuttgart, Germany. All this in a month where travel to, from and within Europe was radically disrupted by Icelandic ashes. On the conference there was a day trip to Rothenberg - a premier medieval city in Germany.

In the town's church.

One of Rothenberg's gates

Hand painted, real blown Easter egg decorations on a town fountain.

That's what I call eyebrow dormers - it's like they follow you across the square.

March news

Well, I hope you've seen the previous post on the Middle School play - if not, go there after this for shots of Carl in the lead part.

We're just starting spring break now and it last for about two and a half weeks in order to let many school missions trips happen, allow our students to get the most of of travel costs to distant homes and fit in a few conferences. BFA is hosting an international Christian educators conference through early next week and then at the other end of break, TeachBeyond will have its conference near Stuttgart, Germany.

Hannah leaves Saturday the 27th to Burkina Faso in West Africa with a team from BFA. (info on Burkina:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso). She is so pleased to be heading back to Africa, I wouldn't be surprised to see her there long term someday. Pray that these trips (6 this year from BFA) would run well, meet the ministry goals to the intended populations, and help kids clarify their own future goals.

BFA will be undergoing the daunting process of seeking a new director. Tim Shuman, the current director of over ten years in this role, has accepted a position with ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) and will be leaving after this school year is concluded. Tim has bees a great asset to BFA. I have enjoyed his "direction" and his manner and approach to the job. He and his wife started here as single Resident Assistants over twenty years ago and it was here that they met, married, raised two sons, and put collectively over 40 years of service.

The plan is for BFA to use a one year interim director while a new candidate is selected to begin by the 2011-2012 school year. Change is always hard yet often good. Perhaps you could offer a prayer for this right now.
Hannah at the recent High School Retreat

For ourselves we also face great changes. Hannah has but a few months left with us before college. We're wading through financial aid and other information to help make the final decision on what school of nursing she will attend. We also need to move out of our fourth "live-in-for-1-year-while-a-family-is-on-home-leave" apartment. This year we hope to find a more long-term solution and I think we might have a good lead.

It would be sort of nice to not move every summer!

Get Smart

86 glances disdainfully at Mr. Big.

Well, the highlight of the month for entertainment value was the Middle School production of Get Smart with Carl in the title role. He had to master 300 lines of snappy dialogue (as well as a quick bout of stomach bug the day before the first performance) in order to pull this off. Much prayer and encouragement saw him through the first few minutes of opening night and then he let loose with a great interpretation of the part (doesn't that sound like a proud pretentious father writing!). Carl seems to love this stuff so enjoy some more of the photos below.

Guarded by the Wong sisters.
Sign him up for Richard III!
Oops, wrong phone!
Long before cells and iPhones, there was the Shoe Phone
Keeping Dr. Dante quiet.
86 meets 99.
It was a fun couple of nights. Carl received so much affirmation from peers, high school kids, staff and community people - well done lad!

February flew!

Hannah and Diane as the senior ball players were honored.
Carl calling the fouls

Well - another month gone. It's been a pretty standard German February - rain, snow, cold, wet, occasional glimpses of sunshine but the days getting longer. School has been steadily busy and Hannah has wound up another sports season. Carl got to help officiate at the last home game.

We're currently watching highlights from Olympic competition of the day - oh boy, here comes Curling!

Coming up in the next few weeks are the BFA high school retreat and then Carl's starring role in the middle school play.

It's been a tough month at BFA. One particular student discipline issue has had a far reaching impact on students and staff alike. It was handled well but that doesn't make it easy in such a small, tight community.

A small vacation

Over winter break we had the opportunity to take a needed break. We had an incredibly busy 2009 and spent the first two weeks of break pretty much in an inert state. Diane and I are beginning to understand the dynamics of exhaustion (if that's not oxymoronic). The last week we spent in a place full of BFA tradition. It's an old hotel in a ski town that has faded from Alpine fashion. For a pretty inexensive price we rented some rooms, kitchen included. We pre-packed all our food (its so cold there you just keep it frozen in your car or on the windowsills). Our floor held many other families from Kandern and time was divided between games, reading, sledding, and sleeping.


Narragansett readers might recognize the guy in the gray sweater.

We're getting a lot of mileage out of this picture (thanks Heather Shuman)

Exams are underway at BFA. This is a good time for teachers and students alike. For both, the hard work of the semester is evaluated and then put to rest for a few weeks. Many students from past years drift through at this time - connecting with friends and siblings and/or just using their break from college to "process" the transitions from BFA to university/work. I interview every alumni I see and ask, "What do you wish you were told before making the transition?" I get some pretty good information to incorporate into what I do in the class.

Diane has been working, if not too much, then darn close to it with her new responsibilities as Director of Language Services for TeachBeyond ( the organization formerly known as Janz Team). All sorts of interesting opportunities are cropping up that allow simple English instruction to open the doors for the Gospel.

Christmas break also means a drastic change of pace for everyone. You go from hectic, full, and fast to almost dead stop. The town loses a few hundred students and many staff and Christmas in Germany is no where near as fast paced as in the U.S. Imagine the quiet you might hear walking through your town at 2PM on Christmas day. The cars have all found their destinations, the Super Sales are suspended for a few hours, the big meal is on the table, and it's quiet. Well, in Germany that goes on for a few days in a row - unnerving at first for the American mind but then quite pleasant.

In order to let our students travel the great distances most must go to see their families, break is fairly long. We will take a week of down time in the mountains with some other families - our first real vacation since the same time last year.

I continue to be amazed at the absolutely cosmic scale of the Christmas story. The Creator and King of the universe who dwells in unimaginable dimensions of splendor and spirit casts His lot with us - forever!- to redeem and reclaim and restore - forever! - and invites us to the celebration - forever!

Merry Christmas to all!