The One who redeems, restores life, and sustains

“Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today...May he also be to you a restorer of life, and a sustainer of your old age...” (Ruth 4:14-15)

Ever felt like you don't know where to begin? That is how I feel as I attempt this long overdue update. So much has happened in the last three months and as I tried to determine how best to recap what the Lord has and is doing Jesus reminded me of this verse that I recently read in Ruth. While I realize this verse is referring to Boaz and Obed, it is also a foreshadowing of the ultimate kinsman-redeemer, Jesus Himself! I would like to share some of the events of the last three months under the three descriptions listed in this verse: the One who redeems, restores life and sustains.

Restorer of Life
At times living overseas is difficult and on May 17 I received news that made that ocean feel twice as big. My Dad had suffered a massive heart attack that should have taken his life. But the Lord was so merciful and RESTORED LIFE to him! We are so grateful and yet regardless of the outcome there is such comfort in knowing that we can trust the One who holds our tomorrows.

Just yesterday, a week after my return to Germany, I received the hard news that my sweet grandmother (my Dad's mom) had entered the presence of Jesus after a brief hospital visit. How my heart longs to celebrate her life lived for her Savior but it was not possible to return in time for the funeral. Yet I feel so grateful for her legacy. She was adopted into a Christian family at the age of 7 and spent her life in ministry to her family and others, traveling in retirement with my grandfather around the world to minister to others. But even though God did not restore her life here on this earth, because of His REDEMPTION, He has given her ultimate RESTORATION of LIFE! She is with Him in glory and I can't wait to spend eternity with her.

 

Sustainer
How grateful I am for the Lord's SUSTAINING grace for the end of a very full year here at BFA and for His SUSTAINING strength for an exhausting yet wonderful summer, celebrating my grandfather's 94^th birthday, lots of travel, hearing my Dad preach, seeing loved ones, speaking, taking an online summer class, helping my sister move, caring for my grandfather, etc. I am so grateful that the Lord allows me the privilege of just doing life with my family during the summer. I am rarely home when needs arise but this summer He allowed me the blessing of being able to help in different capacities and I am thankful for daily SUSTAINING strength!

Redeemer
I have seen His REDEEMING love as I received an email last week from one of my students who shared with me that she had set a goal to read the four Gospels this summer and had just completed John! My heart was so blessed as this sweet girl has returned to the States after a year here at BFA and will be missed. From the very first day the Lord had placed her on my heart and I continue to pray for her and all my students that they would come to fully know Him as their Redeemer.

As I begin my fifth year here at BFA and look ahead at a new school year with the many changes that inevitably come each year at BFA, I find myself as needy and dependent on Jesus as I was my first year. And you know what? I am grateful. I think we are supposed to live there even though it is hard! And YET with Naomi I want to declare that in the midst of the hardships and the losses that He is our REDEEMER, our RESTORER and our SUSTAINER and worth it all! What a mighty God we serve!

Look Up!

I learned that reading my Bible every day changes the way you see things that happen throughout the day. I am more positive, optimistic.

I learned that I have a lot of things in my life to be thankful for.

I learned a lot about different countries around the world and how to pray for those countries.

As I sat around a lunch table listening to a dozen or so students reflecting on their participation in the Lent Challenge (see previous blog), I was reminded that while I am technically their teacher, they often teach me! Lent, I am embarrassed to admit, has always been a season that tends to sneak up on me and I rarely end up following through on my intentions. But there is nothing like a bunch of middle schoolers to keep you accountable and to help remind you of your commitment. I have truly been blessed to be praying for a different country every day and then hearing my students talk about that country as they walk into my classroom. I loved hearing them make connections between what we are learning about in Bible class and what they had read in Isaiah that morning for their daily reading, or hearing them share what they were grateful for on that particular day.

As we celebrated the end of our Challenge (yesterday was the last day of school) and broke bread together I shared briefly with them something that the Lord has been teaching me recently: to look up! As we have been in a race to the finish line (spring break!) this past week, my attention has been on grades, lesson plans, taxes, etc. I have found that my natural tendency is for my gaze to be turned downward into the details of life. I quickly become overwhelmed by my ‘to do’ list, the events in the news, the weight of teaching, etc. But the daily disciplines of our Challenge helped me to look up!  I looked up this phrase in the Bible (pun intended). I knew that I would find it in Isaiah and the Psalms but the two references that stood out to me where from Genesis 22 and Mark 16. In Genesis 22, it says that Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horn (v13). This ram meant salvation for Isaac and mercy for Abraham. What if Abraham hadn’t looked up? 

Mark 16 tells us of the women who were approaching the tomb that Sunday morning worrying about who would roll away the stone for them… but when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away (v.4). Wow! Thank goodness they were not too bogged down with the details and worries of life to look up. They would have missed the most amazing event in human history! An empty tomb!

As we enter into this Holy Week, my prayer is that I would keep my eyes on Him, on His sovereignty, majesty, love and power.

 

May each of us take time this Holy week to look up and see the Lamb of God slain for us and for the sins of the world! But come Sunday morning, let's look up and see the stone rolled away and am empty tomb! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Catching up

Life is full! I know this is true for each one of you.  For whatever reason the transition back from Christmas in the States to life at BFA was harder than normal. The jet lag hit harder than usual and there seem to be more demands, activities, etc than I remember for this time of year.  But through it all the Lord has been faithful! Here is a brief recap of some of the events of the last two months: Christmas with my family. We were blessed to spend five days as a whole family! What a gift!   Shortly after school started back we had a TEAM Germany retreat.  It was refreshing to be together (it only happens once a year) and to hear how God is moving not just at BFA but around Germany!    The first weekend in Feb. I was able to attend a conference for International Schools throughout Germany with four other colleagues. I still feel quite new to the teaching profession and am always thankful for any opportunity to learn. Mid-February brought a lot of sickness to our school. Somehow I was able to escape it but over one third of our student body did not. One day I only had one student in French B. What does one do with just one student in French class? Take a picture to record the event and watch Ratatouille of course :)  Over Valentine’s Day weekend I traveled to a small town on Lake Constance to visit a Bible school there and most importantly Abi, a long time family friend who attends there.  What a joy it was to see a school that I have heard much about and to have the privilege of having Abi show me some of her favorite places.   For the start of Lent, we challenged our students and staff to accept one of three challenges : The Word Challenge (daily Bible reading plan); The World Challenge (praying for a different country of the world each day)’ the Gratitude Challenge (keeping a daily journal of His gifts to us).  Will you pray with us that the Lord will meet each student and staff member that chose to participate?  Will you pray that the Lord will prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter?   On Friday as the high schoolers left for high school retreat the middle school had an activity day.  This year it involved bowling.  Even though I came in second to last I still enjoyed playing and spending time with students outside of the classroom. I am thankful to the Lord for His many blessings in my life! Anna Want to join the Middle School Challenge and pray for the world every day?  Download the Voice of the Martyrs Prayer Calendar app for free to your phone OR check out http://prayercast.com

Merry Christmas! God With us!

  At our closing all school chapel the students presented a powerful skit featuring the battle between Jesus and Satan and how Christmas is the beginning of the end for the enemy. But as I listened to the students’ chuckle as it was revealed which one of their fellow classmates was portraying Jesus, I was struck anew with the mystery of the incarnation. Classmates and teachers alike were thinking of the differences between this student and the person he was playing. While this particular student is a good kid/student, he is not perfect. But didn’t those around Jesus have a similar reaction? Who does Jesus think he is? He is my neighbor, friend, classmate. He is just a carpenter from Nazareth. He's a good kid and all, but the Son of God...I don't think so. He looks and sounds like me, how could He be the promised Messiah?

  While I realize that my analogy quickly breaks down as the student portraying Jesus was neither sinless nor the Son of God, it still revealed my own heart.  I have often wondered if I would have missed Jesus had I been there2000 yrs ago.  I hope not, but it made me keenly aware of how easily I could have.  This was not what anyone had expected. At one point in time the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe was a teenage boy who looked much like one of my students. The Word took on flesh and dwelt among us.  What an astounding reality!

  My Christmas prayer is that I would have the expectant faith of Simeon and Anna, who didn't miss it, didn't snicker at the thought of the God of the universe being presented by poor parents as a newborn in the Temple. May we have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to respond to the radical message of Christmas! Emmanuel! God with us!

Love, Anna

I am a wimp!

I have a confession to make. I am a wimp! In the several weeks I have felt God calling me to truly intercede for several situations (personal and worldwide events). None of these situations involved me directly.  My life, career, finances, health were not, nor are they, in any jeopardy. His only call was (and is) to intercede and share in carrying some of the things that are on His heart. And yet I must confess I found myself fighting this call. What a wimp!

I was confronted with my own sinful heart. To be perfectly honest I didn't want to enter into the pain of these situations. The cost was minimal to say the least. But it felt heavy. I felt inadequate. And the situations felt hopeless.

As only Jesus could have orchestrated, I have been teaching my 6^th graders about the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus begins His ministry in the book of Matthew with these explosive teachings. Jesus enters in and takes an upside down world and teaches us how to live right side up again. Jesus teaches us that He has come do more than change my outward actions. He can transform my “want to” my inner heart and my motives. What a glorious transforming Gospel! He never promised it would be easy but He reveals to us who He is in these chapters and He is a God who does the impossible. He is the God of those who mourn and the God of the weak! And if we let Him, He can come in and transform us to look more and more like Him. What Good News! He doesn't wait for me to be courageous, fearless, perfect. His invitation to me is the same as it was in the Gospels...”Come, Follow me.”

Oswald Chambers reminds us in his book on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus did not come to simply teach us. He came to make us what He teaches we should be. “The beatitudes are not mild and nice sayings but they contain the dynamite of the Holy Spirit. They explode like spiritual mines when the circumstances of life requires them to do.” The Sermon on the Mount teaches us who He is and who we are, revealing the “Divine Disproportion.” But isn't that the point? He alone can bridge that gap and transform my heart. Why is it something that I always think I can muster up in my own strength? Isn't this the very essence of the Good News? He can transform my “want to,” my motives. He can clean me from the inside out!

So I am asking Him to do in me what I can't do for myself. I am asking Him to give me the courage to enter in and carry some of the things on His heart. And you know what? I have seen Him work in incredible ways in situations that felt impossible. I have seen in a new way that this God I love is a personal God, One who mourns with those who mourn, One who cares for those dying from ebola in West Africa, cares for those suffering for His Name's sake around the world, cares about each one of His children.

I may be a wimp but through His strength I can chose to enter into the very heart of God and be transformed. And when I am doing it in His strength it is no longer a burden but a privilege. Why would I settle for anything less when the God I love chose to enter into my world, my sin and my mess?

 For great resources on prayer check out www.prayercast.com

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Lasts

"When are you flying out?"  That is a question that has been heard echoing throughout the halls of BFA recently.  Everyone is wrapping things up, grading, cleaning and packing in anticipation of graduation tomorrow followed by travel for most of our community.  For some it is travel to visit family and friends, for others it is traveling to raise support to return to BFA and for others it is packing everything up and saying goodbye to life at BFA and Germany and walking through the next door the Lord has opened for them.  It is amazing to hear the places that not only our students are headed to but also our staff.  At our recent staff appreciation dinner, (an opportunity to say goodbye to those who will not be returning) we heard of those who were returning to North America and of those who were going to serve at schools in central Asia, South America and in other parts of Europe.  What a privilege to get to work with people who are not looking to settle down and find security but continually asking the Lord what He has next for them, regardless of the phase of life in which they find themselves.  From the widow who courageously chose to return to BFA alone to the retired couple who could be enjoying the beach and their grandchildren to the recent college grad who instead of starting a career is giving tirelessly of themselves to high school students...these are my co-workers.

My middle school co-workers

Graduation is now upon us and once again the goodbyes are more than I care to admit.  My days have been filled with "lasts."  So many colleagues and students are leaving.  Some precious time with a girl that I have mentored this past year at the senior girls' tea.  Some of the girls are able to have their moms there but I was able to step into that role for the afternoon and what a privilege sitting next to Elise who is Dutch and grew up in Asia and across from another senior who is Australian and grew up in the middle east.  Both of these girls are beautiful on the inside and outside.

One last small group meeting.  These 7 women welcomed me into their group this year and were a huge blessing to me.  Four of them will not be returning next year and will be greatly missed!

Half our small group - so thankful for these women!

One last time for the middle school staff to be together and say goodbye to those who are leaving (out of 10 full time teachers, 5 are leaving). Saying goodbye to our 8th graders with a banquet and awards ceremony. Some of them are leaving and others are just moving up to the high school campus.   Last classes, last staff meetings, and the list goes on.  I am so very thankful to not be moving out or transitioning this year but the reality is that even for those left behind transition is involved. Thank you for praying for BFA and for the staff and students! 

Some of my 8th graders - boys will be boys :)

Are we there yet?

“Are we there yet?”

“When can we eat?”

"I have to go to the bathroom."

“Can we pick our own groups?”

“Do we have to have a teacher in our group? Can't we just explore on our own?”

If you have ever led a field trip or if you are a parent, you have heard either these exact questions or similar ones. This week was ELW (Experiential Learning Week) at the middle school. I was one of the team leaders for the 7^th grade and over the course of four field trip days I heard all of these questions multiple times. In many ways, our kids are just like every other kid. But then you have those moments that remind you that they have experienced a lot more than many their age.  From having the the current crisis in Thailand explained to me in detail, to being told that they had been to a very similar museum in Dubai, my students continue to teach me! While the week was exhausting, it was good to connect with these students outside of the classroom. 

Our crew for the week

 On Monday we visited the Basel zoo and traveled on public transportation, which turned into quite an adventure. Although we had called ahead and told them that a bigger bus would be required, the message did not seem to have been received. We ended up standing for well over an hour trying not to crush 1^st and 3^rd graders (who were also standing) traveling with us. Our kids were great sports but needless to say, it was a long ride. 

Finally made it to Basel - headed to the Zoo

Splitting a McFlurry three ways and enjoying every bite with these two!

  On Tuesday we spend a day at the high school. They were able to enjoy some of the perks of the high school campus: ceramics class, chemistry lab, and a full sized gym. 

Their egg survived a four story drop!

 On Wednesday we traveled an hour and a half away to a very nice children's museum outside of Zurich. We spent four full hours exploring and could have stayed longer. 

On Friday we visited a local castle and they did the ropes course in a nearby town. (Thursday was Ascension Day – a national holiday). 

You have to have at least one silly picture. :) 

Ready to conquer the ropes course!

Showing their muscles

Monday begins our last full week of classes. Final exams are the following week followed by graduation and more goodbyes than any of us wish to say (to staff and students who will not be returning next year). But even in the midst of the sadness that can come with the end of the year, there is also a sense of amazement at all God has done this year. And I see that in the faces of my students and colleagues and in my own heart and life. He has been faithful in allowing me to return to BFA, in helping me jump back into teaching French and teaching the Old Testament for the first time. He has been faithful in providing for my every need!