Lugano Prayer Requests: Day 4

This week I am in Lugano, Switzerland with twenty-two eighth grade students and four other staff members. The purpose of this trip is to stretch the students academically, physically, spiritually, and socially. Throughout the week they will be experiencing "school without walls" and completing activities related to their history, English, science, art, and physical education classes. I'll post a day-by-day update with pictures when we return, but while we are gone I would like to request your prayers for some specific things each day. Even though I am going "off the grid," I have scheduled posts so that there will be new prayer requests posted each day.

* * * * *

This is the day students always dread - the homecoming. All good things must eventually come to an end. After cleaning up the hostel and packing the vans, we will venture into downtown Lugano for students to enjoy the boardwalk, visit souvenir shops, eat lunch, and take pictures. From there, we will head back to BFA and hopefully arrive in time for students to enjoy dinner with their parents, who will be anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Ways to Pray:

• Positive, flexible, helpful attitudes from all students as we clean, pack, and check out of the hostel
• Pleasant weather for our time in downtown Lugano
• Safety for the students as they are given a bit of freedom while downtown and aren't in our line of sight the entire time!
• Safety for our caravan as we drive home via the autobahn
• For no vehicle complications or delays
• Meaningful connections/conversations with and among the students
• That everyone goes home happy, healthy, and maybe even a little bit stretched :)

Thanks so much for your prayers this week! Check back next week for pictures and stories from our week!!

Last year's class in front of Mt. San Salvatore (May 2012)

Lugano Prayer Requests: Day 3

This week I am in Lugano, Switzerland with twenty-two eighth grade students and four other staff members. The purpose of this trip is to stretch the students academically, physically, spiritually, and socially. Throughout the week they will be experiencing "school without walls" and completing activities related to their history, English, science, art, and physical education classes. I'll post a day-by-day update with pictures when we return, but while we are gone I would like to request your prayers for some specific things each day. Even though I am going "off the grid," I have scheduled posts so that there will be new prayer requests posted each day.

* * * * *

Day three of our trip involves several smaller activities: a trip to the Alprose chocolate factory, a mapping activity for science class, and some writing assignments for English. Students will also have several hours of free time in the afternoon to use as they choose - swimming, reading, playing sports, etc. Dinner is followed once again by games, worship and devotions. Traditionally this is the night that students are challenged with their devotions, and often times there are some great conversations that take place following evening activities. It is our last night together, as we'll pack up and head home tomorrow.

Ways to Pray:

• Safety in the vans as we drive to Alprose
• Good attitudes from the students as they complete on their "school work"
• Pleasant weather so they can swim and spend time outside rather than cooped up in the hostel
• Meaningful connections/conversations with and among the students
• That students take away something meaningful from their devotions

Thanks so much for your prayers! Check back tomorrow for new requests!

Students at Alprose Schokoland (May 2011)

Lugano Prayer Requests: Day 2

This week I am in Lugano, Switzerland with twenty-four eighth grade students and four other staff members. The purpose of this trip is to stretch the students academically, physically, spiritually, and socially. Throughout the week they will be experiencing "school without walls" and completing activities related to their history, English, science, art, and physical education classes. I'll post a day-by-day update with pictures when we return, but while we are gone I would like to request your prayers for some specific things each day. Even though I am going "off the grid," I have scheduled posts so that there will be new prayer requests posted each day.

* * * * *

Today our main event is a four-hour hike down Mount San Salvatore. Students will ride a cable car up the mountain and then spend the morning and early afternoon hiking down. We will break for lunch along the way and eventually end at a small coastal town where we will catch a ferry back to our starting point. By the time we return to the hostel it will be dinnertime and then we will have our traditional games, worship and devotions lineup afterwards.

Ways to Pray

• Safety in the vans as we drive to and from the trail
• Protection from injury as we hike the rugged terrain
• Meaningful connections/conversations with and among the students
• Pleasant weather - warm and sunny would be nice!!
• That everyone has fun!!

Thanks so much for your prayers! Check back tomorrow for new requests!

Last year's hike leaders (May 2012)

Lugano Prayer Requests: Day 1

Today I am departing on a four-day trip to Lugano, Switzerland with twenty-four eighth grade students and four other staff members. The purpose of this trip is to stretch the students academically, physically, spiritually, and socially. Throughout the week they will be experiencing "school without walls" and completing activities related to their history, English, science, art, and physical education classes. I'll post a day-by-day update with pictures when we return, but while we are gone I would like to request your prayers for some specific things each day. Even though I am going "off the grid," I have scheduled posts so that there will be new prayer requests posted each day.

Day one of our adventure involves about three or four hours on the Swiss autobahn, and we will also spend some time exploring castles in the Swiss town of Bellinzona. We will arrive at our hostel late afternoon, get settled in with room and chore assignments, have dinner, then spend some time playing games and having a time of worship and devotions.

Ways to Pray

• Safety for our four-van caravan as we drive, and that nobody's van gets lost!
• Pleasant weather since our main activity for the day, exploring the castles, takes place outside
• Positive, helpful attitudes from the students as we load and unload vans, assign rooms and chores, etc.
• Wisdom and grace for us leaders
• Meaningful connections/conversations among and with the students
• That a great time is had by all!

Thanks so much for your prayers! Check back tomorrow for new ways to pray!

Last year's 8th graders in Bellinzona (May 2012)

my five year blogiversary

Today my blog is five years old! I started this blog after college as a way to chronicle my new life as a missionary in Vienna, Austria. Obviously, plans have changed since then but it is still crazy for me to think that I have been on this journey now for five whole years. There have been ups and downs, posts full of laughter and joy as well as posts written from raw, broken places. Through it all, God has been faithful and walked alongside me. Join me in celebrating God's faithfulness as I reflect on some of the highlights of the last five years!

Has it really been five years???

2008:
The Day I Found Out I Wasn't Going to Vienna

The Day I Found Out I Was Taking the Scenic Route

2009:
The Day I Got "Engaged", aka The Day I Played an Evil Prank on Innocent Children

The Day I Said Goodbye

The Day I Finally Took a Shower

The Day I Flew to Germany

The Day I Spent Christmas in Paris

2010:
The Day I Ran My First 5K

The Day I Said Goodbye to Great Grandma

The Day I Skinned an Animal

The Day I Freestyled in Front of the Entire Student Body

2011
The Day I Admitted to Being a Hoarder

The Day I Fought off a Bird in my Own Home

The Day I Became a Mama

2012:
The Day I Became a Newsie

The Day I Went to Heaven

The Day I Embarassed Tucker

The Day I Became a Duck

2013:
The Day I Was Kidnapped

The Day I Remembered Great Grandma


But seriously, that is a lot of highlights. It was really hard to pick just those posts! But they only tell part of my story - if you haven't been following along I think you would really enjoy reading through some of my archives when you have the time!

Thank you so much, faithful friends, supporters, and readers. Your encouraging comments over the last five years have made me happy and assured me that there really are people who care about what I have to say.

May newsletter

Please click the image below to read my latest newsletter with time-sensitive prayer requests!

step into my classroom: mini science fair

Ask a question.




Form a hypothesis.




Experiment and collect data.




Analyze the data.




Form a conclusion.




Report your findings.







Just before spring break sixth graders participated in the first annual BFAMS Mini Science Fair. As a part of our scientific method unit, students had the opportunity to apply what they'd been learning by carrying out a "mini" science fair project. It's my dream to have a school wide science fair but for now I'll ease into it with the sixth grade.

Students were assigned a topic and I allowed them to work with a partner to lessen the stress. I would have preferred they choose their own topics so as to let their passions fuel their inquiry, but we were working on a strict schedule and there wasn't much time for dreaming and brainstorming. Everything had to be finished before spring break because of the quarter's end, so the whole project from start to finish lasted less than two weeks. I was very apprehensive about this project, but then again I've been apprehensive about everything I've done in this class from day one and things have always gone smoothly.

The biggest reward for me was watching my students develop their critical thinking skills. From phrasing their hypotheses to designing and carrying out (and troubleshooting!) their experiments to forming conclusions and asking follow up questions, you could tell their brains were in gear the entire time. The ability to think, reason, and ask good questions is one of the ultimate objectives of middle school science, and I think this project was a great way for them to begin taking those skills to the next level.

For them, the biggest reward was getting to stand up in front of their peers and share their work, explain to their teachers what they accomplished, and (for three "winners") the chance to be recognized in front of the entire middle school for their efforts.

This project is definitely a keeper!!