jill.musick

The Staufen “STAGES” festival, or Stadt Geschichte (city history), is  kind of like a Medieval-Renaissance fair German-style.  Emily and I went to Staufen to get coffee because Emily discovered a coffee roastery there, but we realized it was the same weekend as the festival, so we wandered around a town that had been transformed into something right out of A Knight’s Tale. The city is known as the Faust-Stadt, so one of the key elements of this production is a drama of Faust. We didn’t stay for that, but we did see some other dramas and interesting things.

I was particularly excited by the hurdy-gurdy, old-fashioned bagpipes, and Renaissance singing! And now Emily and I have some Costa Rica coffee to enjoy in the coming weeks.

This past week at BFA was Spiritual Emphasis Week, a time for us as a school to re-focus on God. Every morning started with a chapel session involving worship music then a message by Dave Martin, a BFA dad.

The most catchy tune of the week was “We Are the Free.” The entire middle school was reportedly singing it at every free moment; our small group girls burst into a chorus of “Oh oh ooooh oh oh…” on Thursday night; and several teachers were prank called with a recording of that song the same night. Here’s a clip from Friday:

The messages were filled with interesting stories from the speaker’s life – some funny, some soberingly serious. He talked about wounds and scars throughout the week, walking us through some of Jesus’ parables of healing: the blind Bartimaeus, the woman who was healed from 12 years of bleeding, and the paralyzed man whose friends broke through a roof to get him to Jesus. Just like the blind Bartimaeus, we all need to recognize that we are in need of healing. We need to admit the things that have wounded us in the past. Like the woman who endured 12 years of bleeding, we need to recognize that Jesus is the only One who can heal our wounds. And like the paralyzed man’s friends, we should bring our sick and wounded friends to the Healer so they too can be restored.

Thursday was a dramatic day. During the first three days, students had been writing words on a mirror on stage – words representing hurt, pain, wounds – the things we see when we look at ourselves. After walking us through the story of Jesus’ death, in which Jesus Himself was wounded, the speaker smashed the mirror with an axe! Because Jesus bore our sorrows, the pain of our past is smashed – we are no longer those people, we are being re-made in God’s image. By His wounds we are healed.

Friday was also a dramatic, moving day. The speaker walking us through the excitement of Jesus’ resurrection. Then several staff members were involved in a dramatic representation of the transformation from wounded to healed. They walked across the stage holding pieces of cardboard showing something that had been a struggle or caused them pain; then, one by one, they flipped the cardboard to reveal how that thing had been changed to the opposite.

At the end, all staff and students were invited to take a rock from the stage, write their own personal struggle or pain on the rock, take it outside and throw it in the creek (reminds me of Leviticus 14:40). When we came in, we picked up a smaller rock as a “stone of remembrance” (Joshua 4). As the Israelites crossed the Jordan river and left the desert of wandering behind, so we have crossed over from death into life. The stone is a reminder that we are not enslaved by those things any more; the wounds have become scars. We are the free! (oh oh ooooh…)

As a whole, I had never seen the student body of BFA so engaged in the week. Pray for continued growth and transformation in the lives of these students!

On Thursday we had small group again – it was so good to see the girls after a summer away! We met on Thursday this week, but we’ll be meeting every other Monday after they get back from the senior class trip to Rome. Normally, small groups meet on Wednesday nights, but seniors meet at other times because most of them are involved in leading Chrysalis, the middle school youth group/ small group time that also meets on Wednesdays.

Since we’re only meeting every other week, we’re planning on eating dinner together to get extra time. This week, we had spaghetti with giant meatballs. A couple of the girls came early to help us prepare!

Onion goggles!

We had them write out goals for spiritual and personal growth for this year; it was encouraging to read through those. Emily and I are praying for transformational growth in all these girls’ lives!

Last year, 6 of us hiked up to Sausenburg for Castle Camping with Jazz. This year, we decided to repeat the excitement, except without the rain, and instead of Jazz we had Disney as our soundtrack.

Last night was beautiful but cold. We could see the stars so clearly! Katrina and I identified as many constellations as we could, and Emily Kremer saw 5 shooting stars! It was a magic castle experience, followed up by a lovely sunrise and some amazing breakfast at our house.

Last weekend was also Budenfest, Kandern’s annual food stand festival. It’s an opportunity for local clubs to raise funds and for the entire town to socialize. I enjoy people watching at these events. Emily and I ate a lot of sausage and waffles over the course of 3 days.

The theme for 2012-13 at BFA is Transformed, from Romans 12:2.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sam Stemple’s chapel message today started with an illustration lots of the BFA kids could relate to. He described his time living in Vietnam. Going to the market, strangers would come up to him and take picture with his blond daughter. He always felt like he and his family stuck out; he did everything he could to just blend in, but it didn’t work.

BFA kids like to blend in; they’re pretty good at it. As TCKs, they are cultural chameleons and can look and act like people from various places. The new students are trying to figure out how to fit in to life at BFA, life as an MK, and life in a dorm.

Sam had a simple message, right to the point. Jesus did not call us to fit in or blend in. The world is not our standard; we are not supposed to fit in, or be conformed, to the world. It doesn’t mean we’re all non-conformists, just that we conform to a different standard.

As the year progresses, we will continue to unfold the meaning of our transformation – past, present and future. All of us are in process, and it’s good to know that we are in the hands of a good Maker who is molding us into His image.

Today was a beautiful day for a drive in the German countryside. Since lessons hadn’t started up, Marit and I had space in our schedules in both the morning and the afternoon to pick up instruments.

First thing in the morning, we drove to beautiful Staufen to pick up the school instruments from the repair shop. While we were there, a Spanish couple visited the shop to pick up the woman’s violin after a cleaning and adjustment. I talked to them in limited Spanish for a bit! Our school instruments look and sound much better now – ready for another year of play!

Then in the afternoon (after Chapel, lunch/audition, Guitar, and High School Orchestra), I drove to Riehen, Switzerland to pick up almost all of our rental instruments.

We had a bit of help carrying them in.

I’m thanking God for the use of this car this year. It has already proved itself useful in carrying lots of instruments! God has provided in so many ways, and I look forward to seeing what He has planned for this year.