Friends, Romans, Countrymen--hello from a newly sunny southern Germany. Spring, it seems, is approaching.
I'm sorry for going a whole month without writing--not so much because I feel like you want to read weekly blogposts, but because an entire month is really hard to condense into one bite-sized chunk. So I suppose my apology is mostly selfish, because I've made my job harder. But fear not, I promise to try to stay on topic and hit the major highlights. :)
February was...long. Which is weird, because it's the shortest month of the year. Maybe it felt long because it was so dark and grey outside. Maybe it felt long because a lot of dorms/dorm staffs took some spiritual and physical hits this month. (I'm not going to go into details there, because I'm trying to stay focused. But if you think of it, please pray for the Residence Life people here: staff and students facing health issues, emotional issues, and family tragedies.) Regardless, we're all pretty excited for March to turn into a lamb and take us out of winter.
But don't worry--this update is not going to be a downer. February was a lot of fun, and here are some of the reasons why:
1. February is my birthday month. I know, that's a terribly selfish reason to like a month, but there it is. February 19th was littered with little gifts, notes, and cards in my mailbox, and I celebrated my birthday with the dorm in the traditional Palmgarten style: we had a special dessert with dinner (in this case, cupcakes spelling "Happy Birthday Amanda"), I was attacked with Nutella kisses (which basically ended with me having Nutella in my ears, eyes, and nose), and doused with water. Happy birthday to me. :) It was fun to feel like a part of the dorm birthday tradition.
2. We hosted Palmgarten's annual Valentine's Dinner.
Each year the seniors select a theme and help plan the decorations, games, and menu. It's a pretty big to-do. This year's theme was Las Vegas. I know what you're thinking: "How can you have a Las Vegas themed party at a Christian boarding school, you heathens?" But with a little creativity, we pulled it off. The girls worked really hard to decorate the living room like a casino (hanging playing cards from the ceiling, putting green felt on the tables, and throwing in a good amount of sparkly confetti to give it that Las Vegas glitter. :) Each girl invited a date for her roommate, and all the kids dressed up as movie stars and high rollers. It was a murder mystery, so the staff dressed up as characters and the kids worked to solve the crime over the course of the evening. We served finger food on platters, had a photo booth, several different game stations...
At the end of the day, it was a great success, a lot of work, and a lot of fun.
3. The nice construction people built us an RA kitchen!
Last year, the Residence Life leaders decided that the RAs needed space of their own--a place to cook meals, hang, and just live during our days off. So they started construction on a small kitchen in several of the dorms that the RAs could use on days off to fly under the radar. Well last week, they finished. And Katie and I are pretty excited about it. I'm sitting in it right now, in fact (on the floor with my empty coffee mug beside me). We already have tea and coffee in the cupboard, frozen pizza in the little freezer, we have plans to bring in a table and chairs, and we're looking forward to using it as a place to rest, to get away, to invite other RAs to come, and to have the girls in to join us for cookie or smoothie parties. We'd love to paint it, decorate it, put in comfy furniture, and have soothing coffee shop music constantly playing, but...baby steps. :)
4. The BFA Music Festival and Honors Recital was last week.
I'm always proud of my girls. Really. It's probably over the top and embarrassing for them most of the time, but I can't help it. They're just such good artists, good musicians, good athletes, good students, and just great people. But this week was especially fun as I got to attend the music recitals and watch a few of my girls shine musically. A few of them were even selected to play in the Honors Recital in front of the whole school and guests. (Out of about 20 participants, Palmgarten had THREE people in the recital. More than any other dorm. I know. I'm so proud of them.) It was such a delight (I can't think of a better word) to listen to them and watch them on the guitar, piano, and violin. One of them told me the night before, "I know it's cheesy, but I always pray that God will be glorified when I play." Cheesy? I don't know, maybe. But it worked. I'm so thankful for God's gift of music and I'm so thankful for the chance to know these girls.
4. I'm getting to know and love the girls better.
This is the best part of my job...and it's the hardest to describe. There's really no good way to tell you about it, other than to mention the conversations, coffee dates, snow-fort building, pillow fights, and worship that I've gotten to have with my girls this month. Thank you for praying as I build these relationships, listen to the stories, laugh at the jokes, cry at the music, and try to model Christ for these beautiful women. God knows Christlikeness doesn't come naturally, and I've had to pull my foot out of my mouth and apologize a record number of times this month. But God is growing me and teaching me...and he is working here at Palm. I go back and forth on whether I think my ministry is mostly to serve the girls, mostly to be a support and an asset to their parents’ ministry, or mostly to teach and grow me to be more like Christ. All of the above, I suppose.
Thank you for your love and your prayers and your support.
Until next time,
Amanda
I'm sorry for going a whole month without writing--not so much because I feel like you want to read weekly blogposts, but because an entire month is really hard to condense into one bite-sized chunk. So I suppose my apology is mostly selfish, because I've made my job harder. But fear not, I promise to try to stay on topic and hit the major highlights. :)
February was...long. Which is weird, because it's the shortest month of the year. Maybe it felt long because it was so dark and grey outside. Maybe it felt long because a lot of dorms/dorm staffs took some spiritual and physical hits this month. (I'm not going to go into details there, because I'm trying to stay focused. But if you think of it, please pray for the Residence Life people here: staff and students facing health issues, emotional issues, and family tragedies.) Regardless, we're all pretty excited for March to turn into a lamb and take us out of winter.
But don't worry--this update is not going to be a downer. February was a lot of fun, and here are some of the reasons why:
1. February is my birthday month. I know, that's a terribly selfish reason to like a month, but there it is. February 19th was littered with little gifts, notes, and cards in my mailbox, and I celebrated my birthday with the dorm in the traditional Palmgarten style: we had a special dessert with dinner (in this case, cupcakes spelling "Happy Birthday Amanda"), I was attacked with Nutella kisses (which basically ended with me having Nutella in my ears, eyes, and nose), and doused with water. Happy birthday to me. :) It was fun to feel like a part of the dorm birthday tradition.
2. We hosted Palmgarten's annual Valentine's Dinner.
Each year the seniors select a theme and help plan the decorations, games, and menu. It's a pretty big to-do. This year's theme was Las Vegas. I know what you're thinking: "How can you have a Las Vegas themed party at a Christian boarding school, you heathens?" But with a little creativity, we pulled it off. The girls worked really hard to decorate the living room like a casino (hanging playing cards from the ceiling, putting green felt on the tables, and throwing in a good amount of sparkly confetti to give it that Las Vegas glitter. :) Each girl invited a date for her roommate, and all the kids dressed up as movie stars and high rollers. It was a murder mystery, so the staff dressed up as characters and the kids worked to solve the crime over the course of the evening. We served finger food on platters, had a photo booth, several different game stations...
At the end of the day, it was a great success, a lot of work, and a lot of fun.
 |
| Our four beautiful sophomores |
 |
| Dorm Staff and Subs in costume and in character. |
 |
| One of the many tables of high rollers enjoying their hors d'oeuvres. |
3. The nice construction people built us an RA kitchen!
Last year, the Residence Life leaders decided that the RAs needed space of their own--a place to cook meals, hang, and just live during our days off. So they started construction on a small kitchen in several of the dorms that the RAs could use on days off to fly under the radar. Well last week, they finished. And Katie and I are pretty excited about it. I'm sitting in it right now, in fact (on the floor with my empty coffee mug beside me). We already have tea and coffee in the cupboard, frozen pizza in the little freezer, we have plans to bring in a table and chairs, and we're looking forward to using it as a place to rest, to get away, to invite other RAs to come, and to have the girls in to join us for cookie or smoothie parties. We'd love to paint it, decorate it, put in comfy furniture, and have soothing coffee shop music constantly playing, but...baby steps. :)
4. The BFA Music Festival and Honors Recital was last week.
I'm always proud of my girls. Really. It's probably over the top and embarrassing for them most of the time, but I can't help it. They're just such good artists, good musicians, good athletes, good students, and just great people. But this week was especially fun as I got to attend the music recitals and watch a few of my girls shine musically. A few of them were even selected to play in the Honors Recital in front of the whole school and guests. (Out of about 20 participants, Palmgarten had THREE people in the recital. More than any other dorm. I know. I'm so proud of them.) It was such a delight (I can't think of a better word) to listen to them and watch them on the guitar, piano, and violin. One of them told me the night before, "I know it's cheesy, but I always pray that God will be glorified when I play." Cheesy? I don't know, maybe. But it worked. I'm so thankful for God's gift of music and I'm so thankful for the chance to know these girls.
4. I'm getting to know and love the girls better.
This is the best part of my job...and it's the hardest to describe. There's really no good way to tell you about it, other than to mention the conversations, coffee dates, snow-fort building, pillow fights, and worship that I've gotten to have with my girls this month. Thank you for praying as I build these relationships, listen to the stories, laugh at the jokes, cry at the music, and try to model Christ for these beautiful women. God knows Christlikeness doesn't come naturally, and I've had to pull my foot out of my mouth and apologize a record number of times this month. But God is growing me and teaching me...and he is working here at Palm. I go back and forth on whether I think my ministry is mostly to serve the girls, mostly to be a support and an asset to their parents’ ministry, or mostly to teach and grow me to be more like Christ. All of the above, I suppose.
Thank you for your love and your prayers and your support.
Until next time,
Amanda
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