Life on the outside

A view of the Swiss Alps from our retreat site in Lenk, Switzerland

The BFA Falcons Logo

Over the past eight months, I have spent a lot of time in Liel, the middle school dorm. Helping to raise 10 students, ages 13-15, has a way of keeping me indoors--13 loads of laundry have to be washed and dried and folded or ironed each week, dinners and breakfasts and snacks for 15 people must be prepared each week (and I can't forget about all those dishes with only one small dishwsher!), dorm devotionals must be planned, phone calls and emails must be exchanged to manage the schedules of the 10 students, students must be transported to and fro throughout the day, student chores must be overlooked, the cleanliness of the rooms must be checked, Residence Life staff meetings must be attended, students must receive help with their daily study hours, student accounts must be balanced, the administering of antibiotics and medicine must be logged, and the list goes on ...

Despite all the busyness, you must know that I do love my job and all of the daily activity I get to participate in, but every now and then...I need to get outside!

As a result of all my time spent indoors, I have missed out on getting to know other members of this new community--the high schoolers, the student athletes, the teachers, the coaches, and the people who sit next to me in church.

And so, this past week...I made a few decisions :)

-For those of you who know me well, I am sure you are familiar with my passion for running. When I run, I feel the Lord's pleasure...my body is free...I am alone...I can pray...I can think...I can observe...I can release. Now, while I do most of my running alone, someone encouraged me recently to see about helping with the BFA track and field team. After making a few phone calls, the head coach welcomed me to join the team. So, every Monday and Tuesday afternoon, I am running with high schoolers and two of my middle school girls (Laura and Priscilla), I am encouraging the ones who are struggling, I am meeting the coaches, I am becoming part of my church here and I love it!

-This past weekend, I took my four-day weekend off to attend the high school retreat in Lenk, Switzerland. I was so blessed by the opportunity I had to lead a small group of freshmen, teach a few beginning skiiers how to "snowplow" (as my dad always called it... he is a farmer through and through) down a slope, worship with BFA staff, and simply be included in the lives of those who I rarely see or don't even know. I am meeting new parts of the body and I love it!

*If you could, please continue to pray for ways that I can become invested in this new community. Pray for my continued interactions with the small group that I had at the retreat. Pray over my time with the track athletes--while I don't know much about the mechanics of sprinting, jumping, throwing, or distance running, pray that I might still be able to encourage them.

Thanking God for you today and the moments I have had on the outside,

Lauren