Simply Trusting

Although it is just after Thanksgiving, I wanted to mention several things for which I am thankful. First, I am thankful for the God who loves me, died for me, and has given me eternal life. He is everything. He gives me the grace, strength, and health to live, and most of all, forgiveness from sin. I am thankful for my family, my parents, my sister, my 4 handsome brothers, and of course my amazing extended family. I am thankful for my home church, without whom it would be physically impossible to be here. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve at BFA. God is doing some incredible things here, and I feel honored just to be aware and observant. I am thankful for the staff I am privileged to work with every day here at Sonne. They continually bless my life and I am thankful for the chance to learn from and with them. Lastly, but definitely not least, I am thankful for my guys here at Sonne. To my Sonneknights past and present, if any of you happen to read this: God has given all of y...

Over the past week we have had some exciting times, so I would like to share some highlights with you now. First of all, last Sunday, one of my seniors was baptized, as a public profession of his walk with Christ. Over the past few years, God has taken him through some difficult times, and especially this year, we have been blessed to see increasing evidence of God’s work in his life. He truly desires to make God the center of his life. Baptisms are a very important public event in this community, taking place during the Sunday morning service at Black Forest Christian Fellowship. The person getting baptized shares their testimony of faith, and then are baptized and prayed over by people whom they have asked to stand up with them. It is an incredibly special, joyful time.  David sharing his testimony before being baptized I enjoyed my last few days off this week as well, and was able to go to Lisbon, Portugal for a couple of days. Enjoy pictures below. Triumphal gate in Lisb...

The past few days have been busy ones, but some of our guys are beginning to see fruit for their labors. One told me that he got accepted to his first choice college. After many weeks of fine-tuning and practice, another one performed at a recital the other night and was a huge success. This morning was the only home Cross Country meet for BFA, and two of our guys ran, both doing well. A senior from Korea took a test to evaluate his English language skills today which will be instrumental in helping him get accepted into college. He is confident that he did well, and we are optimistic. Another student who has been having some serious academic difficulty is finally beginning to bring his grades up. He faces several disabilities, so his path has been uphill. He is determined to succeed. Several of our seniors are emerging as leaders among their peers. I have to say that I am extremely proud of our guys. Each one faces some unique difficulties. They all get homesick from time to time, and...

  Dense fog drifts over the ridge of Hoch Blauen, creating a dramatic contrast with the evergreens. This is a common sight out the front windows of the dorm, and though I find it somewhat enchanting other days, today I long to see the sun. The dark days have begun up the hill, but inside it is warm and bright, and twenty three contented people reside. As I sit with my chai tea in one hand and my pen in the other, candlelight lends its luster to the room and I pause to reflect, because today is a special day. Today is the anniversary of an unexpected beginning. One year ago today, October 13, 2010, my plane taxied into the Basel airport, and I crossed the threshold of Sonne and an adventure which I am still blessed to be living. I have thought much recently about that day; Marty meeting me at the airport and stopping to let me pick flowers for my first intrinsically German experience; Debbie and Tommy meeting me with huge warm smiles and hugs at the door; Eating lunch with Chris, an...

Last Thursday our Juniors and Seniors departed on their class trips, the Juniors to Normandy and other points French, and the Seniors to Italy to explore cities such as Florence and Rome. The dorm is a very quiet place without them, and I’m realizing again the life and energy these guys bring. With only our freshmen and sophomores around for the weekend, we enjoyed a very laid-back weekend. On Saturday morning we took the guys to the nearby town of Todtnau. There is a large Rodelbahn there. Now what exactly is a Rodelbahn? I have to admit that I didn’t fully understand either, until yesterday. A Rodelbahn is a sort of downhill rollercoaster. You ride in a small car, and control how fast you go by how much you pull on the brakes. The one in Todtnau, twists and turns through 3 kilometers of countryside, and is the longest of its kind in Germany. Controlling your own speed flavors the experience with a sense of adventure, and our guys found it exhilarating (so did I!). We were blessed wit...

When I got up yesterday morning one of the first things I thought was, “I can’t believe it’s Saturday again!” Time is flying already, and this weekend finds us at the end of the second week of classes. These first two weeks have been incredible already. We have 18 guys in the dorm, which is a little smaller than last year. We are praying for even more closeness and unity because of our smaller size. I am again on 3 rd floor and in charge of the seniors. This is my joy and privilege. These guys are the reason that I am here. This year we have seven seniors, and each one is a joy to work with. While last year held the excitement of venturing into the unknown of dorm life at BFA, this year holds the comforting familiarity of strengthening relationships and building new ones. I am greatly enjoying getting to know each one and learning what makes him unique and distinct. Each one has his strengths, and each one has areas where he is growing and maturing. This year holds many opportunitie...

Rest. It's something of which we never seem to have enough. Yet it is always available for us in the presence of our Savior. Today the thoughts I will share are not original with me; I'm not that eloquent. I simply want to share the text to a song which I have been meditating on for a while now. As you read, let the words soak into your soul, and thank God with me for the rest that knowing Him brings .  Jesus, I am resting, resting In the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart. Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, As Thy beauty fills my soul, For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole. O how great Thy loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea! O, how marvelous Thy goodness Lavished all on me! Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is Thine, Know Thy certainty of promise And have made it mine. (Refrain) Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art, And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,...

Me and Carolyn in Philly I am constantly reminded of the fact that I have some incredible people in my life. After settling in here at BFA, naturally I wanted to share it with my family. This past spring, after college graduation and much deliberation, my sister Carolyn dived into the hiring process. The journey has been exciting, and God’s calling in her life is obvious. God has given Carolyn energy, humor, wisdom, and most of all, a love for Him with a desire to know His will that increases every day. She has a love for high school students, and a heart of compassion. In my journey to get here, Carolyn was one of my biggest encouragers and cheerleaders, checking up on me constantly. She is my best friend, and I am so excited that God is leading her here. She is coming to BFA to be an RA at Liel dorm, a girl’s dorm. As you likely know, it takes time, effort, and a lot of faith to raise money for anything. Right now, Carolyn is experiencing that first hand. She is taking advantag...

After several weeks of orientation, we are now back up the hill and nearly finished preparing the dorm for the arrival of our students. This year I have the privilege of serving with Chris Jones, and Marty and Debbie Shilling, all experienced staff who were here last year. We are happy to welcome Timmy Gaster as our third RA. He is new to Sonne, but not to BFA. Timmy was an RA at Maugenhard for two years before taking a year away and then returning this year. We are excited to have Timmy as part of our team. The students begin to arrive tomorrow, and there has been a lot to do to prep the dorm so it is sparkling for their arrival. We had lots of cleaning, repairs, and renovations to keep us busy in the mean time. We also were blessed to have the help of a work team from the US. They painted our first floor hallway and kitchen, and helped with many other tasks around the dorm. We were so thankful for their help! My room received a fresh coat of paint in a new color. I’m just about done ...

Although Csehy is over, I want you to meet one of the remarkable young people that we work with.   Katie is a young woman whose life has literally been transformed by God’s grace. With her permission, I'd like to share her story with you. Katie has been a camper for the past seven summers, and was always happy and fun to be around. Two winters ago, Katie was involved in a life-threatening ski accident. I’ll never forget receiving the message that Katie had been air-lifted to the hospital and had doctors working around the clock helping her fight for her life. She had broken many bones, punctured a rib, and could possibly be paralyzed for life. As the days and weeks passed, friends and family prayed diligently for Katie, but things did not look good. Friends from camp and home visited Katie, and helped as much as they could. Her best friend Nancy never stopped praying for, visiting, and encouraging her. Despite many treatments and surgeries, doctors did not give her much hope of ev...

Time flies when you're having fun, and I have most definitely had a blast this summer. Csehy ended yesterday, and some very tearful goodbyes were said. It was my heart-felt joy to have been able to be a part of the lives of these kids even tho it was a very short time. They were amazing, and wonderful, and talented and I miss them already. Yes, they are human too, but I was so encouraged to see so many teens who were seriously seeking to please God with their lives. You're probably thinking, "well, isn't this a music camp, full of lots of little (and not so little) music nerds/enthusiasts, etc.?" While the answer to that, is a resounding yes, you should also know that in addition to music, we are intently focused on the spiritual journeys of our students as well. The greatest desire of my heart is that 1) each camper will have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and 2) that each one will leave camp looking more like his Savior than he did when he arrived. O...

Simply Trusting: Csehy Week 5 - Struggles and joys : "It’s not really the end of July, is it? I can hardly believe that this summer has flown by so quickly. The 5 weeks spent at Csehy are nearly..."

It’s not really the end of July, is it? I can hardly believe that this summer has flown by so quickly. The 5 weeks spent at Csehy are nearly finished, and this makes me very sad. Each year, I am more aware of and involved with what goes on behind the scenes. I enjoy helping and watching things work from the inside and trying to help things run efficiently. I also love the personal interaction I am able to have here with the students, staff and faculty. Many of the faculty and staff have become mentors to me and have spent significant time investing in me. Working with the counselors is also one of my great joys. Each one brings so many strengths and abilities to the team, and I am continually encouraged and built up by being around them.   I am personally encouraged by the love that they each have for their campers. Each night we pray as a group. This time of prayer is an intense time of praying and sharing burdens. Many nights there are tears both of struggle and joy. They are a v...

Before the whole summer flies by, I want to give a quick update. I have some thoughts to share with you about transitioning, endings and beginnings, but for now facts will have to suffice J After a busy but successful finish to the school year, I returned home and enjoyed some much-needed down time with my family both immediate and church. Again I was amazed with the love and support of those supporting me. It was truly a joy to share about the ministry of BFA with everyone at home. I was privileged to share about BFA with my church family and I have to admit that I was a bit nervous. I knew that they were excited to hear about it, but BFA is a new ministry to my church family. I wanted to give an accurate picture of life there, so they could understand and know better how to pray. God was so good, and through showing lots of pictures and stories about the guys and our interactions, I think that they have a clearer picture, and one that can be built upon in the future. After a few we...

Only one week left. It hardly seems possible! We have had so much going on here, so I'm going to attempt to catch you up. First, I had the privilege to help lead a BFA missions trip to Slovenia in April. We did community service projects, and made some fantastic new friends in the country.  Team Slovenia 2011  Painting benches playing games with new friends Beautiful Slovenia Second, we had Junior-Senior Banquet which is exactly what it sounds like. Our Juniors put together a nice program and formal dinner to honor the Senior class. The evening is filled with tributes and songs and talent acts, and is an all-around good time of food, friends, and laughter. Some handsome Sonne guys ready for Jr/Sr Banquet Students at JSB Fellow RAs with my Seniors Sonne staff pic, courtesy Chris Jones Some of my talented guys performing at JSB   Second, I was able to return to the US for a very short weekend for the wedding of some dear friends...

I’ve been doing a little reflecting over the past year. I’ve kept a journal for a while now, and although I’m not the most regular writer, but it has been fun to read over some previous entries. Looking back and cherishing the ways the God has worked only inspires confidence and excitement in the fact that He is still at work, and never leaves His own. I want to share a few of these entries with you now. These are from May 2010 and following: I’ve been thinking about graduation, and what it means to different people. For some, it means a transition into a new position or job.   They have completed a degree which will enable or qualify them to work at a new level. For others, it means the end of one phase of academia, and the beginning of a new one.   For others, it’s rather fearful, because they’re not sure what will come next.   I’m not exactly sure into which category I fall. I have a job teaching private piano students at home, but I don’t want to be home for too long...

Lorrach Castle, conquered by Sonne Knights  Dear Reader, We find ourselves at the beginning of April, and yet again, I realize that I am in a rut of posting once a month. We have had some exciting times around BFA and Sonne! The Soccer and track seasons has begun, and we have over two thirds of our students involved. I’m pretty proud of these guys. The track team came back from their first meet last weekend, and all the way back to the dorm they talked about the fun they had. It feels like soccer lingo has taken over the dorm, and if you don’t believe that soccer is its own language, you should hang out here for a few days. One of the secret desires of my childhood (among other things), was to play soccer, and I love the fervor and enthusiasm with which our guys play. At our very first home game, BFA scored in the first 20 seconds of the game, and I’m happy to report that it was Jonny Florencio, one of my seniors J . In case you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty proud of these guys. ...

Dear Reader, I’d like to give you a taste of one day of dorm life at Sonne. Every dorm has different staff, students, needs, and skill sets. This is a glimpse into ours: 7:30am – It’s my turn to drive for early van. Each day we offer an early ride down to school for students who have sports practice, homework, or need to work with a teacher. This is usually a pretty quiet ride because everyone is still waking up. 8:15am – Time to catch the bus! As the students make their way to the bus stop, everybody gets a hug. 8:35am – Staff meeting. We discuss the goings on in the dorm, and solve the problems of the world before going on with our day J . 11:30am – After a quick piano warm up, I leave for school for some rehearsals. More on that later. During the afternoon, we have some free time for rest, activities, or basically whatever helps us to maintain the level of sanity which allows us to be ourselves. 11:40-3:45pm – Lots of piano playing! I love that I get to do what I love! Piano i...