Reorienting Reflections from the Movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

It's A Wonderful Life

Rescuing a drowning wingless angel begins George Bailey on the road to renewed life. Viewing his life from the outside looking in is weird enough as it is without the shock of “George Bailey” suddenly ceasing to exist.

The '90s pop, radio hit, captures George's realization: “you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.” Reflecting on It's A Wonderful Life is a powerful reminder that life is worth living in part because we do not have a clue what mark we leave on the people, places and circumstances around us.

So, we live.

We live to the full.

We live, knowing that God has us continue filling voids that are unique to us; someone else would pass it up.

But the heart, the passion, the drive, the sacrifice of one – of us – could be all that is needed for someone – anyone – to have a second chance at life and living.

And we may be just the ones to hand them God's key.

-Mi

Novemeber here and Student Spotlight: Introducing Josh and Josh

 

          MaugenHard Monthly Update -

               Greetings from Michelle Waters at Maugenhard!  The cold, damp winter weather is rolling in and kids are starting get tired of school and look forward to Christmas break in a little over a month.  The guys are making use of their two female RAs for Christmas Banquet girl tips and gifts.  It is touching to see how the guys are learning to honor the lady friends in their lives.  It is exciting to see how the guys are becoming more comfortable sharing themselves with me and the other staff.  I am encouraged by how I feel more confident in the cultural and practical responsibilities in the German community.  Soon I will be studying for my German driver's license.  In the meantime, I am continuing to do mom tasks and be available to students.  It is an honor to get to know the guys.  I want to share with you another two of my guys now:

 

Maugenhard Student Spotlight - Introducing Josh and Josh…

(Interested in reading more?  For security purposes, please email mwaters@teachbeyond.org to receive a 1-page doc. with their spotlight.)

Love, Michelle

Student Spotlights | John and Will

Happy October from Maugenhard dorm!

        Autumn is a festive time here. Apples and pumpkins are plentiful and provide surprising bonding opportunities with some of the students. When I first arrived in July, a fellow staff reminded me that the best way to connect with the male students would be through doing projects “side by side” with them. Some of the best conversations to-date have been while picking apples, driving places, or sitting around on couches before bed.

A Maugenhard Spotlight

         Since July you have heard about “Maugenhard” and “the guys,” but I would like you to start getting to know them more as individuals; for individual students make this place what it is. In order to do this, each month I plan to spotlight two Maugenhard guys, where they are from, what makes them unique, and some ways you can pray for them.

Introducing John and Will...

*For privacy purposes, I will not post the full newsletter here.  Email me at mwaters@teachbeyond.org if you'd like an attached 1-pg. student spotlight newsletter!

I look forward to hearing from you all!  Fill me in on life for you.

Peace be with you,
--
Michelle Waters

Photo-Journal: Goodbye, Summer

Photo-Journal:

"Goodbye, Summer!" Moments at

Maugenhard Dorm

Greetings from Deutschland!

How can I capture my world here?  Written descriptions seem trite and simplisitc, so I gather a gallery of visual stories, a few glimpses of faces and places that shape my world here in Germany (see below).

It is amazing that once you move to a different world, you'd long to relay stories to the people back home.  But, when I have breaks, I feel like sleeping, listening to music, walking, laying in the grass, zoning out - almost anything other than talking to people about what it is like here because life here is full and rich, forward motion, full of the joy and pain that comes with "parenthood."  Supposedly, these feelings are fairly normal for the adjustment to so much new at once.  Plus, I get the blessed privledge of being an instant new mother of 21 guys.  Suddenly new mothers make sense to me; who knew that one's heart can change in a moment?  I love the guys so much and their joys and pains are becoming my own. 

The lyrics of this song encourages my heart, when I struggle with wondering if the little things I do matter.   One Heartbeat At A Time - Music Video

You're up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don't know
Or maybe you've forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every "I know you can do it"
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They're just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river...

(http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/lyricsdetail.php?lyrics_id=10430)

Simply put: "It was the best of times and it was the worst of time." (A Tale of Two Cities).    

Photo-Journal: September Flies In

The Annual football games - Maug dorm contra mundo (aka the other guy dorms): Corey, RA, gives inspirational speech

Saturday morning Crepe-making with a student from France (He is a good cook!)

Painting a birthday banner with a student from Spain for Zach's (from the Middle East) 16th birthday

One of my favorite nearby trails that I use for a little bit of alone time on my afternoon breaks

The town where some of my Dad's Mom's family is from: Büche family

(For more picture albums of Maug life, see Mark Powell, FB)

August BFA Update

Hallo from Deutschland!


It is hard to believe that it has been 4.5 weeks since I moved to Germany.  Thank you for your prayer, encouragement and support!


Seeing that I connected well with the guy students and knowing that I expressed openness to serving in a guys dorm, the BFA residence life leadership placed me in Maugenhard.  It is the boys’ dorm here in Kandern, which is walking distance from Black Forest Academy and the village downtown.


What does a typical weekday look like at Maugenhard dorm?
7:15-8:15 - Breakfast (Tues - hot breakfast)
8:30 - Walk to school (except on days of extreme weather and then staff drives)
9:00-12:00 - STAFF: Res. Life Staff meetings/chores/shopping/food prep/laundry (various tasks)
12:00-15:50 - STAFF: Personal rest/correspondence
16:00-16:30 - After school snack
16:00-18:15 - Free time
18:15 - Dinner (staff picks up from central kitchen at school, except weekends which are made at the dorm)
18:45-19:45 - Gratis (chores)/Free time
19:45-19:30 - Study Hours
21:45 - Toast time (Snack)
22:00-22:30 - Prep for Bed (underclassman)
22:30 - Lights out (underclassman)



Within these hours there are many opportunities to connect with the students.  Our twenty high-school boys here at Maugenhard Dorm are dear [of course, I don’t say that to their faces :o) ]!  It’s been a little over a week living with them all; my heart overflows with gratitude to God that I get to serve here.


The guys are all so different; they have passports from countries like the USA, Malawi, South Africa, and South Korea.  The students in the school at large represent 54 countries.   I felt like a proud mother at BFA’s opening flag ceremony, where our 6 seniors and many others carried their countries’ flags.   We, here at Maugenhard, represent roughly 16 different countries of residence, such as Bosnia, Slovenia, Poland, France, UK, Korea, and many other places in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.   


Returning staff is amazed at the change in this year’s seniors at Maugenhard.  God is using them to influence the climate of the dorm.  Below is a free verse poem that I wrote upon reflecting on what God’s been teaching me through my observations in the dorm:


SEEING:  A Ministry to Their Peers


Realizing and admitting,
In a sense, “they don’t need me,”
Is immensely humbling.


Seeing
The steady stream of senior guys’
Quiet parade through the underclassman hallways,
Weaving in and out of each room
To deliver, “goodnight” wishes and hugs to all the younger guys.


Seeing
“Strong,” macho guys
Melt in the arms of their peers,
the upperclassman role-models.


Seeing
The dancing eyes of a junior tell “goodnight stories”
And zealously pray with the dorms’ youngest dorm brother
As he eagerly soaks up his every word.


Seeing
A couple seniors persistently
Entreating the staff to include
A former Maugie, who is now a “home student,”
(But “once a Maugie, always a Maugie”) in dorm bonding activities,
Knowing it would mean so much to him to be included again.


Seeing
The guys wait for the others to walk to school,
Making sure a struggling new student had adequate water
To ease his nauseatingly anxious stomach.


Seeing
The guys minister to one another
In a way I never could


So, I wonder, Why am I here?  
I am here
to encourage those seniors that what they do is not in vain
to sit silently alongside a juniors’ goodnight prayer
to continue fostering a safe and inviting environment, so Maugenhard can be a safe place, a haven
to minister mainly without words - at least for now.
to serve and love and continue to make myself available to listen or for God appointments


From seeing Maugenhard guys give to one another,
I’m learning what they need and how they need it.  
I see Jesus in them - actions, more poignant than words.  
I see Jesus in the love they have for one another - their brothers.  
This has to be what Jesus talked about all throughout the Scriptures - “love one another.  
They will know you are my followers
Because you love one another.”  
Ah, that must be it.


Prayer: Please pray that

• The guys and staff will have a growing desire to know and love God; especially a hand full of students, who are more closed, and, the one student, who has expressed that he is not a Christian yet.
• I will be a humble learner and servant, who does not compare myself to others, and God will guide me as to what my specific role is within the staff and with the guys.
• I will be patient with the process of getting to know most of the guys; that God will supply discernment on when and how to enter into the things they enjoy when I need to as well as creativity to draw the guys to engage in other things at times.
• Additional financial support would come in.
• When relationship building proves difficult, God will remind my heart of what is true about Him and consequently about me.

Thank you for your prayer, encouragement and support!  
Peace be with you,
Michelle
I’d love to hear from you: mwaters@teachbeyond.org 

Week One in Maugenhard: Picture Summary

1st Campfire with Brother/Sister Dorm

School Shopping at a French "Super Walmart" type-place

Saturday Pancake Breakfast Prep

Successful shopping thanks to a French-speaking student

Fire-building in a wet season

Some of the dorm guy at an opening meeting

Fun times doing school lunch prep with one of my co-RAs