Escape 2012: Marvels

 "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."  Psalm 96:3

I cannot believe that I did not write about this sooner...I nearly forgot as life has swept me on to other things.  However, our middle school retreat last month is worth telling you about, so here is goes...

Our "Super" staff :)

Over 200 American middle schoolers living on military bases across Germany gathered for Escape 2012: Marvels.  It is an annual retreat that students look forward to each February.  Between our two middle school groups, we brought 22 kids along with 6 adult staff (including me!).  I was really excited to be back at Escape!  I have not been at Escape, working directly with students, since before I had kids.  I went along as camp support staff for a couple of years when they were babies, but I had not attended at all in the last 3 years.  This year, friends graciously took our two kids in for the weekend so that I could be free to go and be with students.  I must admit, it was a harder transition back to camp than I thought it would be.  I'm getting old!  I know that sounds silly coming from a 32 year old, but it took me a lot longer to bounce back after camp than it used to...having two young kids in the house waking me up early didn't help.  :)  I forgot how utterly exhausting 4 days of nonstop students is....but totally worth it!

My small group

Anthony's small group

I have been volunteering at one of our middle school youth groups this school year, so I had some relationship with the students going in.  However, there's nothing like a weekend away together with lots of games, meals, and talking sessions (not to mention cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night) to bond you!  It was a great opportunity to get to know girls better and hear what is going on in their hearts and lives.  Many of our students are searching to make their family's faith their own.  They just aren't sure how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ even though they believe in Him.  It was exciting to see their young minds and hearts stirred as the Lord spoke to them through our daily sessions. 

What 200 middle schoolers praising God looks like

Who God is to them...

Game time

Our own children did really well with us away for the weekend.  It was fun for them to get a weekend with friends, and bonus for us, our friends finally got Masami eating more regularly and over a hump with potty training. It was such a gift to be able to be a part of ministry and feel like my kids were getting a fun opportunity too!  Just for fun, here are their goofy faces...

Adventure

We are doing a marriage study right now called "Love & War". It has been thought-provoking and has stirred our hearts to work on ways we can love each other better. One of our challenges this week is to go on an adventure together. So, Anthony suggested that we spend his day off as a family doing something that we used to love to do together but haven't for a long time...disc-golfing.



We used to do a lot more disc-golfing together BK (before kids). Over the past several years, Anthony has managed to play from time to time and even compete in tournaments both Stateside and here in Germany. However, I think it has really been like 5 years since I have played a round.



With the weather decent and the temperature in the 50's, it was a great day to get out, shake off the winter lethargy, breathe deeply of fresh air and stretch those disc-golfing muscles.



We headed out to a park about an hour from our home and spent the better part of the day wandering the course while the kids half played along and half explored the surroundings on their bikes.







We even ended at the duck pond which was important to Alethia who had drawn a map ahead of time which included a pond.



I reveled in getting to do an activity long forgotten but which I really enjoy, spending play time with my family that we all enjoyed, and getting out for an adventure together.







I'm hoping this is just the first of many trips now that we've rediscovered disc-golfing as a family activity!

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Happy Fasching!

Today, Germany celebrated Fasching (their version of Mardi Gras). It is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent season begins.








Around here, the Germans celebrate with parades and candy and most of the schools take off. Everyone dresses up in fun costumes or just strange outfits (both those attending the parade and those in it). Various groups sign-up to be in the parade. Since ours is so close to an American military base, there were several groups of Americans involved, like Girl Scout troops and military bands, as well as, German groups.











As the floats and bands pass by you greet one another with a hearty "Ralau!" and then take cover as candy comes flying at you. (Mental note for next year: bring a bag to collect candy in! There is THAT much thrown!) They also chant something that sounds like "Allee-oop" while waving their arms in the air above their heads.











It is quite a festive atmosphere. Everyone is smiling and cheering. There are carts along the side of the parade path selling hot pretzels, fries, and beer. There were a lot of fun colored wigs that Alethia was fascinated by. And lots of loud music to bob to.



These are chimney sweeps with patches of clovers and pigs on their costumes...all considered good luck here in Germany.



We decided to attend the parade today despite how worn out Anthony and I were feeling from our long weekend with the middle schoolers and I'm glad we did because the kids really enjoyed it. Alethia dressed-up in one if her fairy dresses and Masami donned a mix of his super-hero accessories.








So, happy Fasching to all of you! I guess I need to figure out now what I'm going to give up for Lent. What are you doing?






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