50th Annual Schmekfest

Everyone told me that I would be overwhelmed by Schmekfest, by the way the gym was transformed and the way that so many came together to make it happen. They weren't lying. This Friday (March 27th) was the 50th annual Schmekfest. The gym was decorated in quilts and along the far wall were several displays and silent auction items. Over 800 people came to eat the German food, enjoy each other, and participate in the auctions, bake sales, etc. It was an amazing sight. 

The biggest thing that influenced me wasn't the amount of people who came or how different the gym looked. It was how so many community people all came together, everyone assigned a job, and served together because they love the school and want to invest in this community. It was INCREDIBLE!!! The people of Lustre really, really care about these students and this school and about serving Jesus. It is incredible.

I wish I had pictures from the night. I and the kids were busy with the jobs we had been given. We have good memories of it though. It was a busy, great time.

The next day was the first track meet in Glasgow. Nevin, Mawin, Etien, Alek, and Joyce are participating in track this year. It was great to hear them come back and share their stories! While they were at the meet, most of the rest of us helped clean up from Schmekfest in the morning. The cleaning went quickly as several came to help. The rest of the day was spent relaxing. 

Katie and Chen playing Janga. They were getting into it!

One evening this past week, a few
of us made s'mores by roasting
marshmallows over the stove. :)
Fun memory.

Nevin, Mawin, and Etien just hanging. :) 

A typical sight around here . . .
some wifi loving. 

As for other important news, yesterday was Joyce's 17th birthday! 

Happy, happy birthday, dear Joyce!

Ooh, you are such a treasure! Your laugh and smile bright up a room. You were so quiet when you made your home here at the beginning of the school year, but now, your laugh and funny sense of humor speak so loudly and joyously here. You are hilarious and courageous and smart and so full of life. I love who you are. Your positive attitude speaks volumes to those around you. You are so beautiful!

The verse I gave to you was this one: 

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11ESV

My prayer for you is that you learn more and more the joy offered in the presence of God. You have felt His presence, and you know it. You believe it. Keep following Him, Joyce. He is worth everything. Jesus is worth everything. I am so grateful for you!

For Memory's Sake

It's March. Those two words have some gravity to them. It's sunny outside, and I think (I hope?) the end of March might offer the possibility of spring. smile. We've almost seen two whole seasons through in this dorm, autumn and winter, along with all those seasons brought with them (the dislocated knee, the broken leg, Brett Norman's tragic death, kids leaving the dorm, along with a lot of really good memories scrunched in between these very difficult ones).

I am feeling that yucky apprehension that this year will end, and it will end much sooner than I'd like.  Some of the seniors are sensing that too. Serena recently pleaded (in trying to convince me to do something like go to town on a Monday or to let the girls sleep in the girls gathering room on a Saturday night or something like that . . . ha!), "Danae! But we got to make some memories!!!!" :) And memories we must make. I know no better way to make the most of a season than to create some fun memories, so we're sure trying over here. I think we're succeeding. :)

My sister Briana came to visit the dorm two weeks ago (oh, it was the best to have her!!!), and she and I taught the kids how to catch whipped cream in their mouths. Memories have to be made somehow. It was HILARIOUS! I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I do!

On Saturday, the girls took a trip to town. Maya wasn't feeling well, so she stayed back. It wasn't the same without her. I missed her!

We did some errands and then spent some time at The Worx coffee shop, sipping something yummy and doing homework. It was so fun!

L-R: Serena, Joyce, Aleyna, and Katie
We may live in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn't mean we
don't like to pretend we're still sorta civilized! ;) ;)
Yay for coffee shops!

We went to Soma Dis Deli too for an early dinner and ended the evening with some Bergie's homemade ice cream. It was a blast!

L-R: Serena, Katie, Danae, Joyce, Aleyna
Photo Credits: Serena

L-R: Joyce, Aleyna, Serena, and Katie

After we got back, the girls spent time hanging together and laughing like goofs. I'm not sure there's much better than a group of people really enjoying each other and enjoying life. They're so much fun. :) I love that we're from all over the globe, but we can still make tight knit friendships. We're all born in God's image, and that image comes plainly through, no matter where we were born or what type of lifestyle we came from. I love seeing it reflected in my kids. It is so stunning. 

Serena, Joyce, Aleyna, Katie
Look at those smiles!!! LOVE!!!
Photo Credit: Serena

The guys ended up going to Wolf Point to watch basketball divisionals and hang out with each other. Maybe Ibrahim will have more on that sometime. :)

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, Jerry and Susan Fast invited the girls over for Sunday dinner. It was such a fun time! We ate some delicious food and played some fun games. We played Spoons and Memory even. :) It really is refreshing to be in community homes and to interact with these incredibly big-hearted people here. We are so blessed. 

The memories are being made, and I'm hoping for many, many more within these quick moving last weeks. Thanks again for following along! Please continue to pray for us as Jesus brings us to mind. Here's a few ways you can pray:

• Pray for the seniors as they think about their futures, that God would lead them and prepare them for what's to come while enabling them to finish strong and invested. 
• Pray for our kids too as it's really tough for them to be so far away from home. They all do pretty well with it, but I can tell many of them miss their families very much, and some of them won't be going home this summer. Please pray for comfort for them. They're so brave!  
• Pray for health within the dorm as it's still cold and flu season.
• Pray for wisdom for the dorm committee and us staff as we try to figure out plans for next year and what that will look like. 
• Pray that we would all come to know Jesus more and more, that we would all accept Him as Leader and Lord in our lives. 

Thank you so much for standing with us. It makes a big difference!

Ordinary Wonder

A few weeks back, the sophomores had to do projects on either a plant or an animal cell. There were a variety of options as to how the project could turn out, but my kids decided they wanted to do edible projects. I had forgotten the agony and creativity and wonder of school projects, but I had a BLAST working with Etien and Aleyna, and we all laughed so hard by the end of the night.

Aleyna's lemon cake example of a plant cell

Not pictured was my flour war with Aleyna. Okay, "war" may be too intense of a term, though we did have flour war paint on our cheeks by the end of her lemon cake making experience. :)

Etien ventured out on making a pizza! He loves cooking and hopes to pursue that further someday. It was so much fun to work with him and try to think of fourteen plus items we could put on a pizza . . . not an easy task.

Etien hard at work on his animal cell pizza

Normally during study hours, the gathering rooms are closed to members of the opposite gender, but with Etien using my kitchen for "homework," we had several guys come wondering through the room, and while they're full fledge turkeys, I have such a blast with them and these girls in ordinary, unplanned moments like those when we laugh so hard and just enjoy figuring life out together.

Aleyna, Mawin, Joyce, Jacques, Nevin,
and Chen being all stalker-ish on the couch.

As for other very important news, Nevin's birthday was last Tuesday! It was special to get to celebrate him and all he is to us!

This was the pre-haircut days. ;)

Nevin, happy, happy birthday to you! I am so grateful Jesus brought you to this dorm and into our lives. I still remember you coming into the kitchen, asking if I was feeling "some type of way." I was confused until I later heard you jamming to the "clean" version of that horrible song! :P I'm pretty sure those four lines were your favorite part of the song anyways. :) Nonetheless, I'll always associate those four lines with your quirky, fun-loving, friendly personality. You are driven, intelligent, and caring, and I can't wait to see where you go in life. 

These verses are for you, Nevin. Praying this over your life, that someday, you will be a declarer of His Light, of His healing, even as you seek to mimic the greatest Healer there is or ever will be. I believe in you! May this year be the best one yet. Jesus is worth everything. I promise.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

    and the day of vengeance of our God;

    to comfort all who mourn;

3 

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3

Super Bowl Party and Such

These kids make me laugh so hard!
I enjoy them so much. :)
This is Chen stacking a snack
in his mouth!

Again, my sincere apologies for the delayed update. Sometimes, I get so caught up in living these moments that it takes me time to remember to blog about them! I'm so grateful for this space to catch the memories and hold on to them. Thank you for letting us share them with you.

A couple Mondays back, we warmed up for devotions with a game of Catch Phrase. These kids are so competitive. It's fun to see them interact with each other while they're playing games and see the energy level rise in the room. :) After the game, I read 1 Corinthians 12:21-26, a passage that talks about how in a group of believers, all are important, and when one person hurts, we all do. When we're a healthy, tight knit community, all are affected by one person's pain. We talked a little about Silas and how his pain not only affected him but the rest on the bench. We're a unit. We stick together. After that, the kids wrote notes to him, and we took some time praying for him.

Thank you to all of you who prayed for Silas. He seems to be doing well and recovering well. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so more prayers for that would be great. Thank you so much! We have so much to be thankful for in what God has already done in healing his leg. Praise Jesus! Not something to take for granted.

Etien, Maya, and Nevin playing Catch Phrase.

That following weekend, the boys had an away game, so it was just the gals and Ibrahim home. A couple of the girls wanted to go to town, so we got in my car and went while the rest stayed with Ibrahim. We were glad to convince McKaylah to join us too. :) We had a fun time!

Serena, Joyce, Danae, McKaylah
The typical excitement of a town adventure includes visiting
Albertsons and possibly Shopko. Maybe even MacDonalds! ;)
Photo Credit: Serena!

That Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday. That afternoon, after church and lunch, we headed over to Amy and Tony Fast's house for a Super Bowl party. It was so kind of them to host us with such yummy snacks and a great place to watch the game!

One of Ibrahim's passions is football, and he was all excited for the Seahawks to win. Most of us were. Jacques decided to be countercultural and root for the Patriots. Sadly, there was only one voice cheering when the game ended. Oh Jacques. :) Ibrahim is already looking forward to next year . . .

Zoned in on the Super Bowl game!

There is much more catching up to do on this blog. Coming soon hopefully. In the meantime, thanks again for caring about our lives. Sometimes just caring makes all the difference. :)

And the party continues

The guys had the opportunity to slingshot paintball thanks to Jerry Fast who came through with his promise. I thought they were excited for the chance to hit me with paintball but I was equally excited for the opportunity. Jacques wore a winter jacket for protection which I thought he was overreacting but I soon understood why he dressed up the way he did. Nevin the strategic one hung out on the roof looking for preys to devour which he successfully did. Alek got hit the most and I was shooting at anything that moved behind and in front of me. None of us sustained a major injury which is a praise, and after that we enjoyed a delicious meal at Jerry’s home.

Nevin on the roof

The last time I cheered so hard was when my beloved Seahawks whooped the Denver Broncos in the last super bowl. The dorm guys and I cheered and screamed at every good play and points the Lady Lions scored during their Volleyball tournament in Saco. Even though we were disappointed after the game not to get a win because the girls really played well, we had some good plays we reminisced as we left Saco.

Lady Lions in Saco

Lustre cheerleaders 
Jacques, Silas and Chen

After an exciting game of volleyball, I took the students bowling. I actually forgot it was Halloween and some of kids were upset at me for not taking them to track-n-treat in Glasgow; I had to make it up to them by going bowling. I had a blast watching the kids compete against each other. Nevin won the first game by 114 points and he rubbed it in our faces and told us how good he was. I couldn't take it and neither did the other guys so we stepped up our A game. 

I won the next game by 117 point and I rubbed it in their faces as well. As the new king they all went after my record but I had to stay on my toes to make sure that didn't happen. I got a 118 points in the final game to maintain my bowling superiority and then we called it a night.

We compete hard; make fun of each other; goof around a lot; laugh together; discipline when it is required, tease each other; give each other a hard time, but at the end of the day, we are a family.

Danae and I cherish every opportunity to love, admonish and enjoy spending quality time with our dorm kids and what a privilege it has being. We can honestly say that some days don't go the way we want them to be but God gives us the strength to look forward to better days which we have had plenty of.

Things to pray for us are: to love each other as a family; to be united with Christ; to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, and most importantly to rejoice in the gospel. Our prayers and condolences also goes to the Toavs family for their lost. 

I Peter 1:8-9 says, "Though you have not seen him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." My prayers for you is that you will rejoice in Jesus and be reminded that His grace is sufficient for you EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!