#12: Front Porches -From “Things Kristi Likes About America” 2012 Edition It’s already nearly dark when we come out to the porch. Or rather, when we sit down on the front steps, between the house and the giant fir tree in the front yard. We’ve always called it a porch, these seven stairs leading to…
Category: Missions
The Love We Share: M-Trip Sunday
We’re on the sixth slideshow when my roommate, Emily, leads her team to the front of the auditorium. The mostly-female team are all wearing the shapeless, colorful dresses that they wore for their week in a Central Asian village. This, along with covering their hair and serving the three men who accompanied them, was their…
Romania: Raising Walls, Raising Children
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this…
To Romania We Go!
Spring is in the air in Kandern, as I sit with wide open windows on the last Wednesday night before Spring Break. This means that in three short days, I’ll be heading to Oradea, Romania with a team of 14 students and six leaders, where we’ll build three apartment homes for Adrian, Valerie and Maria,…
The Long Run
There’s only one seat left when I get on the track bus. Well, two seats really, but the one in the front technically belongs to a baby, and she should probably stick with her mom, Distance Coach, for now. That leaves one seat, way in the back. It’s been ages since I was a “back…
Hillside United
…So take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so…
Sharing and Chocolate Economics
I don’t teach sharing all that much. It’s not that I don’t believe in it, I promise. I just get the impression that it’s a huge lesson in elementary school–getting kids to share the scissors and markers without too much drama–but since I never went to elementary school (gasp!) I can’t be sure. By the…
Sie Versteht Alles
Kristi, sie versteht alles… I’m seated at a table at the Ochsen, a guesthouse at the end of town, where I’ve just finished my first rehearsal with the Kanderner Frauenchor, or women’s choir. I’ve been invited with the rest of the choir to the 70th birthday party of one of the other singers, so I…
So… what’s a Pep Band?
“So, Ms. R is forming a Pep Band, so if you’re interested come to the meeting after school…” I look across the circle of desks at my students, who listen to our Vice Principal’s voice over the PA system with frowns on their faces, as if this were news to them. It’s seventh period, and this…
A Map, A Headlamp, A Castle, The Fog
I consider bringing the headlamp. It’s in the same basket as the map, which I fished out carefully before leaving on this hiking venture. My large topographical map is indispensable; I bought it a few days after moving to Kandern, and it has been a fixture on every excursion since. I love this map. Emily has an…
The Way Home 