Life Lately

Here's some of the happenings of the past few months (mostly chronologically):

In December, Erkai and I got married!!! Then, we enjoyed a beautiful honeymoon in Puerto Rico. :) I'm planning to write a separate blog post about the wedding--check back for that!

Dec 20, 2014

Smoothies at sunset in Puerto Rico

In January, Erkai finished up his thesis classes in Munich... For three weeks he was gone Tues-Fri, and then in February he made a few trips back to finish the rest of his tests. We're glad he is a permanent citizen of Kandern now! :) He's working on his Master's thesis at a company in Freiburg (one hour commute).

Studying for a test

Also in January, I worked with Kristi (ResLife Development Assistant) to plan an Amazing Race for the dorm staff instead of our usual Tuesday ResLife meeting. We had a blast planning it and the dorm staff seemed to have fun! :)

In February, I hosted the Valentines' themed ResLife meeting for the RAs at my house. (You can't tell from the picture, but the bacon is heart shaped!!)

Also in February, I went with my small group to BFA's high school retreat in Lenk, Switzerland. We played games, worshipped, and listened to the speaker talk about the Holy Spirit's indewelling presence. My co-leader, Hannah, and I met with our small group girls after each session, and we talked about living our lives in light of God's presence. We are blessed with such an amazing, fun group of girls! <3

In March, we loved having some girls from Storch for dinner! Erkai made Kung Pao Chicken... We enjoy their laughter and energy...It's fun watching them grow and mature. We also had the opportunity to go to Storch to cook a meal for the whole dorm and share with them during their weekly Dorm Fellowship time. We talked about our relationship and lessons we've learned.

Recently, the latest all-consuming task in the ResLife office has been "travel." Each school break, I need to collect the travel information from every dorm student's parents and make a master schedule to take each student to the airport or train station and to pick them up again (coordinating all of the dorms together to make less runs). Often there are "issues" to be sorted out, then I enter the data, print each student's itinerary for them, and finally coordinate all of the information using excel. It's about six weeks of work, although I don't work on it every single day. I'm SO relieved when "travel day" is over--praising God that all of the students made it on their way home. The students are returning on April 13; please pray for safe travels for them!

Two of my friends got engaged here at BFA last week when their boyfriends visited! So exciting! :)

The big news--Erkai and I are planning to extend our time at BFA! We are eagerly anticipating another year serving BFA staff and students. If you want to become part of our ministry, we would welcome prayer and financial supporters to join our team! :)

If God puts it on your heart, here is a link to sign up to support us in this coming year as we continue to live and serve here in Germany at Black Forest Academy: https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/the-watsons/

Thank you so much for reading!! SO blessed to have you all as friends!

News and One Sunny Day

It's been a crazy, busy, happening semester. God has completely flipped my plans around for my time at BFA. The big news is that I will be switching to a different ministry next year. I will be working in the ResLife office at BFA and serving the boarding program. I will also be marrying my best friend this December. :) This decision to switch ministries and get married sooner than originally expected involved lots of prayer and thought, so feel free to ask me more about it. 

I'm reeeally sad to leave the dorm, but looking forward to the surprises and changes that God brings next year. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing my girls outside the dorm and loving them in a different way.

In the meantime, I am enjoying each and every last day with my precious girls. The seniors graduate a week from TOMORROW. And everyone will be gone by June 15. 

Here's a semi-typical day in my life...just for fun, and because I don't want to forget.

6:10-7:10am

Woke up and put my Baked Oatmeal in the oven. While it was baking, I spent time with Jesus. :)

7:15-8:00

Sat with my girls and ate breakfast and talked to them. I drink tea with milk and honey every morning (you can see it on the right).

8:00-8:15

Drove one of my girls into school for an early rehearsal.

8:15-8:30

Hugged each girl goodbye on her way out the door.

They're so pretty!

So we know where all 17 girls are

8:30-9:00

Got dressed and ready for the day.

9:00-10:30

Callie and I did the grocery shopping.

Loading the groceries into the van

10:30-11:45

Callie left to buy printer ink, so I put away the groceries, boiled eggs, made guacamole for snack, and did some dishes.

11:45-12:00

Lunch time! :)

12:00-12:45pm

It's the end of the year so we've all (the staff) been doing extra cleaning. I started working on the bathroom.

12:45-4:00

Packing for summer, talking to Erkai, and wedding planning.

4:00-5:00

Serving and cleaning up snack. Today the girls were particularly excited to be done with school because it was the last day of regular classes.

Rebekah! :)

5:00-6:00

The girls chilled on the computers and I sat on the couch and worked on some more wedding planning. Callie went to school and picked up dinner.

6:15-6:45

 We served and ate dinner.

Hungarian Goulash

6:45-7:15

The girls do chores every day after dinner. I looove when they are silly/singing/talking.

7:15-8:00

Last minute trip to the grocery store for more food for this weekend. 

8:00-9:30

Our wonderful Thursday night subs were there, since the dorm parents were off. This is us removing all of the red peppers because we accidentally added them to the onions. haha!

Thanks Marit and Elizabeth! :)

9:30-10:00

We cut carrots, cucumbers, etc. and set out things for the girls to make their lunches.

:D

Carissa making her lunch.

Mary!

 10:00-10:30
Callie and I folding towels (I have such a beautiful co-RA!), cleaning the kitchen, and finishing things up downstairs.

10:30-10:45

Tucking in my freshmen. :) I walked into the room and they were pretty excited. Turns out they trapped a fly and named him "Bob." Why not?

11:15

Bed time! I talked to Erkai until I fell asleep.

Every day is different, but I hope you enjoy this little snippet into my life. Some tasks, some normal life, and some lovin' girls. Thanks for everything YOU do (prayer, support, etc.), so that I can do this. :)

<3

Engaged!

And here comes the story... :)

My weekend off fell on Valentines Day... so I traveled by train and bus to Munich to visit Erkai. I was very excited for the "surprise date" he'd been hinting at for a few weeks. :) He met me at the bus with a rose and dark chocolate. We walked back to his apartment to leave my stuff until I went to my friends' house where I was staying. When we got to his door he told me he had a surprise for me inside, and he made me shut my eyes; when I opened them, I saw THIS:

A timeline of our relationship

He had filled his whole room with pictures of us, flowers, and candles. I thought that this was his Valentines Day surprise for me, but he told me that there was more. :)

He took me to the English Gardens in Munich, which is a giant park with a lake, walking paths, and cute bridges. When we got there, he gave me a tiny little key "for later." 

Last boyfriend-girlfriend picture

Then we walked for a while more. He talked about our relationship, we looked at the park map, we teased each other. Then he walked towards a bridge. He started to say lots of cute things, including that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. (!!!) As we stood and looked at the stream, Erkai told me that he had put a lock for us on that very bridge. I knew what that meant...

[I LOVE the tradition in Europe that couples will put locks with their names on bridges when they get married. Sometimes it will have a wedding date as well, sometimes not. Then the couple throws the keys into the river to symbolize that there is no "going back" on that marriage. Once in Salzburg, Erkai and I had talked about "if" we got married, putting a lock on a bridge together.]

He told me to use the key he gave me to find the lock. I looked on one side of the bridge, but didn't find it. He told me to check the other side. Right away, I saw a little gold lock that looked about the right size. I was looking for a lock with our names on it, so I was shocked/excited/surprised to see THIS:

I stole a look behind me to see his reaction, and HE WAS ON ONE KNEE!!!! :)

I think I shrieked a little, maybe.

Then he didn't say anything for a second. It seemed like foreeever. Then I realized he was trying not to cry, and he hardly ever cries, so my heart was even more melted. He said a few more sweet things that I was too excited to remember and asked me to marry him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously I said yes. :)

Then he gave me a beautiful ring that he chose himself...

I'm in love with the ring. But even more with the man!

The whole weekend was filled with surprises from Erkai and God, happiness, Skype calls with family and friends, and a lot of staring at the ring. 

Telling my girls was so much fun. Stacey called them down for a "meeting," and they all thought they were in trouble. Callie picked me up at the train station and I surprised the girls with the announcement as they gathered for their "meeting." They screamed for at least five minutes, and most of them tried to hug me all at once. I felt so loved and special. It was so much fun to tell them the whole story... At the end, they were saying "we need to find guys like Erkai." Yes, girls, please do. I'm so thankful that Erkai is such an excellent example of a godly man to my girls, and I'm so excited to marry him!!!!

Stacey and Callie welcomed me home in style!

I love him! :)

Stay tuned for a wedding date/place... I didn't realize how complicated it is to have (between the two of us) SIX different countries where we've left pieces of our hearts and people we love. But wherever and whenever we get married, I can't wait to share my life with him. :)

What's new?

I’m writing this from the dorm living room in the dark as we watch Hairspray on a Friday night (after a pitch black game of Zombie tag). Life is back to normal here in Storch dorm! : ) All 17 girls are “home” from all over the world as they returned from Christmas break. While they were excited to see everyone here in the dorm, it’s rarely easy for anyone to leave family and home, especially when they’re in high school. A few girls told me that they tried to be brave saying goodbye because they didn’t want to make their parents sad. Pray that my girls can be honest with themselves, God, and their dorm staff about their homesickness so we can help them through lonely moments. I certainly remember how I hated those goodbyes during my boarding school years! 

And yet as life gets back to normal, it’s been sweet to see the girls have a new love for each other and a sense of cohesion that wasn’t as clear before break. They are truly a family now. : ) And I love them more than ever.

But back up real quick! I got to go on Christmas break too! : ) Erkai and I visited Guinea to spend time with my family. Because we flew out of Paris to get to Africa we had one full day in Paris! So much fun. We were exhausted after visiting Notre Dame, Saint Chapel, Musee D’Orsay, Invalides, Eiffel Tower, and Louvre. And walking most of the way between them. Lol.. but totally worth it.

I'd been to Paris, but it was so fun to visit with Erkai. This is from the Eiffel Tower.

Fam plus Erkai minus David. We sure missed you, David!! :(

Found out these two have a ton of similarities, including their favorite hobby (teasing Sarah ;) )

Climbed to the top of a rock arch in Mali

Christmas!!

One of our break activities included taking this handsome guy's senior pictures

We needed a picture, too. :) 

They insisted I take a picture of them! :)

Love hazy Guinea sunsets

My beautiful Mamma!

Handsome Daddy

Erkai in Guinea

Going on a tour of my city, Kankan

LOVE HIM!!

The arch again!

Visited a zoo in Bamako, Mali. Can you find the lion? lol

So basically, it was a wonderful break, except for missing my middle brother, who was in the States working. Because it was so good to be home, it was a little hard to come back... But since I've been back to BFA, there have been some incredible moments:

-Reconnecting with some of my girls and going deeper with others.

-Getting to see one of my best friends from Cedarville for a night as she is on her way to work on the OM ships... LOVE HER!

KATIE! <3

-Star tipping with some of the girls. Hilarious.

Showing off our mud and battle scars afterwards

-Feeling closer to Jesus

Devos in the car one day! :)

-Seeing the girls be refreshed and refocused after break

Prayer requests:

-Continued growth and unity with Steve, Stacey, and Callie. That's a praise and a prayer request.

-For me to not be too tired. I saw how much more I've loved my life (and the girls) this last week because I'm not so tired...it's wonderful, but I'm not sure how long it will last.

-Have wisdom from God for the girls when they tell me about emotional/spiritual/relational problems.

-One of the teachers at BFA injured her back in a rock climbing accident. She's had surgery, but everyone's waiting to see what kind of motion/movement will return. Prayer for peace and hope.

Thank you for your prayers, financial support, encouraging messages, etc. Love y'all! :)