Based on the classic children's book, "If You Give a Moose a Muffin," I now present you with "If You give a Minnesotan Winter."
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she'll need some sports to go with it!
I'm no stranger to winter; although, the winters in Czech are a reasonably milder than my formerly familiar Minnesotan winters. I have many childhood memories of winter - quite possibly because of the lengthened season Minnesota offers - but it definitely helps that I have always enjoyed winter sports (the Winter Olympics receives more of my attention than its summer counterpart). This winter has been a gift as I have been downhill skiing, tried snowboarding for the first time, joined a couple friends sledding, and have gone ice skating three times already! I'm ready for more weekends filled with winter activities like these.If you give a Minnesotan winter... she will use the snow as a Bible Study illustration.
Spending Friday afternoons with these girls in Bible Study is my favorite hour of the week! God is teaching these girls so much through this time together, and He is teaching me through these girls more than they realize. The greatest joy is hearing the girls burst through my front door in laughter calling who won the race to Bible Study from school. The girls hurdle over the backpacks, coats, and shoes that get piled at the base of the stairs and reunite in the living room - where snack may look like a "survival of the fittest" challenge and a lively chatter floats throughout the home. My friend and I decided it would be good to explain what being a Christian really means since many of these girls are still deciding who Jesus is in their life. God gave us many illustrations to use to describe God's love to this group, and the freshly fallen snow made a clear example of how Jesus covers our imperfection and sin so we can reunite with God. The girls joyfully tossed around handfuls of snow as they remembered the gift Jesus gave each of us.
We talked about being a light of the world and discussed what sharing God's love looks like. To illustrate this, we created candles with cross stickers on the glass as a reminder of the light we show to others.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she might know a few indoor games to entertain the kids.
Musical chairs is an exciting and competitive game for these kids; especially when winning candy is on the line! I was really impressed that so many kids wanted to play, and even more impressed that a group of boys (who can sometimes come off as "rough around the edges") joined in for many rounds of the game. They were really enjoying the game and one of the boys won twice in a row! Then, my heart melted when I saw this boy go to another little boy who was sad he didn't win, and without anyone else noticing, looked kindly at this little boy as he passed him one of his candies encouraging him to keep playing. Later, the little boy won a round and won his own piece of candy! And the older boy... he genuinely congratulated him on his success. While sometimes the kids can push limits and their talent for creating a mess could be recorded in a Guinness Book, it are moments like this when I evidently see how club and God's love are helping these students grow.
One of the Americans had left the game Headbandz in Czech this summer. I have used it in English Class to get the kids thinking about descriptive words, but thought we could give it a try at club - and it was a hit! One favorite moment in this game was one little girl had "money" to guess and was asking things like, "is my object in this room?" - yes; "is somebody holding this object in their hand?" -yes... after guessing a few things, she declared, "This is impossible!" Well, this little girl had a stack of coins in front of her that she was idly playing with! When she finally guessed her object, she laughed right along with the rest of us at the humor of the situation.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she will teach the toddlers about hibernation.
For these active two-year-olds, I was surprised by how quiet and focused they were at watching the sleeping animals in our hibernation activity! They quietly laid on their bellies as they used flashlights to see the sleeping animals in the caves. Some of the kids even climbed into the cave to take a quick nap with the sleeping creatures too! Tuesday mornings with this group is never the same, but they are becoming familiar with the songs and with me. Many of the kids climb into my lap to wrap their arms around my neck. They might not know how to say "thank you" in English yet... but it is true, actions speak louder than words.
Our flashlights that spin to find the sleeping animals!
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she will understand the small class sizes.
As a teacher, I understand the winter lull in class size. An Elementary classroom is the perfect habitat for the common cold to set up camp, causing a handful of kids to spend a day or two at home recovering before the next wave. Additionally, the students are getting tired from the long stretch between breaks (and the parents are also in need of a holiday!), so it isn't uncommon for some of the students to go on a short family trip or to visit relatives for a few days. Thankfully, next week is Winter Break, and the students are eagerly looking forward to a week of freedom and snowy fun! To help my students stay engaged in English Lessons through this winter season, we have started a theme about one of their favorite topics - FOOD! We are creating placemats, and each week adding something new to the placemat as we learn about dishes, food groups, flavors, etc. On the first lesson in this new theme, we read a "backwards story" where the character had to eat candy for dinner and for dessert was very excited to eat spinach. I thought I would tease the kids and bring spinach to class saying it would replace the candy for the day (their usual reward for completing the weekly homework). So imagine my surprise when a rush of kids came grabbing handfuls of spinach to snack on! We are all enjoying this theme in the middle of the winter season.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she'll be excited for the annual youth Winter Retreat!
All year, I look forward to time with the youth kids at Winter Retreat. It is a time for us to invest in each other, building one another up in God's love, and to bond together as a unified youth group. With so many new students starting to come more regularly to youth group, it is a constant prayer that the older students will connect with the younger ones and the younger students will open up to the older students. God is working through this youth group and it is a blessing to have them join in the youth activities. I am finding that God whispers to me during these times together with the youth students... "Give him the rest of your snack;" "Tell him about My unconditional love;" "Show her that people are praying for her." Sometimes, I don't understand what God's bigger plan, but when I hear His whisper, I know it wasn't asked of me to be negotiated.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... the surprise appearance of snow will remind her of how the Israelites reacted when first seeing "manna."The core of our mission church is very close knit and it feels like a family - each person having their own role and helping each other beyond Sunday morning. So, when I was asked by the leaders to speak for the first time on Sunday morning, I felt comfortable knowing that many good friends and students will be there. (It especially helped since I am already familiar speaking in front of the youth students). God guided me through teaching on the Miracle of Feeding the 5000, and how it related to God providing manna for the Israelites in the dessert. Never experiencing manna before, I wondered if it was similar to the appearance of snow in the morning as I still get excited with the surprise of fresh snow on a cool morning! One critical part of this miracle was the conversation Jesus had afterward declaring himself as the bread of life; sent by God just as God had sent manna. I enjoyed how much God taught me through this time of studying this part of scripture and excitedly shared my findings on Sunday morning.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she will avoid cabin fever at all costs.
I was scarcely home this weekend since I spent two nights at dancing balls. A good friend and I spent the long weekend together (the students had Friday off of school) attending both dances and sleeping over at each others' houses over the weekend - with youth group and church bookending both ends of the weekend! The first dance was for a good friend of mine who had his graduation/prom (a dual event in Czech culture for families and friends to attend). The second dance was run by the Catholic church youth group in Letovice, and our organization, Elim, jumped in to help with the festivities! I know the majority of the Catholic youth group as they help with our summer outreach, LetFest, and are good friends of Elim - they even decided to donate all the proceeds of the dance to help raise support for Elim! God is blessing this ministry as we see the town coming together and building friendships among so many of the people.
I felt so proud seeing my friend at his graduation/prom! Watching these kids grow into young adults is one of the greatest joys, and I felt honored to be invited to share in this special event.
If you give a Minnesotan winter... she will suddenly become a nature photographer.
The fresh snow doesn't mask the beauty of this village, but each nightly snowfall becomes a new breath-taking backdrop for the morning sunrise.