It’s been five months since I started my teaching job at the new school.
Five months since I got to know 250 young people who I have the privilege of teaching. Through lessons, tests and talks in between I have gotten to know a tiny part of their personality and now have to make lucky guesses on their performance and chances. Often this seems nearly impossible.
Once in a while, my students surprise me.
I laugh or I cry.
I realize I don’t really know them at all.
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly. There’s just too much to do.
Work first, pleasure later.
I can rest when I’m done with everything.”
Do these statements sound familiar to you?
These battles inside of you between what your soul longs for and what your busy mind tells you to do? Continue reading “Rest in the Middle of Life”
Welcome to the first Five Minute Friday of 2017!
I hope you had a great start into the new year and are excited for everything that’s to come. Despite all the hardships and challenges, may you have always discover beauty in the ordinary around you.
A new year is often a good chance to start or try something new.
I have lived in my new apartment for three months now. Since I also started a new job, my life has mostly consisted of sleeping, working and eating. I know the way to the grocery store, to the underground station and back to my apartment. That sounds a little depressing, I know.
In the new year it might be time to connect more.
Now.
Now we are in the final days before Christmas. Our houses are filled with candle light and the smell of Christmas cookies. We are rushing through the department stores in search of the perfect presents and let’s hope we don’t forget anyone. We spend hours planning the Christmas meal. After a long and busy year we just long for a few quiet days with family, rest and peace.
This is our now. Continue reading “The Terrible Difference of Now”
December 6th is a special day in the German Advent tradition.
In memory of St Nicholas – a kind bishop from the Middle East – we celebrate kindness and surprise people with little gifts. For the children it is sheer joy to put out their little boots at night and find them full of nuts, clementines and candy in the morning.
Even though I’m not pregnant, I crave a lot of things.
I crave my warm bed when I’m on my way to work early in the morning.
I crave sparkling water after a workout.
I crave a hot meal at the end of a long day.
Yes, I sometimes crave bacon.
If we take a closer look at our lives and our souls, we’ll discover cravings inside all of us. We all long for something.
The last guest post for this series comes from Tabitha. She and I met many years ago on a TCK re-entry camp. Tabitha grew up in Tanzania, but now lives in Germany. Coming ‘back’ and settling in a country that has never truly been yours is a challenge – but small things can make a huge difference. Tabitha shares one of them.
One evening in July, news of an attack in Munich made the headlines. Rumors of a terrorist attack spread quickly before the police retorted and controlled the situation.
I was sitting together with a few teacher colleagues when we got the news. We sighed. Just two days later we were supposed to visit Munich on a class trip.
Should we still go? Would it be too much of a risk to take students to a city where the sense of safety had been disrupted so suddenly?
In July I was in London for the second time. Even though I was there for a conference it felt very much like a short vacation. Often it doesn’t take much to feel relaxed if we know how to grant our souls some rest. Continue reading “A Little Treat for Yourself”
When I lived in the US, I spent incredible amounts of time in coffeeshops.
It was the place to be when you had to study, read for class, write a paper or just catch up with a friend. Continue reading “Coffeeshop Reflections”
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