Hello, faithful readers (that is, those of you who might still be looking for us on WordPress). We have recently built a brand-spankin’-new website complete with blog, photo albums, and other informative sections. We hope you will surf over to it and subscribe to the feed.

Click on this link to go there: www.stagesandpages.com

Bo’s blog, Wonderstuff, is still active on WordPress – www.wonderstuff.wordpress.com

A few of you may have surfed by our blog over the last few days and noticed a post with no text, only a title. What you might not have known was that this peculiar post was the beginning of a very quick end to our time on WordPress. This will be the last post either of us will put on this particular blog. After working on the last one for nearly an hour, I went to upload it and all WordPress uploaded was the title, and it didn’t save my draft either! Had this been a one-time incident, I might have let it go. Unfortunately, it has happened dozens of times since we started this blog on WordPress a year ago. Enough is enough.

Leigh and I will soon be putting together our own website that will contain more than just a missions blog. We hope to provide more easy access to prayer requests as well as the plethora of pictures Leigh snaps everywhere she goes. There will also be up-to-date and easier-to-read support information. It may take us a few weeks before it is up and running, but when it is, we think it will work out better for everyone. If you frequent this blog but do not receive our official e-mail updates, please send us a message with your preferred e-mail so we can update you when the new website is working.

As far as my personal blog is concerned, I am discontinuing my relationship with WordPress as well. The blog site is simply unhelpful and fraught with glitches with which I am tired of battling. I will try to transfer my blog to our new website as well, but if this doesn’t work, it will probably be moved back to the Blogger system which works so much better (why did I ever leave it?).

In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding prayer concerns or things going on in our life here in Germany, you can still find us on Facebook or e-mail us. And, word to the wise, don’t mess with WordPress – I believe it exists only to make people’s lives miserable.

See you soon on another URL,

Bo Bowen

After moving herself into her new condo in Tampa, my sweet sister made her way to Miami- London- and finally we were able to pick her up in Basel, just a twenty minute drive from our place. We waited, very eagerly, for her to walk through the doors on the other side of customs. I was so excited to see her and have her with us here in our new life for a week. 

The first day she was here Bo and I took her and the dogs on a tremendous hike roaming through vineyards, cave-like rock structures and ending up in Kandern to give her a brief tour of BFA. We wore her out on purpose to keep her awake and adjusting to our time zone. She did great! We had fun picking cherries, raspberries and tiny “European village strawberries” none of which Bo would sample due to fear of bacteria.

Bonnie was with us for one of our Porch Nights, meeting a good variety of people and adding to the BBQ with American chip dip and Country Time Lemonade. Bonnie packed an extra suitcase full of gift for us! Gotta love that girl for bringing cans of Dr.Pepper in her suitcase! 

It was so great to explore new places with Bonnie- Freiberg, Heidelberg, Titisee Lake, as well as show her around some of my favorite places, including the Alsace region of France. We spent one night in Colmar soaking up the culture and enjoying the food- mainly the French onion soup. (Steph- you would love it!) 

Bonnie is so much fun. I love her to pieces! Thanks for making the journey and putting up with the dogs Bon! 

We gladly wait for our next visitors whoever they might be. 

Heidelberg

Titisee

Gifts from Bon

Pastries!

Onion Soup

Sadee loves Bonnie

God isn’t just smarter than me, he is … what’s the word? Omniscient. He doesn’t have to think smart, because he already knows everything and sees everything that is yet to happen in my world.  

I’m sitting here, in my own living room on the Internet, for the first time since we arrived in Germany last summer. I was really starting to think it wasn’t going to happen. But, then on Thursday night at about 10 PM a German technician knocked on our door and began the process of getting us enabled for wireless Internet. It was really silly, but I had to hold back tears. It was surreal. It really hasn’t been that bad, I should say. We both had offices at school with our own computers and were often able to send a few emails here and there and check, of course, Facebook. But, now since we are enjoying summer and have plenty of time on our hands it is soooooo nice to have a connection here at home. Much thanks to our supporters who funded the required satelite.

All that to say, I am reflecting on how amazing God’s plans are for us. When we came to BFA last year we were excited for Bo to be teaching what he loves – American Literature. And I was stepping out into the unknown world of teaching (agh!) not knowing when and if ever the School Nurse position would become available.  I had a definite peace about coming here though and I really didn’t even think of the possibility that I would have to teach for five years or something. It was in September when Personnel told me that a full-time position in the Nurse’s Nook was available for the next school year. I was ecstatic!

These last two weeks for me have been my “work weeks” (all BFA staff serve two weeks during the summer) which I was so lucky to do in the Nurse’s Nook. Bo has been coming home totally exhausted every day from his manual labor renovating the dorms. So my new position is appearing quite more realistic as I am being trained and learning the ins and outs of just what exactly the nurses do– which is, impressively, a lot! Jan Foreman, who was the nurse here for ten years, has been with me these two weeks. During the first week we sent out an email together to all the students’ parents informing them of the role change. It was quite phenomenal really, in that Jan has been here for so long and is now turning it over to me. I am so thankful that I will still have Liliane, the other school nurse and invaluable staff member, around for translations and much more. I might add that Jan will still be living across the street from the school (which is very nice for me). We have had quite a bit of fun storytelling and being together as we work. Now that the work weeks are over, I am going to greatly enjoy my summer break with Bo, and soon my sister Bonnie will be visiting. And then, August 3rd, I will head back to the Nurse’s Nook for more preparation before the students arrive. 

I think it was wise of God to bring us to BFA when he did. I have survived my first year living cross-culturally and while teaching I have been able to get to know many of the students. It was also a huge blessing to be able to be here for a year, set up our home, become adjusted and now be able to start a new challenge, the one I came here for – to help missionary kids, specifically in the physical and emotional realm of health. It has been so cool to see all the various places, literally all over the world, that our students come from. You can imagine that many are arriving at BFA after living in developing countries without excellent medical care. This is just one factor in the mix to think about. I am excited to learn more and begin another adventure here at BFA in the fall!

~leigh

Okay, there is a chance … just a a chance … that we may have an Internet hook-up installed THIS week in our apartment! Now, of course, there is such a thing as tempting fate, and I do not often like to do such a thing (just sit with me during a Red Sox postseason game and see if I even talk about possible future games). However, the reason it is important to share this with you is that we need as many of you who read this – especially our dear, dear supporters – to pray pray pray pray! We have whined enough on here about how difficult it has been to live in Germany and communicate with friends, family and supporters back home with no home Internet connection. So, perhaps, the light at the end of the tunnel is now looking ever closer. Perhaps we are about to surface into the wondrous cyber-light of home access. Please, please pray this week that all goes smoothely with those who are working on this, and that we are able to convert the satellite we are buying to our own apartment.

A new, normal post is coming soon.

~bo

Well, it has begun. That is, I hope, a new summer tradition for Bo and I as we remain in Germany. Never having been teachers who have luxurious summer breaks, both Bo and I were simultaneously thrilled and somewhat afraid of the non-commital summer ahead. So, with anxious thoughts, Bo came up with his idea –  ”Porch Night.”  We would invite  everyone we knew at BFA to join us every Wednesday evening on our porch for a time of grilling, enjoying the amazing view, possibly playing a few games and just getting to know each other better and outside the busy school setting. It was really a great idea, considering how spoiled we are to be living out in the country with one of the largest porches I’ve ever seen. Plus, there would be very little preparation involved since our friends would bring their own meat to grill. All this to say…

last night we had our first “Porch Night.” As you can tell, we get pretty excited about stuff out here. You have to remember we are still without cable TV, internet, a descent mall or an affordable cinema. Now that I think about it, we don’t even get a newspaper. We aren’t complaining, we are just learning to live without. 

Last night was really good. Granted it was a tad bit crowded. I think about 35 people showed up. So it was a super turnout. Lots of good brats, pork steaks, and other things grilling. It was a good variety of people, too. I’m sure as the summer goes along it will dwindle, which might actually be good, so everyone can have a place to sit and put their drink down. Overall, it was fun. Bo helped me hang candle lanterns around the porch and we had citronella candles to ward off the bugs. We are hoping each week brings a different group of people to hang out with and enjoy having no commitments together. 

~leigh

“Current Prayers”, the page on the top section of the right sidebar, has been updated after a long hiatus. It seems one of the biggest prayer requests, though perhaps not the most dire, is for more opportunity to attend to this blog of ours. We still are without Internet in our home, a fact that is aggravating us severely, especially after receiving such a faithful gift from a supporter in order that we might afford it. Still, there is hope that it will be coming soon. In the meantime, however, we thank you, all our readers and supporters, for hanging in there with us this year as we have updated this thing so infrequently. 

COMING SOON

Leigh and I are excited about a summer blogging series we are planning to begin soon on Stages and Pages. With the weather here in southern Germany as beautiful as it is, Leigh and I have begun hiking with much more regularity. One of our new favorite routes takes us from the village of Holzen, near the farm on which we live, all the way into Kandern. The dogs love it because once we reach Kandern they are allowed to leap into the cool, bubbling stream, known as the Kander, that weaves its way through town. It is hysterical to watch them cool off in this way. However, the fun for us is really found in how close we find ourselves, once arrived in Kandern, to the Eis Cafe, the perfect place to spend an hour or so on sunny, summer afternoons. 

Since Leigh is a big fan of ice cream – one might even call her a connoisseur – we have decided that we will be reviewing, in as much detail as we can muster, every flavor of ice cream at the Kandern Eis Cafe this summer (at least a few a week), just in case that may be a sticking point to some of our friends and family debating a visit. Cones are dirt cheap here, so we really do feel like this is a wonderfully inexpensive way to spend the summer, blog-wise, since most of the students will be gone and life here will (thankfully) slow down a bit.

We know you are already having trouble holding back the uncontrollable surge of anticipation at this topical unveiling, but try to contain yourself. Check out our Current Prayers maybe, or send up one of your own that we hear back from many of our supporters about whether or not they can support us another few years. God is good, both here in southern Germany and wherever you find yourself – he is with you, too. 

~Bo

We are slowly winding down to an end here at our first year at BFA. This whole week has been “dead week” for the students, so a time of studying and preparing for finals. In Health we didn’t have a final exam so its been a fun week of movies and games in class for me.

This morning I am proctoring an exam and then I’m just about done with my teaching responsibilities for this year (and for life if I can help it!) Next week is graduation which I can only imagine is a heart-wrenching time for most of the students leaving such a big part of their life behind.

The following two weeks we will put in hours here at the school before we take a much anticipated summer break of our own. Please continue to pray for us as we finish up and say goodbye to our students leaving Kandern for the summer. Bo and I spend most of our time with Juniors and Sophomores. So thankfully, for our first year here we do not have to say goodbye to too many graduates.

My small group girls are going back home to such places as Colorado, Lithuania, Rhode Island, England, Switzerland, and one of the “stan countries”. I would ask that you would pray for them as well, as they adjust to being back home with their families and start to think about their Senior Year at BFA and making college plans. 

They are: Hannah, Krista, Esther, Emily, Kara, Kate, and…

Becca!

So the school year is coming to an end and I have tried various “creative games” with my middle school PE classes. But, yesterday had to be one of the most chaotic days this whole year. With the recommendation from one of my co-workers, I rather foolishly attempted to teach 24 kids a new version of Softball to speed the game along. Mushball. Sounds so weired, and it was quite crazy. The main difference is there are two pitchers, one from each team and they are pitching for their own teammates. Plus, everyone only gets one pitch to try and hit the ball. And after three outs, the team out-field can immediately step up to bat and just begin pitching for their team before the other team has even made it out to their field positions. You can imagine all the yelling going on with confused players. 

Another note, in Health class I am teaching my favorite unit- Prenatal Development and Labor & Delivery. After briefly explaining the different methods for pain relief during labor we somehow got on the topic of spinal taps. Class was ending and I heard the bell ring followed by the end of day announcements overhead, the same time I looked up to see one of my students passing out. She just couldn’t handle all the talk about needles.  

Bo stays busy after school with the Girls’ Soccer Team. Last weekend we had a home game which the girls won by a long shot . It was a beautiful sunny day that we wanted the dogs to enjoy too. Huck and Sadie recently underwent their summer make-overs. I took them to get buzzed last week, which should help the tick problem.  I am very thankful for less dog hair around the house. 

Varsity Girls

at the soccer game

One of my favorite people- Krista Bannon. Two weeks ago she was injured and now unable to play, but as the JV Team Captain she comes out and supports her team!

I am also thankful to Bo for his  handy-man skills around the house. This past Saturday we realized that our front opening washing machine was not draining the water and therefore we could not open the door. After fiddling around with is, Bo found an emergency  release button and the door flew open with a huge mess of water flooding our bathroom floor. We then turned the washer upside down and Bo was able to find the problem- two Euro cent pieces, some hair, pebbles, barrette  and other unknown gunk. All of this took place about half an hour before our company came over for a fun night of games. Bo was determined to fix it!

fried chicken, sunshine, moms, blue bell, memorial city mall and baby ruthie

just some of the highlights of this trip. we have had the best time visiting with family and friends. so thankful I was able to see both my sisters and my two favorite nieces. the past two weeks have been very special times of visiting and sharing as well as just resting pool side at both sets of parents’ homes. We have been spoiled, to say the least with excellent Texas food. And we cannot ask for more. (Well, maybe a couple more days.) We will be boarding our flight in a few hours, hopefully with a smile and few tears. We plan on going back to finish up this school year at BFA and then enjoy the summer break in Germany. Please continue to pray for us as we try to make it our home and leave behind such good people that we love here in Texas, Florida, Virginia and of course Columbia. It seems we are scattered at this time of life. For a reason, I know. this time has definitely been good, because we know what we have been missing, we have had to do without sisters and parents and our best friends, and because we have lived apart for this time, we can look to the positive side and say, we are thankful to have things to miss!