Big Lesson from a Little Dog

It was a fine Saturday morning. The sun was shining brightly over Kandern and the confused little German birds were already starting to sing their songs of spring. It’s been so warm in Baden-Württemberg lately that the poor little dears don’t realize it’s only January. I can’t say I that mind too much because I absolutely love listening to bird songs while I run. In my opinion, the sounds of nature are infinitely more preferable than listening to an ipod (unless, of course, you are one of those people who have bird songs and ocean surfs on your ipod…)

As I run, I love listening to the crunch of the gravel under each footstep, the wind rustling the trees, and the watery splash of any forest streams that I happen to encounter along the trail. I enjoy the sound of my slow, rhythmic breathing (except for when I’m going up a hill, then I kind of have to give up on the whole “slow, rhythmic” thing).  Even so, I just love the peace and tranquility of Saturday mornings in Kandern.

There is another group who I have discovered is also rather fond of Saturday morning exercise. I like to call them “the Kandern dog-walking association.” Every weekend morning, I see a random assortment of German dog-walkers leading their fine furried friends along the network of splendid hiking trails. Oftentimes, the dogs trot along unleashed beside their masters, enjoying not only the sounds of a Saturday morning walk, but also the tantalizing smells that the forest never fails to offer.

It so happened that on this one particular morning, I saw two women walking about 25 meters ahead on one of my favorite trails—Fasenengarten. A few meters ahead of these women was a small, curly haired dog with white fluffy fur and a cute bouncy way of prancing along down the trail. With over 14 years of running experience, I have come to learn a few things about running past dogs. Number one: they will inevitably come to visit you. Number two: they may snap at your heels, sniff your hand, get in your way, run along beside you, bark uproariously, or at the very least stare you down with undivided doggie attention. So with these two cardinal rules of dog-running in mind, I proceeded, if not a bit more tentatively, down the trail and towards the little ball of white fluff.

As I approached, the dog noticed the sound of my footsteps and immediately stopped prancing. “Here it comes,” I thought as I prepared myself for an onslaught of excitable yips, tail wags, and sneaker-sniffing. To my complete shock and amazement, the dog stood completely still on the trail. He didn’t so much as look at me when I ran by. Instead, his eyes were fixed earnestly upon his master. He was waiting for his master’s voice, his master’s guidance on what to do next. I continued down the trail baffled by what I had seen. Never before had I seen a dog with such calm patience. He had ignored all distractions and had just waited patiently for the command of his beloved master.

As I continued down the trail, I couldn’t help but linger upon that image of the little dog, staring down the trail, waiting only for the command of his master. (Here comes the part of this post where I learn a valuable life lesson.) I began to think about my own life and how I am so often distracted by the things that are around me. As soon as a tough situation or a new worry come running my way, I almost immediately turn my head to get a better look—and that’s how the trouble starts. Instead of being like the little dog and keeping my eyes fixed upon my Master, I start to fear what is approaching. I forget to look to God first as my source of direction and guidance. I forget to wait for my Master’s voice. It is only when I stay focused on God and his plan for me that I am able to safely navigate the running trails of life. So, thanks God, for sending me a little dog to teach me a big lesson on a fine Saturday morning in Kandern.

Corrie ten Boom

For a special holiday excursion, my sister and I had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands to visit our cousins. We were so excited for the chance to spend time with family and to explore the city of Amsterdam. We spent four days in Holland and had a wonderful experience. :)

For one of our day adventures, Amanda and I decided to take the train from Amsterdam to Haarlem. For those of you who don’t know, this picturesque little Dutch town is the setting of Corrie ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place. This true story describes how Corrie and her family helped to hide Jews and other refugees from the Nazis during World War II. The ten Boom family were Christians who steadfastly believed that God had called them to help protect, feed, and shelter those who were in need. Even though they endangered their own lives and eventually ended up in concentration camps themselves, the ten Boom family refused to ignore those in need. They would follow God’s call in their lives to help the helpless no matter what the outcome.

Outside of the ten Boom home and watch shop

So how did the ten Boom family help the Jews? Inside Corrie’s bedroom was a secret room hidden behind the back wall. The only entrance into this room was through the bottom panel of Corrie’s closet. In order to enter the room, you had to slide the bottom panel upwards to create a small entryway. Those in hiding would crawl in this entryway and then slide the bottom panel shut so that it looked as if it was just a regular closet. The only way to find the secret room would be to open the closet and knock on the wall just above the floor. Only then could a person hear the echoing sound of a hollow wall and realize that the back wall was actually hiding an extra space. The rest of the wall was filled in completely by brick in order to mask the echo.

Amanda crawling out of the hiding place

The secret room could safely hide about six people if they were to remain standing. Since the room was not at all spacious or comfortable, the ten Boom family created a system so that the refugees could remain outside in the main part of the house for the majority of their time in hiding. In times of great danger, such as when a Nazi soldier or someone unknown to the family was in the house, Corrie or another family member would ring a secret alarm bell, which warned the refugees that they needed to get to cover. Each of the refugees would run to Corrie’s room and get inside the hiding place all within 70 seconds. They practiced this drill multiple times to make sure that they could all do it within the allotted 70 seconds. This was an extremely impressive task considering the size of the hiding place, the narrowness of the staircase, and the fact that the entryway was so small.

Standing inside the hiding place

Amanda and I both had the opportunity to stand inside the hiding place. Even though a piece of the wall had been cut out so that visitors (like us) could see more easily inside, it still felt dark, damp, and cold within the secret room. It is hard to even imagine being closed inside, trapped in complete darkness, listening, hoping, and praying that you will not be discovered.

 

 The ten Boom family was eventually betrayed by a fellow Dutchman. Pretending that he knew someone who was in need of help, the man tricked the ten Booms into admitting that they were a safe house for Jews and others in need. The man promptly informed the Nazis that the ten Booms had been harboring Jews. On February 28, 1944, the Gestapo came and raided the ten Boom home. Though they searched and searched, the soldiers were unable to find the hiding place. Corrie was able to safely hide six people (four Jews and two Dutch underground workers) in her secret room. The refugees stayed hidden for 47 hours with nothing but room to stand, a pot for going to the restroom, and a few crackers for food. They were eventually rescued by crawling out of a window, onto the roof, and to a new safe house. The ten Boom family, however, did not get away so easily. They were all sent to Nazi concentration camps.

View from the roof of ten Boom home

 With the exception of Corrie, all of the ten Booms died in the concentration camps. Corrie was miraculously released on the account of the guards accidentally writing her name on the wrong list. (She was supposed to be on the list to be executed with all of the other women over 50 years old.) Though she could have been overwhelmingly bitter and broken from her experiences in the concentration camp and the loss of her family, Corrie used the remaining 33 years of her life to spread God’s message of hope and forgiveness. She taught others that the love of God in her gave her the freedom and peace to forgive others—even the guards at the concentration camp who beat and tortured her and her beloved sister. Even though Corrie died in 1983 at the age of 91, her amazing story continues to touch the lives of many people.

Amanda and I thoroughly enjoyed going on the tour and learning so much about this amazing family and their story of how God used them to bless other people during World War II. For me, the most amazing aspect of this tour was the fact that the hero of the story was not Corrie ten Boom. Instead, it was God who was the unmistakable hero of this story. Corrie wanted her life to always point to Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. She wanted to share with the world that it was the love and faithfulness of an everlasting, forgiving, all-powerful, and sovereign God that gave her the strength, courage, and perseverance that she needed to keep on loving and living for others. Corrie knew that it was God who helped to keep the refugees safe, God who lead her safely out of Ravensbrück, and God was gave her the love to forgive those who had mistreated her. I’m so thankful that such an amazing story continues to be told today!

Fröhliche Weihnacthen

I realize that it’s been more than a few days since I last made a blog post. Sorry to disappear from the blog-world, but, as I’m sure you can imagine, the month of November and December have been extremely busy here at Black Forest Academy. Not only did we have major school events such as the first home basketball game, the Christmas Banquet, and the Christmas concert featuring the orchestra, band, and choir, but we also had papers to grade, tests to give, and the campus to clean in preparation for the new semester. Needless to say we made it through all these events with flying colors and watched the happy tears and hugs as students packed their belongings and headed off to the airport to travel home for the holidays.

On the last day of school before Christmas Break, I had the special blessing of getting to meet the father of one of my cross-country runners. Her father had come all the way to Kandern so that he could see the school, visit the dorm, meet some of the teachers, and travel home with his daughter. Now that I have been at BFA for almost an entire semester, I have come to realize that one of the greatest blessings of working at such a school is getting to meet the parents of my students. There are few things more satisfying than being able to tell a parent how wonderful it has been to coach or teach their child. I could see the love and pride in this father’s eyes as I told him what a joy it has been to have his daughter on my cross-country team. I told him how much I appreciated her positive attitude and constant smile and what an encouragement she has been to me, the other coaches, and to her teammates. He thanked me for coaching her and for taking care of her while he and his wife are serving in the Middle East. I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to be a blessing to this family!

We have all been on Christmas Break for about two and a half weeks now, but the crazy thing is that I still fell like the break just started. I guess that’s how it works sometimes, we spend all our time waiting, and then the long awaited event is gone before we hardly realize it began. But believe me, I’m still soaking up all the mental and physical rest that I can before January 7th and the return to school.

Frying potato pancakes

Perhaps one of my most favorite European Christmas activities that I have enjoyed over break has been visiting the European Christmas markets. For those of you who know me well, you know that I love markets. I love tasting the local foods, admiring the handmade crafts, and exploring the various aspects of culture that you can only discover at a market place. Well, the Christmas markets of France and Germany are some of the finest. There are fresh bratwurst and weißwurst grilling on the street, hot potato pancakes deep-fried and topped with applesauce, spiced Glühwein, Nutella crepes, chocolate dipped fruits, and fresh waffles right off the griddle.

Shopping for stars at the Freiburg Christmas market!

There are beautiful hand painted glass balls, wood-cut Christmas ornaments, light-up paper stars, wool scarves, hats, and mittens, fine chocolates, dried fruits, flowers, and handmade cards.

   

As a special blessing for this Christmas, I had a visitor all the way from the USA—my sister! I loved having the opportunity to spend time with Amanda and show her around Germany during the Christmas season. I don’t think I could have wished for a better Christmas present! :)

Best Christmas present...a visit from Amanda!