Hello, Friends:

As one very good Friend said on Wednesday, "March is still a lion!" This is so true. Hang on! We are in for a bumpy ride Saturday! Our next pool will be for how much snow will we get. My magnolia has buds, yet it hasn't bloomed. It has been my experience in living with this old tree for more than 10 years that when it blooms we have our last snow. My bet is that trees will explode after this snow.

This coming week is full of fun and activities before our spring break. In case you decide not to read to the end (and miss all the good jokes and movie clips) here is what you will ask about:

March 27: International Friends will dye Easter eggs.
March 29: English classes will have a Carmel Police Officer visit to answer our questions.

April 2-6: NO CLASS. SPRING BREAK

Since so many people keep asking about break, I think that everyone must have Spring Fever! I know I do. Never fear! Weather forecasters are predicting temperatures in the 50s all next week (at least this morning they are) and we know that time and the seasons march on!

CLC will be a busy place this coming week. Holy Week or the week before Easter can be an active time at many churches. Since CLC is a Lutheran Church, every possible Holy Day will be celebrated (because we love our celebrations). So, a little explanation for the religious activity: Ash Wednesday kicked off the Lenten season (40 days of reflection) back in February (we celebrated Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday: the feast day before Lent; a secular or non-religious event). There have been mid-week services over the past few weeks.

Sunday, May 25 is Palm Sunday: Jesus rode into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover (a Jewish holy holiday). 

Thursday, March 29 is Maundy Thursday: This celebrates the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples. This supper is when Jesus instituted the Christian practice of communion or ceremonial eating of bread and drinking wine. During the service these words (or something similar depending on the church) are said:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: Take; eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he also took the cup after the supper, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the New Testament in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."


Friday, March 30 is known as Good Friday. This is the day Jesus was put to death on the cross when he hadn't broken any laws. This is an important day because Christians believe that Jesus died so that all people could live in peace with God because Jesus took that punishment for all people.

Sunday, April 1 is Easter Sunday. Jesus rose from the dead after three days. Christians believe that Jesus lives and so will they and all who trust that Jesus' gift of life is theirs. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection all people can live in peace with God now and after they die. You can visit any Christian church any time, but Easter Sunday is always filled with spectacular music and joyous celebration.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, Room 100.
Worry. Anxiety. Stress. These are feelings we struggle with on a regular basis as we go about our daily activities. Turn on the television news, and you will find plenty more things to worry about! But what does Jesus say about it in His Sermon on the Mount? He says, "Don't worry!"

"Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." (Matthew 6:31)

Jesus goes on to point out that the birds don't plant seeds and bring in crops to store in barns, and yet they have plenty to eat. The beautiful flowers that grow in the fields never work at looking good, and yet they look even more fabulous than King Solomon. God supplies all their needs, and He places even more value on you and your needs than theirs.

How do we stop worrying? Let go, and let God! In other words, let go of your worries and let God handle things. Seek God's righteousness, and He will give you everything else that you need. Take time to appreciate the many blessings we've been given, including the beauty of the stars at night or the majesty of a gorgeous sunset. And remember that God is in control, He loves you, and He will never leave you or forsake you.~Jan Heimann

March 27: Please join us for what should be a very interesting study. We will read Matthew 7 and what Jesus says about judging others. 

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, Room 100.
We went on our field trip to Butler University to visit the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and eat at Scotty's Dawghouse. We learned that coach Tony Hinkle introduced the orange basketball (they were leather brown up until then) to make the ball more visible for the players, officials and the fans. Did you know that the coaches waved to us while we were eating? We are famous!

March 27: Join us as we dye Easter eggs and talk about American secular traditions surrounding Easter. Bring hard boiled white eggs (white ones color better than brown, but you can make do in a pinch).

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, upstairs classroom.

Like the weather, we can never tell which way our conversations will turn. We opened with opinions (and, maybe, not judgments) about the meeting between President Trump and the prince of Saudi Arabia's visit. We talked about food taboos and habits and delicious foods around the world. Apparently everyone enjoys eating rabbit as a common food except in the United States. Our understanding and conclusion is that it is a plentiful (obviously this time of year) and delicious meat. We talked about how rabbits can infest and be a nuisance, but because rabbits are plentiful they make a good source of food. I was tickled to discover that Spain's name in the original language means "land of rabbits." You can read more about this lexiconical evolution here: Spain - the Land of Rabbits?

March 28: Join us for a lively conversation.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-12:00
What a great day to visit around the classes. I always learn something new or see our language a new way when I visit. I hope that you find our classes as interesting as I do!

March 29: This Thursday we will have a police officer from the Carmel Police Department come to talk to us. Bring your questions for him to answer. You can write the down and give them to your teacher or ask them in person. Don't be afraid. Any question you might have the rest of us will also have!

Spring Fever: longing and hoping for Spring or an excuse for feeling unsettled and restless in the spring. Teachers say their classes have spring fever when students are active and can't study because of the weather during these months toward the end of the school year.

never fear: don't worry

march on: time marches on=time passes and we can't do anything to stop it! 

put to death: killed for committing a crime

punishment: consequence for doing wrong

known as: called,

in for a bumpy ride: a time filled with trouble or inconvenience

bet: guess; although it is a gambling term I would never put my money on a weather guess in Indiana. No one knows which way the weather will turn here. Anyones's guess is a good bet.

explode: usually this means to blow up in destruction, but in this case it means "bloom like crazy" or as anyone under thirty years old would say, "bloom like none other." 

instituted: made official

practice: action that is part of the official behavior or activity of an organized group of people; practices are not necessarily laws or rules that must be followed a certain way

spectacular: amazing, wonderful

joyous: happy

struggle: a forceful effort to get free of restraint or resist attack

let go: give up

appreciate: recognize the full worth of; be grateful for

forsake: abandon someone or something

judging: form an opinion or conclusion about someone or something

dawghouse: this is a pun name for this business...most of the Scotty's restaurants are brewhouses (beer and food). This is the Dawghouse: Dawg is for dog as in Bulldog the Butler mascot. So of course the Scotty's on the Butler campus would be a Dawghouse not a brewhouse!

infest: over run

nuisance: annoyance, irritation, bothersome
lexiconical: is this really a word? You can't find it in the dictionary but is will become one...It comes from the Greek word lexicon  meaning the vocabulary of a person or an entire language. Lexiconic means pertaining to language and vocabulary in general (adding the suffix of -ic).  Adding the -al to the end of a word (a suffix) means related to or the process of becoming something. So, there you go!