Striking a chord

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. Psalm 24: 3-4

Oh, my friends! The response to my last blog was bigger than any response I've had so far. Between comments and emails, you certainly let me know that my confession of perfectionism struck a chord in a whole lot of people. Why is it the people of God have such a hard time being real with one another? Why is it we wear a mask to church, when in reality, that should be the place we are most ourselves? The verses above strike me as saying that God expects us to have clean hands, a pure heart, and an honest soul. I'm going to be honest, I don't think the majority of people in our churches have an honest soul. This goes both ways--when we ask someone how they are, and they answer that all is well, even though their world is falling apart, and when we ask someone how they are and pray that they don't really tell us.

I'm going to reveal a little more here than many of you may want to know. The turning point in my Christian life, the moment I started on the path to being a real person who sought a real God, came when I made two decisions. First, I was going to let go of some circumstances in my life that had made me tremendously bitter and unhappy and that were left unresolved. Second, I was going to start being honest about who I was. Now, that didn't always make people happy with me. Sometimes the real me isn't very nice nor is she very sweet. But it's who I am. And as much as I want you to know my name because that's so personal to me, even more do I want you to know my heart. I lived for years with the fear that if people really knew me, they wouldn't like me very much. What I've found has been the opposite. I don't know that more people are in love with me, but I do know that my circle of influence has greatly enlarged. I don't think that has anything to do with me, but I think it has to do with people longing to see how God is at work in someone's life. And there is no area of my life that God is not at work. I hope if you've seen anything on this blog, it's that God is doing something real and big and tremendous and downright outlandish in my life. If you haven't seen that, then I'm not doing a very good job of communicating.

Well, I must run, because we have class from 8-5 today, so it's time to get the kids up and out of here. I cannot believe we only have a week of FPO left. Amazing! I have learned more in the last 7 weeks than I learned in all the classes I've ever taken put together. How I wish each of you could sit through FPO, just to gain the kind of knowledge I've gained. To watch seasoned missionaries cry over the lost in their part of the world. To gain lifelong friendships with those whose hearts are knitted with the same passion as yours. To learn witnessing techniques that really work. To learn how to learn a new language. It's so much to take in, but I am so grateful for the experience. I came here feeling so unprepared to be a missionary. And it's not so much that I'm prepared now, but I'm prepared to learn. Does that make sense? Anyway, we will be in class all day most days this week, so pray that we will have ears to hear and eyes to see specifically what God has for Marc and Kellye Hooks to learn. I love you so much! Know that to me, your hearts and souls are so beautiful. I am so glad that you are making this journey with me. I never feel alone. Thank you for that. A mighty God is using you in a mighty way. Blessings!
His,
Kellye