Taking every thought captive

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ...II Corinthians 10:5

I realized this morning that I haven't written for a while, so although there isn't much to report here, I thought I should catch you up on what's been going on.

The big thing in our lives right now is that we are losing our friends Tim and Cathy to new visa laws here in Russia--laws we avoided by only days. Because of these new laws, Tim and Cathy are headed to Prague for the next six months. We are, of course, very sad about this--they are so special to us, and we will miss them immensely. But it's also been challenging for us that they are headed to Prague, where so many people we really love are on the field. Some of our very closest friends are in Prague...and it's hard not to think about how great it would be to be together. It's hard not to wonder why God called us to such a hard, hard place. To add to our very mixed feelings about the situation, the other couple our field is losing to this law is headed to Poland, where they'll be working with others to whom we are very close. It's hard not to think about what will happen if/when these laws impact us. It's hard to get up in the morning and learn this language while wondering at the same time if we'll even be allowed to stay. It's hard...it's just hard.

But we are taking every thought captive. God called us here. For whatever reason, He specifically called us here. But I won't lie to you...it's hard to look at what others are accomplishing and not be jealous. It's hard not to compare. Our friends are all being allowed to do ministry outside of language study (we are not--it's a policy specific to our area of Russia that we can only do language study and nothing else)...and here we sit. And we know that learning the language IS our ministry right now. We really do know that. But it's a frustrating ministry, especially for Marc. So we are taking every thought captive, believing our big God has a big purpose here, and learning how to use the instrumental case of Russian. (Don't tell Marc, but it's my favorite, because in this case, his name is Markom.) :o)

Other than that, there's not much to report. We are all struggling with colds. Marc has slept on the couch for more nights than I can count, because he coughs so much that he can't sleep. I watched "Murder She Wrote" in Russian last night. That was pretty fun. Life is just life. We're doing language study and trying to make a life. Oh, and we've started reading The Chronicles of Narnia as a family at night. That's pretty fun.

Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are having a good day, and that you're not comparing your life and your work to anyone else, remembering that God's plan for your life is perfect and pleasing...even if it means learning the instrumental case of the Russian language. Blessings to you and yours!
His,
Kellye