What is that sound? Oh...that's just Satan buffetting.

The beautiful view out of our window at AGM. If I squint my eyes, I can almost see my grandfather wandering around his apple orchards.
John-John loves the guitar, and the praise team was kind enough to let him play with it.
John-John with his teachers. What tremendous people! He had a wonderful week.
Hannah with her teachers. This is probably the best week Hannah has had since we got here.
Hannah as Mary Magdalene in the musical. It was a hoot. She did a really good job...all the kids were great.

God is strong, and he wants you to be strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. Ephesians 6:12-13 (The Message)

Though Satan should buffet
Though trials should come
Let this bless'd assurance control
That Christ has regarded
My helpless estate
And has shed His own blood
For my soul.
"It is Well"

We are obviously back from AGM. We arrived Thursday evening, but I had to work yesterday, so no blogging got done. Last night our friends who are staying with us post-AGM took us out to TGIFriday's here in Moscow. What a treat! This morning, we are all moving a little slowly, so I have a few minutes to get some thoughts down and catch you up on what's going on here in Moscow.

AGM was good. In fact, it was much better than I'd anticipated. We made new friends, sang in English, heard sermons in English, heard what was going on around Russia, and renewed our spirits. Interestingly, I was most touched when, at the end of "How Great Thou Art," one of us began singing in Russian and the rest joined in...a whole chorus of folks singing at the top of their lungs. Russian will never be my heart-language, but it is the language in which I minister, and that makes it special to me...and frustrating. We had a great memorial service for Teri, and the kids did a wonderful musical at the end of the week. I wish a could publish a clip, because I think you'd be amazed at how well the kids did in such a short time, but I can't for security reasons.

At the end of any significant time in my life, I always ask myself what God is doing in my life or teaching me. I always want to take the time to reflect on where I am spiritually, where the family is, and what I need to be doing or praying about or changing. Here are some things I walked away with from AGM:

• It is well with my soul. It is a hard time to be in Russia. And because this is a public forum, that's all I can say about that. And it is no secret that we have struggled to be on the field as a family. But I can look myself in the mirror and honestly say that it is well with my soul. Teri's death, Hannah's struggles, John-John's special issues, document difficulties, my own problems...they all pale in the light of who God is and what He has done for me. So after months of hanging my head out the kitchen window and singing "It is Well with My Soul" in the hopes that it would, someday, be well with my soul, I can honestly say that I am at peace...no matter what.
• We are not the only ones struggling. And while I don't like what it says about me that I find that comforting, I do find it comforting. It is not the Hooks family alone. To quote a certain Disney movie, we're all in this together.
  
• There is great joy to be found in our Russia field family. I'm not saying I want to be everybody's best friend, but we certainly have a great bunch of people serving here. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughter.
• It is time to be bold. Our situation here is so interesting, and we have really worked hard to protect the platform on which we arrived. But there's protecting and there's hiding behind. And we don't want to hide behind and use the platform as an excuse to not be bold in our witness. This is going to be a time of change and transition in our ministry here, and it'll be interesting to see how God uses AGM to take our ministry in a new direction.
• Yep, that's definitely Satan. You know how sometimes, when we go through difficult stuff, we don't know if it's God trying and testing and re-shaping us or Satan attacking us? When I heard the stories of what kind of stuff is happening in Russia, and I took into account the stuff that's happening to us personally...there is no doubt in my mind that it's an attack by Satan. I find that really encouraging. If Satan's attacking, then there must be something big on the horizon for the work in Russia. If Satan's attacking, it must mean we have settled into life and ministry here enough to be a threat. Yea, us! In the Hooks family, we've decided that we're not tucking tail and running. Not us. We're suiting up with the best armor around, and if that threatens the enemy enough to attack us...well, let's just say we already know we're on the winning team.
  

That's a bunch of a lessons for five days. But that's awesome, isn't it? God can work in five years, five days, five minutes...and change lives forever. Aren't you grateful for a God who can encourage us even in the toughest of circumstances? I know I am. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that the God of all encouragement is causing you to say it is well with your soul, and that you are having fun with great house guests. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye