Why I can't wait until Wednesday...and happy birthday, Daddy!

These are some pics Sarah Beth took of Han for photography class this week. Hannah is 11...we've decided to lock her in the dungeon next to Sarah Beth. Sound like a good plan to you?

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

You know what I love about Sundays? Time. Lots of time. I don't have to be at church at 8a.m. for praise team rehearsal and sound check. I don't have to rush through Sonic trying to get something to nourish my poor kids. (Although a Sonic diet coke with that ice sounds really, really good right now!) I can relax into my day of worship. I love it. And on this particular Sunday, I even got to do my quiet time and Bible study at my desk in our room, because Marc and John-John are away for the weekend on a campout. (Don't get me wrong, though--I am ready for my men to be back home.) I just love Sundays.

This weekend has been spent trying to get us ready to leave on Wednesday for a two-week trip to Prague, Czech Republic. Marc will work for a few days with the media office for our region, and then we have a regional conference called Ebenezer, which is for those of us who have been on the field for a year. Then we are spending some time with friends in Prague. It will be relaxing and fun and exciting...and I honestly can't wait. And yes, Prague is a fairy tale city--one of the most beautiful places in Europe--but that isn't why I'm excited. And it's not even the free refills on diet coke (with ice!!!) at Bohemian Bagel...though that's pretty exciting. I cannot wait to see my friends.

I have struggled my whole life with friendships, especially friendships with other women. In high school, I was absolutely terrorized by my "best friends," girls who were so mean to me that, in retrospect, it's puzzling to me that I endured four years of their "friendship." I did manage to make tremendous friendships in college, great women who encouraged me (and continue to encourage me) to be all that God has called me to be. Twenty years later, those are still some of the best relationships in my life. But once I was married, I learned some unfortunate truths about friendships among Christian women, and I learned them the hard way, and what I walked away with was the general attitude that Christians are just mean. I never fit the profile of a traditional Christian woman. I was ambitious and maybe a little too straightforward for my own good. And time and time again, I just got burned. In fact, for the last three years of my life in the States, I would say that my best friends were definitely people outside the church, people I worked with who were more encouraging to me than some inside the church. And so I went to FPO with the attitude that I was there for two months, I was getting my training, and I was walking away untethered by relationships.

God had other plans. He used FPO as a time to develop relationships in my life (and in our life as a family) that would not only encourage us to be God's people, but would hold us accountable for being God's people. The people we talk to on a regular basis--from all over Eastern Europe, India, Jordan, Brazil--these are the people who have, from time to time, kept us here. The relationships we treasure the most are the ones that are just absolutely honest. Some days, life on the mission field stinks. It's cold here. I don't always like my husband or my children. In fact, some days they drive me absolutely nuts. And I have precious friends who I can call and just say, "Okay--talk me out of this--I absolutely must go home TODAY!!!" And time after time, they have listened to me cry, comforted me, and then told me to man up. (That was for you, Tara!)

So I am looking forward to time with Elaine, Suzanne, Janet, Melissa, Billie, Vicki, Stacy, Rachel, Erin, Lindsey and Holly. I am anticipating a great time seeing them, their husbands, their kids. I know there will be some sad moments, too. I will miss Teri during this time...but I will miss her with people who lived with her and were encouraged by her at FPO, who were at the party Elaine organized for her before she returned to Moscow, who still smile from a photograph that Teri kept on her kitchen counter. And I will miss my friends who aren't in this region, people I would dearly love to see. I will be excited for victories, saddened by losses, and tickled by all of our language stories. But above all, I will be thankful for my "mission friends," God's special gift to me, my little earthly reward for following Him, no matter what.

On a totally separate note, today is my Daddy's birthday. I love my Daddy. No secret there. I am so grateful and thankful for him, and I can't wait to see him in December. My Daddy loves me even when I am unlovable (how did I hit the parents jackpot?!), and he never, ever fails to pray for me and mention our name before those who know us. My Daddy is determined that no one will forget that we are here, in Russia, following God. And I am thankful and grateful for that, and for him. My favorite Daddy story is that when I was unmarried and could fly for free, he absolutely refused to allow me in the airport without accompaniment. So whenever I flew in and out of Oklahoma City when I was in college, the station manager would escort me everywhere I went. I finally said to him one day, "Mr. Franke, I promise that you don't have to meet me at the gate every time I fly in here--I know the airport like the back of my hand, and I know you have more important things to do than babysit me." He looked at me, smiled, and said, "I appreciate that, Kellye. But trust me, when you're in the airport, I have nothing better to do." I knew then that my Daddy had handed out instructions...and they were to be followed. I never mentioned it to Mr. Franke again. Thanks, Daddy, for always having somebody to meet me at the gate, for never letting me be unprotected, for knowing that my safety was more important than the bottom line. I love you so much, Daddy!!

Well, I'm going to run make some breakfast for Marc and John-John so it's hot when they get here. I am definitely ready to see my big boys! Wherever you are in the world, I pray that God has blessed you with tremendous friendships, and that you have a great daddy, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye