I want His best, not His easiest

Our family with the Lewis family...I don't know what they're all staring at on the computer, nor do I know where John and Laini were...probably building a ladder out of bed pillows somewhere.
John-John with his beloved friend, Laini. This is the closest relationship I have ever seen between a 6 and 7-year-old.
Marc and Larry. What great encouragement for each other these two are. Iron sharpens iron...
I'm not joking...this is what Moscow looked like when we arrived back in town. You can't see the deluge of rain, but trust me it's there. So we left sunny, beautiful Prague and returned home to this...God has a sense of humor, but it's one I don't get sometimes.

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Colossians 4:2-4

I don't know about you, but I am enjoying a peaceful, wonderful Saturday morning. Hannah is talking to someone on Skype, John-John and Marc are still asleep, Sarah Beth is at the high school retreat for her school, and I have had a great time with God. I woke up to the smell of fresh-baked bread (I picked out my breadmaker yesterday--a birthday present from Marc) and am enjoying a great cup of coffee. Honestly, does it get better than this?

I cannot say it's been a great week since we arrived back from Prague. It hasn't. It's been hard and a little depressing, to be honest. It was hard to leave Prague. Very hard. And Marc and I have spent the last few days talking about all the changes that are possibly coming our way due to the restructuring at our company, how that will impact our future, where we would go if we could go anywhere...those sorts of things. And while I think it's good to dream and wish and think about the future, I also think it can be dangerous. Reality is that we are here, in Moscow, right now. Reality is that no matter what God has for us in the future, He has us here in the present. Marc had the great opportunity to meet with the head of the Czech Baptist Union and some Russian church planters who are coming to various parts of western Czech Republic to plant Russian-speaking churches. So is that God pulling us toward a different place but the same people group? Or is that God, testing us with the temptation of going someplace else, when here is so hard? Is He poking around in our deepest soul to help us figure out what we really want?

Czech Republic is a tempting place for us. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth, the people are friendly (by Eastern European standards, not American), it's an EU country, so it's easy to get in and out of...the list could go on for quite a while. But the biggest item on the list, by far, is that our dear friends, the Lewises, are there. I don't think we're sinful because we wish we were nearer to people we are close to, because I am convinced that God put our families together for His purposes. Larry and Melissa encourage us, keep us accountable, love us, have fun with us, and pray for us. The relationship between our two families is a gift from God without question. So hear me when I say that it's not the relationship that's hard, because it's not. But I've come to realize this week that the temptation for us is to compare our lives with others and to focus on what we don't have. And one of the things we don't have here, at least not yet, is another family that is so close to us that they're like family. Don't get me wrong--we have friends here, and we love them and are grateful for them. But our closer-than-friends friends are all in other places. And sometimes, not always, we are really lonely here. And lonely is so hard, isn't it?

Here is what God is teaching me right now, here in Moscow: His best and what is easy are not always, or even usually, the same thing. It would be easier for us to be somewhere else than Russia. Russia is just a hard place for us. It would be easier for us to be somewhere else, where we have close friends who could support us through the real problems of transition and culture shock. No field is easy, so please hear my heart when I say that I don't think any place is an easy place to minister, because the easy mission field doesn't exist. But to be somewhere where visa issues weren't a constant concern, where we have close, close friends, where friends and family could visit without doing paperwork for nearly a year...that sounds easier to me. So does that mean that God is going to release us from the call to Russia? so that our lives can be easier? I'm thinking the answer is a resounding "NO!" While the last year has been the hardest of my life, bar none, it has also been the year of biggest growth in my Christian life. I have learned more about God's faithfulness, His mercy, His compassion in the last year than I have in all the other 39 years combined. I know Him more. I know myself more. And while I am not satisfied that God's work in my life is finished, I am satisfied that He is at work. I don't always understand what He is doing, but I see His mighty hand clearly at work all around me. So what I am praying for every day is this: not His easiest path for me, but His best path for me. I know from experience that His best is far better than I can comprehend. And that's what I'm yearning for in my life--His best.

I must get moving. It's 10:00, and I have a thousand things to do before the day is over. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that your soul is aching for God's best, and that the Oklahoma Sooners have a better day today than they did last Saturday! Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye