All I have needed

I love this pic so much. You have honestly never met a better team than Marc Hooks and Tim Wicker. Tim is an amazing guy with an amazing family. We are crazy about them.
Is this gorgeous, or what? Northwestern Siberia, it turns out, is really pretty. Of course, I'm looking at it in a picture from my cozy apartment in Moscow, and not tramping through the snow in my cold-weather gear.
Yep, that's a teepee in the foreground. I forget what the Khanti call them, but they're the same as Native American teepees.


Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hands hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him. Psalm 37:39-40

Notebooks are weird in Russia. First of all, they aren't lined--they're graph paper. I have learned to write in the little graphs, which isn't a problem for me, because my handwriting is fairly small, anyway. But it's strange. And they are weird sizes. I have some tiny ones, and I have some big ones. And in the big one I have on my desk right now, which I'd guess is about 10x13, I have a list of scripture by category: praise and thanksgiving, confession, intercession, God's promises, God's commands. And yes, for those of you who know me well, each category IS color-coded. When I find a verse of scripture that particularly speaks to me, I write it down in one of those categories, and after a year or so of doing this, it's a pretty full book. You know which section is full to overflowing? God's promises. The Bible is full of things He has promised us. He will be with us. He will never leave us. He will be our refuge. You get the idea. And after living on the field for over a year, I can tell you that I have clung to those promises like a lifeline, and I have found each of them to be true in a way that I couldn't even imagine two years ago.

He is faithful. He just is. Everything I need, He provides. Not everything I want (so far, the size 6 body and the pot of gold haven't shown up), but everything I need. Never does He make that clearer to me than when I am without Marc here in the city. Many of you know that Marc got into a losing battle with a German shepherd while he has been away. After a trip to the hospital, some antibiotics, and some kind of stuff that made it close almost immediately, he's feeling better. Lots of bruising, and it hurts in the -25 Fahrenheit weather, but he's okay. I pulled something in my back on Thursday, and had to miss school yesterday. Not a tragedy, nothing serious--these are just little annoyances that happen in everybody's life, but could be blown out of proportion by this life and these circumstances. But God is faithful, and because we know that, really know it by now, we don't worry. We call on prayer warriors to pray. We depend on people to help (I know--weird for me--but what can I say? I'm growing up). And we're thankful for the comfort God sends our way. A great friendship/partnership with the rest of our team. Friends who pick my kids up from school and invite John John for a sleepover tonight. A lady who speaks English on the fifth floor and invites me to call on her if I need anything. The chaplain at school and his wife, who love and care for my kids in a way that is amazing. Blessings all mine--and ten thousand beside. And I had tons of blessings in the States, too. But the difference is that I've learned to look for them and to acknowledge them as a sign of the way God is at work. Our time here has not be comfortable or easy, but it has produced in us a dependence on God and a true knowledge of His faithfulness that I wouldn't trade for an easier life.

Well, I'd better run. Life calls. I'm still taking it easy today, but my back is so much better. I actually did the right thing, stayed still, didn't worry about what had to be done, and I'm reaping the rewards of that. Hah! I'm not 100%, but I'm not 50%, either. I'll take it! Wherever you are in the world, I challenge you to look at the comfort God is sending your way today, and I hope that your husband is coming home on Monday, too! Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye