Clearly, we're too young to have been married this long

My beautiful kids...amazing to think how they have grown in the last two years. Time has definitely not stood still!

Not to us, O LORD, no to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. Psalm 115:1

It is a beautiful morning in Prague, and I am settling in to write with a delicious cup of German coffee, courtesy of friends who brought us a treat from their trip to Berlin. One of the joys of living in this part of the world is the ability to travel easily (borders are open between EU countries) and see a little more of the world than we could from Russia (not an EU country, and definitely not an open border!). To be honest, we could do nothing but travel around Czech Republic and see some amazing things--this is one of the most beautiful places God created.

We are settling in slowly but surely. The boxes arrived from Moscow on Wednesday, and while there is still a great deal to do in order to be done unpacking, we are definitely heading in that direction. It is good to have our pictures and the things we have collected in Russia--it makes this feel more like home to us. We have spent some time with friends, which is wonderful. It's a blessing to have some built-in relationships, but also fun to build new ones. Prague is a much smaller city than Moscow, and even the folks who are "way out" from the center aren't more than an hour from us, and many people are only a few blocks away. (In Moscow, it took us right around an hour to get to the homes of friends...that was the norm.) So we feel like we can see anybody we want without making a big production out of it. That's fun. There are a good many kids here, and our children are definitely enjoying that. Hannah spent the week with our friends, the Lewises, in Plzen--about an hour or so by car from Prague--working in an English camp. She had a wonderful time. Hannah loves to go and work...she is definitely not content to just "live life" and have that be her ministry.

Tomorrow is our 19th wedding anniversary. That's just bizarre to even think about, frankly. (I hope you just thought, "Wow! They must have been teenagers when they married." C'mon. Be a little surprised that we have been married that long!) We were young--22--when we married...and so stupid. When I look back and think about some of the decisions we made over the years that were just idiotic...well, I'm amazed by God's immense grace toward us. We ran for years from God's call on our lives. And it isn't like we didn't live a fulfilling, fun life as we ran from that call. But on this side of the call, having finally listened and obeyed, I can definitely testify that God's best for us is infinitely better than the "good" lives we were living. Even when this life is hard, it is far better than what I would have chosen for us if left to my own devices. Safe, secure lives are fine, but living this adventure with my very best friend...so good.

It hasn't been all sunshine and roses for the last two years, though. It's been hard. Really, really hard. For one thing, change of any kind stresses a marriage. Add to that children who are transitioning and a country that isn't your own, and it could be a recipe for disaster. But God has been faithful and gracious, and we've survived. You know the hardest thing about the last two years, at least for our marriage? Marc's happiness and success. He came to the field and thrived. I came to the field and completely lost who I thought I was. Every single thing I counted as mine--my career, my success as a teacher, my ability as a student, my ability to communicate, my singing--gone. Wiped out in one plane trip to Russia. I would love to say that I stepped into Moscow, donned my apron, and became a quiet little wife. That, of course, would be a lie, and I am contractually obligated to tell the truth. In my own defense, I tried. But oooohhhh...how I failed. Failed at being the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect missionary, the perfect language student...the perfect anything. And that was hard, my friends...on me, on the kids, and definitely on Marc and our marriage. Over time, I have learned that being successful in this life looks different than being successful in my former life. I've learned that being a missionary might look a little different for me than for other people, but that's okay. And I've learned that nobody on earth, not even my parents and sisters--who are completely biased about me, thank God--nobody believes in me more than Marc. Marc, it turns out, never wanted me to be anything but exactly who I am. It is one of God's greatest blessings--having someone who loves you exactly as you are, warts and all. Just one more blessing to add to the list of the many, many things I don't deserve, but am oh, so grateful for on a daily basis.

Normally, I would end this by saying something like, "So this morning, I am thankful for my husband," but that would be too little. There is never a morning that I don't wake up and thank God for Marc. Literally. Before my feet hit the floor. It's the first thing I say to God every morning. I hope I never get over the blessing of being married to Marc. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are amazed by the person God has given you to love best, and that you get to spend the day with one of your closest friends, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

Thank you, thank you...did I mention, thank you?

My babies on Red Square. They have certainly grown in our two years on the field, haven't they?

Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ. --Oswald Chambers

It is a cold, rainy, gray morning here in Prague, and if I'm really honest--I'm glad. It was super hot a few days this week, and it was miserable. Eighty-five may not sound that hot, but when you live on the top floor and don't have air conditioning...it's a little sweatier than I like to be! So we're enjoying the cool a bit, and we're definitely not complaining about the rain, no matter what it does to my hair. I am enjoying a cup of Starbucks and listening to the quiet. Not a bad way to spend the morning. We are keeping our friends' children--a four-year-old and three-year-old twins--so quiet has been quite the rare commodity for the last few days. We must have worn them out yesterday, though, because they are still asleep this morning.

It's been quite a week here in our new city. Hannah has had two different sleepovers--one at our house, another at a friend's--and headed to Plzen (pronounced Plizen in Czech, which is notorious for its lack of vowels) with our friends Larry and Melissa yesterday. She will be working with them at an English Camp this week along with a team from FBC Forney, TX. Sarah Beth and John have been helping me with the kids, and Sarah Beth is getting ready for (and very excited about) her five weeks in the States in August and September. We spent some time at the park near us, which is the most amazing park I've ever seen, and I met several women who spoke English and were very friendly. (Parks are great for meeting people, but I could never get much conversation going in Russia--a combination of my so-so Russian and a general distrust of strangers in that culture.) But the big event of our week was, unfortunately, Marc's accident.

Marc is working from home, and in order to do so, he needed a desk that can accommodate his equipment, so the office here gave him a large, heavy metal L-shaped desk. On Tuesday, he was in the loft putting it together (the living room has a nice-sized loft in it), and I was below him making a call to the States when I felt a vibration in my feet and heard him scream. A metal beam from the desk had fallen on his face, and a second beam had hit him across his arms and chest. Of course, this did a pretty good amount of damage. After an emergency trip to the dentist and a series of x-rays and a root canal, he has a splint on his top right teeth and a lot of pain. He fractured his front right tooth right under his nose, and the other teeth moved inward. The dentist is still not sure if the teeth will remain "viable," but we're hopeful. Above all, we are grateful to God for the little damage that was done in comparison to what could have happened. After I looked at what fell on him, I began running different scenarios--what if it had hit an inch upward, or what if he hadn't turned his head when he saw it coming--and realized that our situation is about as good as it could be given the circumstances, and it could have been a thousand times worse than it was.

So, we're grateful this morning. Grateful for a God who looks out for us in every detail of life--even the accidents that happen along the way. Grateful to work for a company that takes ridiculously good care of us. Grateful to every Southern Baptist who has ever put money in the plate for the Cooperative Program or for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Maybe until now, that was just something you did "for the missionaries"--that nameless, faceless group of people somewhere in Africa. And don't get me wrong--there is nothing wrong with that. But I hope the next time you contribute, the next time you tithe and your church gives part of that money to the CP, I hope you will remember that your offering isn't going to nameless, faceless people, but to my family in Prague, to pay for our home, our homeschool materials, our salary so we can buy food, and yes, in some cases, our emergency root canals and dental work. Your offering is going to our friends in Plzen, our friends in Brazil, our friends in very dangerous and closed parts of the world. We aren't nameless or faceless, but real people living everyday, real lives across the world, praying that God will use us to impact the darkness of a world that doesn't know Him. Sometimes, in the midst of those real lives, desk parts fall on us--and you make it possible for us to not worry about the financial aspect of the accident. You make life here, in one of the most atheistic nations on earth, possible. We could not be here without you.

So this morning, my family says thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For every dime you've given. For every prayer you've said. For just remembering us. Thank you. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are grateful for the people who make your life possible, and that no desk parts fall on you this week. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

Good morning from Prague!

Me and my man by the Aegean Sea. Not a bad life we lead, is it?
The family posing in front of the Aegean Sea. Sarah Beth had a worship service she had to attend, so she couldn't be in the picture, but otherwise, I think it's pretty good. Not real sure what John is looking at, though. No telling, really.

I am here not to realize myself, but to know Jesus. In Christian work the initiative is too often the realization that something has to be done and I must do it. That is never the attitude of the spiritual saint, his aim is to secure the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances he is in. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

It is a rainy, cold morning in Prague, and I am thoroughly enjoying a cup of Starbucks House Blend. My wonderful husband brought me some from a trip he made yesterday. It's my one extravagance on the field--I like to have really good coffee every morning. Things here are going well--we arrived on Monday afternoon and have been working on settling in ever since. Our boxes are on a truck still in Moscow, so that's not ideal, but it worked out okay, since now we will have everything ready before our stuff arrives sometime this week or next. Hopefully, that will mean that when it does arrive, unpacking will be a little bit easier. It's never easy, though, is it? But we are settling in to life here, which is very different from life in Moscow. We are enjoying the new apartment, which has a good amount of space, and we are getting to know the neighborhood. It's really nice to have a neighborhood--definitely something we missed in our part of Moscow.

One thing that has been particularly great about our week is the incredibly warm welcome we have received. We really feel like people are glad we are here, and that is such a blessing. It was not an easy decision to come here--we love Russia and Russians, and we really struggled with the idea of leaving both. But God has confirmed for us, again and again, the decision we made to be here. That doesn't mean I don't miss my friends in Russia, because I do, or that I am not a little overwhelmed by Czech, because I am. We have already begun to seek out places where Russian-speakers are. Sarah Beth came home from buying shampoo earlier in the week with the good news that the owner of the store was Russian and very nice. I am looking forward to heading in to meet her some time in the next week. The great thing about speaking some Russian is that there are pockets of Russian-speakers everywhere in the world. We are definitely not limited to Russia. I cannot help but think that is not a coincidence, but rather a Divine design. I don't really believe in coincidence, anyway.

So what does any of this have to do with the Oswald Chambers quote above? I've been reflecting all week on my time in Russia, on my life for the last two years, the victories and struggles, and I've come to realize that many times, the struggles were God's way of bringing me back to a desire just to know Him. Not to do anything for Him. Not to learn Russian for Him. Just to know Him. I am a worker bee, and I definitely enjoy when I feel like I am doing something. But sometimes, the best, most important thing I can do is sit still and worship. Sometimes, rather than always trying to be busy doing things for God, I need to shut my trap and listen to God. I am praying that my time in Prague will be a time to renew my mind, renew my strength, and renew my joy in serving the God of Everything. All of those things are wrapped up in knowing Him more.

Well, I am going back to get a second cup of coffee, and it's time for me to grab the clothes out of the dryer before they get all wrinkled. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you would take time today to stop and listen to the God who longs to know you and be known, and that you are going with your husband to Bohemian Bagel for breakfast, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,

Kellye