Breadmaker Roll Recipe

I've had several people ask for my roll recipe. Here it is:

Add to the breadmaker in this order:
1 cup water
2 beaten eggs
1/3 plus 2 TBSP oil (I've been using olive oil lately)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt (In CZ, I add an extra 1/2 tsp., since our salt isn't very salty)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Set for the dough cycle. When it's finished, roll it into whatever you want to make--I use this recipe for dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, hot dog and hamburger buns--then let it rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 175 C for 10-12 minutes. That's it. Enjoy!

Thankful for His faithfulness

Goofy, goofy children. John and Hannah in Karlstejn, Czech Republic.

Some of my favorite people on the train to Karlstejn, Czech Republic: John, Marc and Hannah.

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; to all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. Psalm 89:1

Although it is 5:30 (the cats woke me up a couple of hours ago, and I got up at 4), I don't have tons of time this morning. Thanksgiving for our team is at our house, which means there are still many little things to get done before 2p.m., when we are expecting people. However, I wanted to take just a minute or two and tell you some of the things for which I am thankful. So here is a list, in no particular order:

• Of course, my kids and husband. Yesterday was a truly awful day in a thousand ways (the shower broke and the washing machine flooded, just to mention two of them), but by last night, when we were on our way to a worship service with friends, they had me laughing out loud on the street. Funny and entertaining and loving and caring...these four people never cease to amaze me. Gifts from God, each one of them.
• My amazing immediate family. I've written tons about my parents and sisters and their love and support and encouragement. Suffice to say that when God was handing out families, I really got the cream of the crop.
  
• Amazing friends all over the world. I thought I knew what friendship was before I came on the field. After two plus years away from home, I can honestly say that I understand friendship, have experienced it, and am a better friend now than I have ever been in the past. I could not exist without my friends.
  
• Our home church, First Baptist Church of Middleburg, Florida. Lately, it seems they have an endless supply of encouragement for us. We are honored to be their missionaries.
• Southern Baptists...you pay my bills and make it possible for me to be here. Please give generously to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
• Our church here. I understand maybe 60% of every sermon, but I adore worshiping in Russian, and these sweet people have made us feel very, very welcome. They are proof that the family of Christ is, indeed, a family...in whatever language.
• My preschoolers. You have never seen anyone backpedal as quickly as I did when I found out I would be teaching ESL to preschoolers. PRESCHOOLERS!!!?!?!?! You know what? I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Love cutting out the little stuff for them, love making play doh for them, love teaching them, little by little, about Jesus' love...love it. I never thought I would say this, but there is little in life that is better than when they run up to me and call me "uchitilnitsa" (Russian for teacher). Who knew I would be so crazy about little kids? Turns out...God knew.
  

Maybe you are looking at my list and thinking that I could not understand your situation, your hard times, your struggles. And maybe you're right. In many, many ways, my life has been a charmed one. Loving family, great husband, fabulous kids, a sense of purpose and mission, a career I have loved...blessings all mine. But I want you to know that the last five months, since we moved to Prague, have been some of the toughest of our time on the field. When we moved here, we took a cut in field parity, a significant cut. But our expenses (especially in terms of our utilities) quadrupled. Suddenly, we have found ourselves--like many of you--struggling financially to pay our bills and feed our kids. We have not known financial hardship since coming to the field--until now. But it isn't only a financial struggle to be here. We love Prague--it is absolutely one of the most beautiful places on earth, and the surrounding countryside is gorgeous. In comparison to Russians (very generally speaking, by the way), Czechs are friendlier and less likely to yell at us when we do something culturally wrong (like unzip our coats at the wrong time of year). We love our team, we love our church, some of our very closest friends live only an hour and a half away...from the outside, our life is as close to perfect as anyone has the right to expect. Yet we long for Moscow. (Not all of us--Sarah Beth longs for Texas!) We are homesick for snow and ice and the crowded, smelly Moscow metro...but we know we are supposed to be here for this moment in time. Why? I have some ideas, but none I'm ready to share with the universe at large. Suffice to say--God knows what He's doing. He knows us better than we know us. And He is showing us some things so clearly right now...things we could not have learned in Moscow, things we could only learn here. And so, despite the hardship and the longing for "home," I am thankful that God is not done teaching me stuff. I wish He could find an easy way to do it, but that is not evidently in the cards for me. Today I will enjoy this moment, with these people, in this place, but I will thank Him that He has created something within me that longs for another place, a place that only He could give me a heart for in His immense love for me.

Well, friends, there are sweet potatoes to mash up in the kitchen, so I need to run. (Yes...sweet potatoes...and I only paid maybe $6 for them! Unbelievable.) Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are thankful today for the good and the bad in your life, the easy and the difficult, the beautiful and the ugly. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

When did cat hair become a metaphor for my life?

Honestly, I don't know what to say about this, except that it's a typical day at the Hooks home. Sarah Beth looks pretty normal, but John is touching his nose with his tongue, and Hannah is...well, I don't know for sure, but I think she's trying to touch her nose with her tongue. Let's just say this...they aren't boring or dull.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Okay, okay. I know it's been a while. Would it matter if I told you I've been really, really busy? Or that I've had so much going on that I just didn't have much to say? It wouldn't make a difference? Well, then I'll just have to apologize and try to do better. How's that? (That was for Mom.) Things here are fine. It's been a bit warmer in Prague, and that's nice. School is rolling along, and we have been able to get Sarah Beth mostly caught up with where she would be if she hadn't gone to the States. Marc is leaving this morning for an editing retreat, and the kids and I are getting the house ready for Thanksgiving. Pretty much just normal life.

We had a teen girls' Bible study over last night for dinner. Sarah Beth goes every Tuesday to study with this group of girls, and it was our turn to host last night. We had a truly wonderful time. I am so thankful for colleagues who are willing to give their time to invest in my child. So thankful. It was fun, and Sarah Beth cooked a great meal--vegetable lasagna, garlic bread and apple crisp--that left the whole house smelling like heaven. I spent the day (when I wasn't homeschooling) scrubbing different parts of the house to make sure it was just perfect for guests. And, of course, as I do every day, I spent some time working on the cat hair.

The cat hair is my nemesis. It is the arch-enemy of my life. (Actually, that would be Satan, but forgive the hyperbole for a moment. I'm making a point.) I'm not sure I've said this before, but we are staying in an apartment that is usually occupied by a family who is on stateside assignment this year. Since their stateside and our year in Prague were the same time, they asked if we would hold their apartment for them, which we are glad to do. They asked if we would keep their cats, which we were also glad to do. And they are precious cats. Precious. We love them very much. I talk Russian baby talk to them all day long, cuddle with them, they sleep with one of us every night...we really love the cats. So don't walk away from this thinking it's the cats who are the nemesis here. No. It's their hair. You see, the cats shed like no other cats on earth. I'm not kidding. Tumbleweeds of cat hair roll down the hall like something out of High Noon. No matter what I do, no matter how many times I vacuum, no matter how many lint brushes I use per day, there is always cat hair somewhere. And this, my friends, drives me insane. Insane, I tell you. Every single day, I vacuum all the floors and the furniture in the living room, and then I take a lint roller and clean the furniture and the rug in the living room. Every day. And still, by about noon, the tumbleweeds of cat hair are rolling down the hall. Do you hear what I'm saying? I, Kellye Hooks, type-A personality, controller of all things domestic...I am losing the battle with the cat hair. In fact, it's really not even a battle, because there is no chance that I am going to win. Ever.

So imagine for a moment my determination to have a cat hair-free evening last night. I vacuumed, and then I had Sarah Beth vacuum and lint roll everything in the living room. And it looked great. I'm telling you, I felt really good about the lack of cat hair last night. And then, as I was sitting in my favorite blue chair, one of the cats jumped into my lap. The girls were discussing something, and as I listened, I absentmindedly stroked the cat's fur. Then, in a moment that can only be called metaphorical, I looked down to say something to the cat, and as I looked at her, I noticed cat hair literally drifting through the air right before my eyes. My pants...covered with white fur. The arm of the chair...coated. And you know what? The girls continued to talk. The Bible study went right on in spite of the cat hair. No one turned around and gasped in horror. In fact, I'm pretty sure no one but me cared enough to notice. They also didn't notice that I'd scrubbed behind the toilet or underneath the kitchen table. You know why? Because they were focused on each other and relationship-building, and I was focused on...cat hair. Hmmmm....

Maybe you are always focused on that which is eternal, but I have to tell you that I am often focused on the goofiest, silliest things around me. I struggle with the cat fur as if I am going to win some kind of prize for best Mom if it is gone from the house. I focus on what I perceive to be flaws in my children but sometimes overlook the great qualities they possess. I sigh heavily because Marc leaves his laundry on the floor but forget that he treats me like a queen even when I am at my worst. I focus on the burden that life on the field can sometimes be but fail to praise Him for the great joy that it often is. I pray for this decision or that, for guidance and direction, but forget to praise Him for today, for my family, for the now that He has given me in spite of myself.

And so this morning, I am not getting out the vacuum. I'm going to wait until later in the afternoon. (Baby steps, people. I can't go cold turkey.) I'm going to enjoy an easy day with the kids, a day when all we have to do is school. We might even have a movie night tonight, complete with homemade pizza. Because all too soon, our family will send Sarah Beth off to start her own life, and these days and nights, full of fun and laughter, will be what she takes with her. And Hannah and John will follow her right out the door before I know what has happened. I am much more concerned about what they take with them when they leave than that they leave without cat hair clinging to them. So this morning, I am asking God for a more eternal view. A small glimpse of the big picture. And maybe just a little Divine help with the cat hair. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are looking at the eternals in life, and that the apple cinnamon candles you found on sale at Tesco are making your house smell good, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye