Praise to the LORD, the Almighty...

I just wanted to show you some before and after pics of my recent kitchen reorg. This is before. If you know me, can you imagine me living in this universe???

After: Thank goodness for IKEA bins. I have them EVERYWHERE.

Praise to the LORD, the Almighty, the King of creation. O my soul praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation. All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near. Gladly forever adore Him.

It's a gray morning in Vienna, Austria, but there are smiles in the Hooks household, because Marc is on his way home to us. I do not hate it when he goes, because he truly adores his work more than you can imagine, but I love it when he comes home. Some day, when we are empty nesters, I will go with him, and that will be a glorious day. But for now, I'm enjoying not being an empty nester and watching him settle into the shoes God created just for his feet.

If you've been married a long time (we'll celebrate 21 years this summer), you know (I pray!) the joy of the happiness of your spouse. You probably also know the great burden of watching your spouse struggle. In our 21 married years, I've watched both. And I'm thankful for the struggling times, because they make this moment in time so sweet for us. For years, I knew Marc was talented and gifted, that he loved people, that he loved God, but he never seemed to find the perfect fit for him. This life, his work, his travel, his love for Europe and Europeans, his commitment to the gospel...this is the life he was made for. It is the perfect fit. I would not give up his happiness in his work for any white picket fence in America. I really wouldn't. It is an immense joy and privilege and blessing to watch as he settles into the perfect life for which God created him. It really is. But I'm glad he's coming home. :)

I've been thinking lately so much about the great blessings that God has given us. Of course, our family is close--our children (though they fight like any other siblings) deeply love one another. They communicate with one another across continents, giving advice, sometimes arguing, telling each other little secrets. That is a joy beyond words for me. I have a tremendous marriage. He is my very, very favorite person in the world, my best friend, my closest ally, my biggest cheerleader. Our relationship with my parents and sisters...beyond words. I cannot imagine more supportive parents than both mine and Marc's. Never a hint that we should come home. Never a complaint that they don't see us every day. I try to never take for granted their sacrifice.

At home in Florida, we have a great church that loves us. Sweet cards, precious messages, encouragement beyond words, faithful prayer warriors...all reside at First Baptist Middleburg. We have partner churches across the U.S. who love us and care for us and encourage us. Here in Vienna, we attend a church that we are growing so fond of, too, grateful for the voices of so many nations raised in worship of our great God. We have a great school, where our children are making relationships and receiving a very good education. I'm so impressed by the Bible study and worship materials Hannah is working her way through in preparation for leaving for Bosnia next week. Oh, my goodness...real thought, real study went into making a challenging, stretching Bible study for the kids. She came home yesterday from training time for the team with an absolute glow about her--so happy with the team, with the work they are preparing for, with the incredible adults who are making the trip, too. What a blessing to have adults who so deeply invest in my kids.

We have a wonderful apartment in a great neighborhood in Vienna. Little by little, we are making relationships here. Little by little, we are learning the myriad little secrets our city holds--here in the center of European culture for so many years. Beautiful cathedrals, lovely streets, so many things to learn as we work to understand this place and these people. We have beloved colleagues all over the world. We love our work. We love the people with whom we work. There is a Starbucks at our mall. (Though I'm learning to love Viennese coffee and cafes far more than anything Starbucks has ever brewed.) There is a grocery store across the street! Blessings, blessings, blessings...

On a deeper level than any convenience Vienna could offer, this place that we did not necessarily want to come to is teaching us about being where you are. It's teaching us about loving and being broken for those God puts in front of you, regardless of the language they speak. It's convicting us about boldness and courage and dreaming bigger than is reasonable for a city, for a people. I'm reading the gospels, studying the words and actions of my Jesus closely, and one phrase keeps tearing at me: "And Jesus was moved by compassion for the people..." So many times, I'm not moved by compassion. He wept over Jerusalem. I walk the same path in my neighborhood every single day. When was the last time I was so moved by compassion for the lostness of my neighbors that I wept? Vienna is teaching me about compassion, about loving people, about being broken. Those are priceless, precious gifts, incredible blessings that I would not trade for being where I would have chosen.

On this cloudy, gray Vienna morning, I'm feeling grateful for a place where I'm being asked to stretch and grow and be content. And what I'm finding is that a true choice to be grateful makes little problems, small tensions, and even big issues fade in their importance. And I'm grateful for that, too. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are grateful for the big and little blessings of your life, and that your apartment is starting to smell like Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye