For all these blessings, make us truly thankful

Sweet university friends who helped us celebrate Thanksgiving and who make our lives in Wien so rich!

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 1Chronicles 16:34

Well, friends, I am the only one up in this flat (except the cat), so I thought I'd fill you in on life in Wien. We have had two wonderful days of Thanksgiving celebrations. The first was Thursday, when we celebrated with two families here, gathering together for lots of food and laughter. The second was last night, when a group of university students came to eat and play games. We had a wonderful time, and our celebration lasted until midnight--which is why everyone else is still asleep. We laughed a lot, and (as always) we are grateful for this great group of "kids" that makes our lives so much better just by being a part of our lives. So today, we are taking it pretty easy--decorating our Christmas tree, eating leftover turkey, and watching football (Go Gators!). Sounds like a perfect way to unwind.

I've been doing the thankful thing on Facebook, listing something every day of November for which I am grateful. I have done that for a few years, now, and what I like about it is the chance to concentrate on being grateful. Because--well....you know...sometimes, I'm not so focused on that. Sometimes (don't tell!), I focus on the rotten, the mundane, the awful...and I forget to look at the many things for which I'm ridiculously thankful. So fun and also very good for me to do that, to make that habit and carry it into the rest of the year. Here are some things this Thanksgiving season for which I am truly, truly grateful:

Good artificial sweetener: I did not promise this would be deep and spiritual. :) I am really grateful for the little tablets I use in my coffee and tea. I am struggling with my weight (when am I NOT struggling with my weight?), and good artificial sweetener makes that fight a little easier. I also love my Wii Fit for the same reason. Plus, the yoga lady on my Wii Fit always tells me I have good posture, and that makes me feel really good about myself.

Austrian food: Really, there is nothing we can't get or make here. The quality of food is excellent, and while there are not really a lot of convenience foods (hence my war against the Japanese pumpkin I had to process in order to make dessert last night), everything we buy here is really, really good.

Surprise boxes from home: On Thanksgiving Day, literally minutes before we left for our friends' house, the Postman showed up with a box from my parents! In it were Thanksgiving plates and candy corn, a composition notebook for me, a penguin mug for Han, Peeps for the kids, and mint Three Musketeers for Marc. Want to see a bunch of Americans enjoy something? Pull out the candy corn. Seriously. I also used it to decorate last night. And it was fun to watch one of our Austrian friends try it for the first time. She liked it, just in case you were wondering. Candy corn--the universal language of love. But seriously--it's so nice to be remembered and planned for and thought about and known. Who doesn't want to be really known? Those things made our celebration better. We didn't have to have them. We didn't NEED them. But they brought a smile to our faces as we opened the box and found all those reminders that we are known, we are loved, we are missed. That's something to be grateful for, yes? Yes.

Good over-the-counter medicine: We brought OTC meds from the States, but we are definitely out of just about everything. (You can't ship medicine into Austria.) We have a really wonderful pharmacy, with truly kind people who are ridiculously helpful. (We keep thinking the folks in our neighborhood somehow missed the memo about being really rude and unwelcoming to foreigners.) This week's treasures: really good salve (like Neosporin but stronger) and cough medicine. (On a side note, we also learned the word for mucus/phlegm/snot--Schlaim. Yep. Like slime but with a 'sh' sound. So pleasing.) Maybe that seems like a silly thing to be thankful for, but there's something really comforting about being able to walk into a pharmacy and describe what's wrong and ask for help. Good stuff. Plus, they are really, really kind to us, and they wait until we leave to laugh at whatever weird gesture we've made to describe our ailments.

Our neighborhood/apartment/city: I've talked about it before, but we love it. We really do. Our apartment was all dressed up last night, and standing on the landing and looking down, with all the candles lit and everything so pretty, my heart was really full. I'm so grateful to live in a place we love. Our neighborhood is full of really kind, welcoming people. Honestly. We could not be happier with where we live. And Wien is a city full of history and culture and beauty. I am always amazed at its nooks and crannies, places to explore, great museums, and incredible public transportation. It doesn't mean we don't have days in which the culture gets to us--we're Americans, after all, and this sure isn't America--but those days are really tempered by our great love for where we are.

Learning German: Okay, this one may sound weird to you. But more and more, my brain turns automatically to German instead of Russian. The other day in the grocery store, I was chatting with the cashier, and I made a comment that was intended to be funny. And she laughed. And so did everyone else in line. And not in that poor-foreigner-who-speaks-like-a-toddler-so-let's-giggle-uncomfortably-as-she-makes-mistakes kind of way. Nope. It was a genuine chuckle. And then I realized that I hadn't really thought about what I was saying. I'd just said it. That was a huge triumph for me, because my main problem (in life!!) is that I think too much. Now--I'm not fluent, and it's going to be a while before I speak German comfortably all the time. But I can see that happening. Some day, I'm going to understand every sermon. I'm going to speak without saying, 'um.' I am going to. And oh!! what a day that will be. 

Being home and not homesick: Of course, we miss Sarah Beth. Of course, we miss our parents and friends in the States. Of course. But I have to tell you--I don't long for the States. We are enjoying this season of Sarah Beth's life, even though we are enjoying it from across the ocean. Her happiness, her future, her success in the life she has chosen...it's hard to be sad when she is so happy. Our parents are well, so we don't have that sense of being torn between two places. And best of all, when I think 'home,' the image that flashes in my mind is our little flat in Wien, our neighborhood between the two branches of the Danube river, our church here. This is home. That is an amazing work of our great, incredible God. Because what is in His hand for me, for us--that is where home lies. It's not geographic. It might sometimes look geographic. But it's not. It's a matter of trusting Him and knowing that--even when we don't feel it to be true--He knows us and wants our very best. And His very best is home.

I'm so grateful for so many things--this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. But above all, I'm thankful that Jesus loves me, that He knows me, that He is faithful and trustworthy, and that He chooses to have a relationship with me. Because out of that flows everything else, and the everything else part of my life is what brings deep happiness and contentment. And that is definitely something for which we can all be thankful. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that your day is looking pretty lazy and rejuvenating, and that you are going to watch the Gators beat those silly Noles tonight, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

10,000 Reasons

Ummmmm....I actually live here. This is my neighborhood. Is that incredible, or what?!? (Props to my man for the beautiful photography.) 

You're rich in love/ and You're slow to anger/ Your name is great/ and Your heart is kind/ For all Your goodness I will keep on singing/ Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. --Matt Redman

We are home from our conference in Germany, and I'm doing laundry like a madwoman in order to get Marc ready to go out the door at the crack of dawn on Monday for a trip to Hamburg, Germany. Mixed in with the laundry and a quick visit to a church bazaar here in Wien, I also have to make up all the homework I didn't get done while I was at the conference, so this looks to be a crazy busy day. (I spoke a lot of German at the conference. Do you think that counts?!?) But I wanted to take a few minutes and just check in with you and catch you up on what God is doing over here in our part of the world.

The conference we attended was for first-term people in our company, people finishing their first year on the field. Of course, we aren't actually first-termers, but we were invited because it is our first career term with the company, and we were really glad we got the invitation and accepted it. It was really the best conference I've been to with our company, and that's saying something--we have great stuff all the time. Everything was well-prepared. It was a mix of spiritual and practical. (One thing I was really grateful to have was a list of language smart goals. Things like memorizing the books of the Bible in your new language. You'd be surprised at how much of that kind of stuff gets lost in the shuffle of memorizing that the table is male, etc.) We had great child care, and there was incredible worship music (auf Englisch!) and Bible study. But, of course, the best stuff was the one-on-one, where are you and how are you doing kind of stuff. I'm an introvert, and that kind of stuff can be intimidating to me--especially when I feel like everyone else knows each other and we're going to be the weird old people in the room. But I felt really at ease from the beginning, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of the conference. I'm really grateful to work for a company that works hard in difficult financial times to invest in things--like this conference--that contribute to our longevity. Renewal, relaxation, a new commitment to the work--these are things that help us last. And I really want to last.

One of my favorite songs was sung a few times during the week, and it made my heart so happy. If you don't know Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons," you must go to iTunes right now and buy it. It is absolutely one of the greatest songs ever written. (Ok, I know that's just my opinion. But seriously--go buy it.) I love everything about it, but I especially love the idea of just blessing God's name. Not necessarily because life is grand, because sometimes (often?!), life here is a big mash of chaos and crazy. And by life here, I mean on earth, not in Europe. :) Truthfully--I have never lived anywhere that I thought was easy. Not Florida, not Russia, not Austria. Living the life God planted in my heart, choosing to be where I am, no matter where I want to be...these are tough things for everyone, aren't they? So it's not a song that says, "Hey, God. Thanks for doing _____________ and making my life so easy and great." Because I don't know how true that is for the real Christian experience. Maybe that's just not how He works in my life. Maybe your life is easy sailing, because God has chosen to make it that way. If so, you need to write a book and make a million dollars, because I'm pretty sure you're the only Christian alive who has had that experience. But the song just blesses His name for the things He is. He is rich in love and slow to anger. He does make the sun come up every morning. He is good. Beyond measure, beyond words, beyond my capability to explain...His goodness overwhelms every aspect of my life. He is faithful and true and sure, and He loves me. Loves ME. Kellye. The big mash of chaos and crazy. I'll never get over it. I really won't.

One of the things God is teaching my heart--and our family's heart--is to be grateful in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Because I have seen and tasted the Lord's absolute and utter goodness, I know He has only my best in His heart. When good times come--rejoice! When bad times come--rejoice! That is work sometimes for me. Sometimes (gasp!), I am not very grateful for the goodness and mercy and lovingkindness He showers on my life every day. Three incredible kids who love each other and are close. A husband who adores me and treats me far better than I deserve. Parents who raised me to love Jesus and others. A family legacy of loving God and serving mankind. C'mon. My life is full of His very best. Yet it is often true that I overlook those things. I want things to be easy. For me, certainly. But much more for my kids. When struggle and doubt and hard times come into their lives, it pains me. It makes me question. Why, God? We haven't given up enough? You have to make it hard, too? But oh, my friends...that's dangerous territory. Because here's the thing: if my giving up and sacrificing is what brings good things into my life and our lives, then God is not at all who He says He is. If I can earn a little bit better for my family by giving stuff up and being "spiritual," then He has lied. And I know for sure that He hasn't. And so whatever is in His plan for me comes out of His faithfulness and love and mercy and His incredible plan for my life and my family's life. I haven't earned any of the blessings in my life. He just loves me that much. I'm awestruck at that, mostly because I know myself. I am the most undeserving person. Given the chance, I'm truly awful. Ask anybody. :) But the God of the Universe not only loves me, gave His son for me, saved me...He has invited me on this incredible adventure with the people I love most in the world, this chance to watch Him do things only He can do. Hallelujah! Amen.

Well, my friends, there is German homework and laundry calling my name. (Not literally. Don't worry.) One of the things we're learning is that John and Hannah have spent so much of their lives outside of American English that they really don't have a clear grasp of American idioms. I've started to ask--do you know what that means?--because often, they don't. So I wanted you to know that the laundry and homework are not actually speaking to me, just in case you were nervous about that. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that during this Thanksgiving week, you have more than ten thousand reasons that your heart has found to be grateful to our incredible God, and that you are headed to a Christmas bazaar today, too. Blessings to you and yours!!

His,
Kellye