Auf Wiedersehen, 2012!

Me and the Han headed to church on December 23rd.

John was the "lost American tourist" in the Christmas play at church. Evidently, all American tourists wear cowboy hats. Who knew? :)

With my man at Schonbrunn Palace...we are so much colder here than you can even imagine.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1

There are yummy chocolate cupcakes baking in my flat this morning, and they are smelling SCRUMPTIOUS! Nothing says 'end of the year' like baking goodies. I love to bake. Unfortunately, I also love to eat said goodies. Hence, there will be no baking goodies for a while. It is a gorgeous morning in Wien--the third in a row of sunshine and no clouds. Since our fall/winter is generally gray, the sunshine is such a gift, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it in my sunroom. Every second of it. Seriously--Marc may regret having my space made into such a comfortable nook, because I really don't want to leave. :)

We have had what can only be described as a pretty much perfect holiday. Of course, we would love for SB and DJ to have been with us, but they are busily getting things done for the wedding, and they are so happy that it's hard to be sad about them not being here. It was really great--our traditional Christmas Eve gathering, full of people we love so much, then a quiet, restful, lazy Christmas, where we opened presents at our leisure, ate our traditional Hooks family breakfast, and talked and skyped with Sarah Beth and the rest of the family in the States. The last week has just been fun. We've played games, watched movies, gone to a great mall (just me and Han on that last one)...just relaxed. It's been wonderful. But I'm kind of ready to be done. Does that make sense? I'm not super great at relaxing, and there's only so much all-day relaxing I can do. You know what I mean? I'm ready to get back to work--on language, on plans for Sochi, on wedding plans...on life. Just normal life is a great thing to look forward to this year.

Sometimes, we find ourselves in seasons of testing. That's how I would describe 2012. It was a hard year for us in many ways. There were potholes we just didn't expect, a terribly unhappy child, my Dad's illnesses...just a difficult year. It was a year full of things I would not have chosen for myself or for the people I love. Because--naturally--I want things to always be smooth sailing, and that is definitely not how I would describe our year. But...and this is an important but...I have learned and grown and stretched more this year than I have in a while. And I've been doing the Jesus-follower thing long enough to know that the growing and stretching, though nearly always painful or at least uncomfortable, is necessary and important. Nothing really gets done in my life without it. Nothing. And so, though it's been a hard year for us, it's also been a year of searching for the positive, of learning what God has for us, of waiting on the Lord (sometimes because we didn't have a choice)...and for those things, I am so grateful. So here are a few things I learned this year:

• I am happiest when I'm busy serving.  I am not happy just sitting around. I can only clean so much. I can only cook so much. My kids are in school all day. I can't just sit here in my apron and read books. The happiest moments of 2012 were doing moments--times when I was helping someone with something. It makes me incredibly happy.

• Language #3 is harder than I expected, but still doable. Nothing causes me to whisper Philippians 4:11 to myself more than learning German while trying to also maintain some level of Russian. Terrible moment of the year: chitchatting with a mother from Ukraine, then realizing I haven't formally introduced myself, and then realizing that I cannot remember how to say, "My name is..." Bad moment. Terrible moment. But...important moment for me, because I desperately do not want to lose my Russian, so I realized that I have to really work at both languages. German is easier than Russian, but on top of Russian, it's difficult. Plus, let's face it...I'm no spring chicken. So it takes more work. But as I speak with people in my neighborhood and at church, I am more convinced than ever that I must master the heart language of the people I long to serve. 

• My kids are TOUGH. Nothing challenges me more than the hurts of my children. And this was a year of deep unhappiness for one of them. But I am so impressed with the sheer tenacity of kids who grow up overseas. They are resilient and resourceful, and they know the value of listening to people who have been where they are. Plus, because we have been overseas a while, my kids truly know that generally, things get better. You might not be happy, and you might make a complete fool of yourself in a language/culture that isn't your own, but hey--it'll make a great story some day.  

• God does not need me to handle things. I know. I should have mastered this by now. Call it a perk of my personality, but I really like to be in control. But it turns out that I don't always know best. In fact, I often am a total disaster. So I need to talk less, listen more, and let things go, trusting Him to handle whatever needs handling.

•  Prayer is more powerful than I can even fathom. Three months ago, my Dad's prognosis was pretty terrible. Everything we kept hearing from the doctors was awful. But then in walked a young surgeon who was pretty sure he could do what others were not willing to even try--remove the tumor that was causing so much trouble. Put together a really talented surgeon and the prayers of God's folks from all over the world, and my Dad is back cleaning the house and making my Mom's coffee. I could not have predicted that. Nobody predicted that. But by the time I arrived on December 4th, my Dad looked and acted like my Dad. That, my friends, is pretty miraculous.

• The great value of the body of Christ. We are to model Christ's love for the world to the world, and nothing does that better than our relationships with other believers. Little kindnesses, genuine love toward one another, a commitment to serve each other--it doesn't matter whether you're colleagues from our company, friends from the kids' school, members of our Austrian church, or friends from the States--the love you showed us this year and allowed us to return to you...well, it's a beautiful thing, and a testimony to the world about what the love of Christ really is. How we treat each other matters immensely.

I learned so much more than this, but some things are too personal for a public forum. I'm grateful for another year overseas, for our partners around Europe, for those who faithfully pray for us. And I'm thankful for all of you who--for reasons beyond my understanding--choose to read this blog. These are just the meanderings of my pen as I follow the journey that God has for me and mine, and that you choose to read them astounds me. So thanks for that. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that 2013 will be a year in which you grow and stretch and become more and more the person God created you to be, and that you are baking Jungle Camp Chocolate Cake cupcakes for tonight, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye