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| Who could have imagined when we sang together all those years ago that we'd be together on a mountaintop in Russia? |
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| Two of my three babies in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. And yes, John John really is that tall. |
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| Following in Daddy's footsteps: The Nan tapes her Daddy during an Engage Sochi session on top of the mountain. |
I only have a few minutes to write this morning. There is exercising and showering to be done before our German lessons begin this morning. But we returned from Russia this weekend, and it's Wednesday already, so I feel like I need to write about our trip. We were in Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, for a week. While there, we had Engage Sochi team meetings (minus one family in the midst of their first Russian visa process), on-the-ground time to see where ministry venues might be, and great time with a team of volunteers from the Oklahoma and Georgia Baptist Conventions. We ate our Russian favorites, bought souvenirs like tourists, and re-immersed ourselves in the Russian language. (I discovered that I remember Russian well, and understood most of what was said to or around me, but when it came time to speak, only German wanted to appear.) There were lots of favorite moments. (I know that's technically an impossibility, due to the meaning of 'favorite,' but you get the idea.) Watching my kids interact with adults always reminds me that--though they are normal and have the normal issues all children have--they are pretty awesome people. John successfully ministered to every cat in Sochi. I'm really not kidding. I enjoyed time with friends, time back in Russia, time to decompress as a family. I enjoyed the Russian culture, the beautiful scenery, and the wonderful people. Most of all, I enjoyed--as I always do--the chance to watch Marc be Marc: dreaming big dreams, taking a big view of what I can only see in detail, thinking and planning and believing that God is going to do whatever He wants, regardless of how impossible we think it is. In trips like this, the difference between me and Marc is very clear. I am a plodder--I believe God is going to work, but I often feel like that work is dependent on me getting my job done. Marc is a dreamer--he knows that God is going to do things we can't imagine, so nothing seems impossible to him. I like that about him. If we were both like me, we'd have a pretty dull life. On the other hand, if we were both like him, we might forget to pay the light bill. So we're a good match, I think.
One of the really cool things about our trip was the chance to see how God has been at work in ways we could not have imagined or predicted. Engage Sochi was a pipe dream when it was hatched--who would approve it? Yet, men of vision agreed to it three years ago. The chance to see that original proposal in action...to see church plants happening...to get ready for a mass event at the Games in a year...that's good stuff. To know that God has been at work in a thousand ways to make that happen is reassuring, isn't it? Because we didn't know. We didn't know if it would work or not. But sure enough, stuff is happening. This is actually going to happen. That's pretty humbling, but it's also very reassuring and encouraging. God is going to do what He's going to do. Often, we just need to get out of the way or join the ride or dream the dream with Him. As I sat next to my friend, Margie, whom I've known forever from our days sitting in choir together in Middleburg, Florida, I couldn't help but grin a little at how God works. We could not have dreamed all those years ago that we would work together in Sochi, Russia. Goodness--I didn't even know where Sochi was on a map fifteen years ago, much less that I would ever live and travel in Russia. But we didn't have to know, did we? I bet it was kind of fun for God, watching us sing alto in the choir, joke with each other, love each other...I bet it made Him smile to see the ways in which our lives would intertwine years later for His glory, for His plan. All those years ago, we were on a need to know basis, and we didn't need to know. Now, we get to see how He has been at work all this time. That's clearly a gift from the Giver of all good things.
A pastor friend in Missouri--okay, I actually babysat him years ago--made a remark on facebook the other day that struck home with me. He said that God is good in the seasons when I get it, and He's still good in the seasons when I don't. As a family, I would say we're in a season of not getting it. It has been a difficult second term for us (kind of par-for-the-course, according to friends who have been overseas for a long time), and it can be hard to see how God is at work. When the painful season involves our children, it is nearly unbearable. And to think that their pain might be part of His plan isn't in keeping with what I know of our God, who is loving and compassionate and merciful and kind. But I've made a theological misstep there, haven't I? Because I've equated happiness with God's kindness. I've made the assumption that an easy life is a sign of God's favor. How did that work out for Peter? for Paul? If I really look at the great cloud of witnesses, how many of them enjoyed an easy life? None. Zero. They did not mark God's faithfulness by their situation or circumstances. Paul and Silas sang songs of praise chained in prison because they knew that God's goodness was not marked by their freedom. 'Well done, My good and faithful servant' is for those who endure, who press on, who stand still in the storm and know that He is God. Not the God of ease or happiness or fun, though those seasons come and are gifts from Him, too. He is the God who holds our little family, scattered over two continents, firmly in His right hand, who inscribed our names--Marc, Kellye, Sarah Beth, Hannah, John--on His palm long ago. He is the God who calls us to obedience, regardless of circumstances or seasons or emotions. He is the God whose faithfulness overwhelms my life. And in those moments when we get a glimpse of how He has been at work over many years to bring His plan for us to fruition, we treasure those stones of remembrance, we set up our own memorial at Gilgal, we say to our children--remember when God did this? He led us over dry land before, when the waters should, by all accounts, have overwhelmed us. He will do so again. We can trust Him.
I don't know your situation, but I know if you're breathing, you have something hard in your life. And maybe it's something that just doesn't make sense to you. Let me challenge you to trust in the One who makes the universe revolve, who puts the seasons in motion, and who loves you more than you can fathom. Let me challenge you to be still and know exactly who He is. Let me challenge you to look at your own memorial at Gilgal, to recount to each other the ways in which His faithfulness has led you on dry land through the Jordan, to know that He is still at work. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you know and trust in the faithfulness of our giant God, and that you actually finished your German homework already. Blessings to you and yours!
His,
Kellye
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