Family is FOREVER

Well, hi there! Long time no see!!

The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Hello! My name is Kellye Hooks. I live in Vienna, Austria. It's nice to meet you! :) Sorry I haven't written in quite a while. Honestly, we've just been running like crazy people in the last few months. Really, since we came back from Sochi--Marc has traveled nearly nonstop, which means the rest of life falls to me. And well...the rest of life, it turns out, takes up a lot of my time. So no big news, nothing terrible to report or great to report, no big announcement today--just a reflection on the last few months and how time is flying.

I get tons of questions about Marc's travel. Let me try to answer them all at once: Yes, it is part of his job. No, I don't particularly love it, but I live with it. No, I don't get to travel with him. Yes, we miss him a lot. Yes, he really loves his job. Yes, the trip after trip after trip is wearing him out. No, his feet aren't any better. There. I think that does it. Seriously, I appreciate the folks who encourage us through the travel. It IS hard. We do get sad when he leaves--and so does he. It's a weird mix, really, of loving what he does and hating to leave us yet again. And, as John has said in the past, it's just not as fun without Dad. (I'm more the 'make sure you brush your teeth' parent. I try to be fun. But I am not as fun as Marc.) So we are looking forward to the end of the current trip to Ukraine, when he will be home for a while. And we're really looking forward to vacation in late July/early August. We're really, really looking forward to that.

Han is in the States, visiting family and friends and looking at colleges. WHAT?!?! How is that possible? Sarah Beth flew in a day before Han arrived to surprise her in Dallas. If you haven't seen the video of her arrival on Facebook, you really should look at it. My girls have lots of weird names for each other and weird things they do--and the little paw gestures at each other in the video put that weirdness on full display. They are enjoying some time together before SB goes back home and Han flies to Alabama and Florida for visits. We're super thankful to family and friends who are so willing to jump in and help when we need it to make things happen for our kids. Such a help to us. Such a blessing.

It's cliche, of course, to say that time flies. But it does, doesn't it? I mean, how else would you put that? Yesterday, Hannah was 10 and declaring that she wanted to go home as soon as we arrived in the Moscow airport. Or face-planting in a snow drift outside the grocery store because she'd never had to walk in a snowsuit before. And today, she is a beautiful 17-year-old senior in high school, focused on her future and whatever adventure God has planned for her. Sarah Beth, for heaven's sake, is MARRIED! And John towers over me. You know, if I really sit and think about all of that for too long, I could really work myself into some sadness. Because weren't all those memories and great times really wonderful? And what if they don't need me anymore, once they're all grown? Who will I be, then?

The truth is that I will still be their Momma. My Momma is still my Momma. I still need her. I still ask for her help. I depend on her to do all the creative stuff I'm incapable of doing. (I bet that gets old--I like this, Momma. Make it for me, please.) But from my own relationship with my Momma, and my growing relationship with the girls and John, I also know that I get to be not just their Momma, but also their friend. My family are the poster children for family friendships. I adore my sisters as my sisters, but they are also my dearest friends. My darling aunts, my parents, my sisters and cousins...these are people contractually obligated from birth to adore me. And I'm for that! My girls hated hearing me say it when they were in Moscow and Czech Republic, sharing a room, but it's absolutely true--friends will come and go, but your family is FOREVER. Be nice to one another. That's worked out for us. I adore my children, of course, but as they become the people they are going to be, as they grow and stretch into adulthood, I also really, really like them. Every stage of life as a parent is bittersweet. But as they grow into adulthood and yes, away from my nest, I'm finding that the sweet far outweighs the bitter. I'm proud of them. I'm glad they love and like each other. I like that they care about other people, about the 'least of these,' that they have sweet, compassionate hearts. And no one on earth makes me laugh more than my three oddballs. That, surely, is a testament to God's grace and blessing, and certainly an encouragement to all you young mothers out there. Because if I didn't mess up my kids too badly, you certainly won't, either.

Well, after the horror of a massive computer failure last week, I am backed up on business stuff to take care of today, so I must make my way to that. And, of course, my exercise bike is calling. It's saying some not-very-nice things about my exercise regimen of late, so I'd better answer its call. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that God has blessed you with family you love but also like, and that you don't have paperwork to take up your whole day like I do. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye