Hi, Everyone!

It's been a big week at the Hooks house. Sarah Beth had her first soccer match, John-John had cub scouts, Hannah had a great piano lesson, and all three were off on Friday for a faculty retreat for the school, which I attended. The retreat was good, but I was glad to be back home last night. Of course, I've been up since five, so I'd be even gladder if I could go back to sleep!

This week looks typical. Lilliana does go into the hospital on Tuesday for a procedure that we hope will help her stand better--she is very dizzy all the time. We noticed last week that when she would stand up, she would teeter a little bit from side to side. Please pray for her health, and that God will continue to draw her to Himself. 

We will have Bible study this afternoon, of course, and we ask that you continue to pray for the ways God is at work in that time. We also ask that you pray for our English club, that more may feel comfortable moving from English club to Bible study.

On the family front, we have a pretty normal week--school and all the usual things that go with it. All three kids are doing well at mid-term, which we're really pleased with, and school continues to be such a blessing in our lives. Will you please pray that God provides the tuition for the second semester? As of right now, the tuition is taken care of for the first semester. John-John and Marc do leave on Friday for a cub scouts campout. That should be fun. Please pray for their safety, and for the time they will share as father and son. We are swiftly realizing how fast the time is flying.

We are also struggling with John-John as he has continued difficulty sleeping. Will you please pray that God gives us guidance as we try to help John-John regulate his sleeping patterns? He is doing well at school, but by the time he gets home, he is so tired that he's almost hysterical. Unfortunately, that tiredness doesn't translate into sleepiness, so it's a perpetual cycle. We are praying that God will show us the way to help him solve this problem.

Well, the LSU/Auburn game appears to be getting interesting, so I'm going to go watch that for a while. We love you all, and we pray that God is at work where you are just like He's at work here. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Blessings,

Kellye (for all)

Blessed by many activities

Well, it's Saturday night, and like many mothers across the world, I am watching college football and waiting for my teenager to get home. So while I wait for the domophone to ring to tell me Sarah Beth is home, I thought I'd send you a quick update.

It has been an unbelievably busy week. I have worked full days this week subbing for another teacher. Put that together with a visiting team, preparations for friends who are returning to Moscow tomorrow, and not one but two teas to help with/attend, and it all adds up to quite a week. Of course, we never lose sight of what our lives were like this time last year, when we were not even in Moscow but waiting anxiously to arrive. As we think over the last year and the struggles that have come with our transition here, we are so grateful for a busy life full of activity and ministry and friends. What an answer to prayer that life is!

On Sunday, Sergei did come to our house for Bible study. It was such an exciting time for us. When Sergei was leaving English club on Thursday, Marc asked him if he was coming on Sunday again. He said he was, and that he thought he would bring Artur, his brother who has just moved to Moscow to study at the State University here. Then Liliana called to say that she would like to come tomorrow, because she is feeling better. What a great day of Bible study we are looking forward to tomorrow! Please continue to pray that we will be able to move people from English Club to Bible Study. And pray that God would move in the heart of our Russian friends in a way that is beyond logical explanation. 

This week is full of soccer, piano, cub scouts, school projects, and all the other things that fill our lives. That doesn't, of course, even include the wonderful ministry opportunities we have. Please pray that we would be able to juggle and focus on the things that are God's priorities, and not just what we want to do. We always want to choose His best rather than just the good things we can come up with on our own. 

Marc met with Ed Tarleton on Monday, and together they came up with a really exciting schedule of travel for Marc, one that balances ministry needs with family needs successfully. Marc is still hammering out the details, but he is very excited about the places he is going to get to go in the next year. Please start to pray now for his safety, for his language ability during these trips, and that everything he produces honors God's call on his life and the work God is doing in these areas where there is no evangelical presence. 

Well, my 16-year-old is home from her soccer party (where they tie-dyed their socks for some reason), so that's my cue to hit the pillow. Everyone in the house, except for John-John (who may just be too active for the germs to catch up with him), has a cold/cough thing going on...and I have yet another ear infection. The weather turned nasty this week--cold and rainy and gross--and we're battling the same stuff that plagued us last fall. Please pray that we will build up our immunity and be able to fight against the continual cold. This is a miserable place to not feel well. Trust me that little is worse than riding the metro with an ear infection. Just take my word on it. :o)

We love each of you, treasure your friendship and support, and pray that you are safe and dry (for my friends in Texas) and sound as you read this. Thank you for loving us and holding us constantly before the throne. 

Blessings!

Kellye (for all)

Eleven Months and Counting!

It's hard for us to imagine that we have now been here for eleven months. How big is our God?!?! If you'd have told me ten months ago we'd still be here, I'd have laughed. And yet, here we are, settled into the school year and enjoying life. It is late on Saturday night after a full Saturday, and we are watching Ohio/Ohio State as we wait for the Sooners of Oklahoma to take the field.  Marc and John-John spent the day with some of our Russian friends at a picnic outside the city. Though it was really the last thing he wanted to do after a really busy week, our friends were so excited that he came, and he had the chance to teach them a little about American football. It ended up being a wonderful time, and as they went back to the bus station, one of our friends, Sergei, talked to Marc about maybe joining us in Bible study tomorrow. We are so grateful to the team from FBC Allen, Texas, who laid the groundwork for the movement we are starting to see toward moving some of our friends into a Bible study. We would not have a single one of these contacts without the sacrifices of that team to come here to Moscow, and their faithfulness to continue to pray for those relationships to flourish and grow. God rewards faithfulness, and we believe their faithfulness is being rewarded in the growth we are seeing. This coming week is going to be very busy. Besides the normal things--cub scouts, piano lessons, and soccer practices--I will be working full days each day due to the absence of the other English teacher, and we have a team visiting from the States with whom we'll be doing some work. We also have a farewell tea on Friday night for a friend who is moving to Siberia to work and a tea on Saturday for the visiting team. Tomorrow we will have company for most of the day as the parents of some friends in Siberia have a 12-hour layover in Moscow and will be joining us for the day. Oh, my goodness! I'm tired just looking at all of that. Please pray that we will stay focused and peaceful in what looks to be a pretty chaotic week. Also pray that the visiting team, who will be working with several teams here in Moscow, will have a fruitful experience that will challenge them and give them a lasting connection to Russia. On Monday, Marc will be meeting with Ed Tarleton to determine projects and travel for the next year. This is an important meeting for us, so we would ask that you would pray that Marc and Ed would have wisdom as they schedule projects and travel for 2009. Marc is very excited about several trips that have been proposed, and he's even more excited to be digging into the work he loves so much. Our prayer is that we can find a healthy balance between the traveling necessary for Marc to do his job and the time his children (and wife) need him to be home. That can be a delicate balance, as many of you know. We appreciate your prayers. Finally, cold and flu season has started arriving in Moscow, and Hannah is the first to start sniffling. We are praying to head this off at the pass. As silly as it may sound, would you please pray that we have a healthier winter this year than last? We have discovered something called Zicam, and it does seem to make a huge difference, so we've pretty much made Hannah bathe in the stuff tonight.  Well, it's just about time for the Sooners to start playing, so I'll draw to a close. We are so grateful that you take the time to read this, to pray for us, to share our situation and needs and prayers with those you know. We just couldn't do this without you. We hope your week is wonderful, and a little more relaxed than ours! Blessings, Kellye (for all) p.s. The pics are from Sarah Beth, who is taking photography this year. These are a few of her experiments with different lenses, etc. She's a pretty talented girl!