Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova near Kyiv (Day 544):

When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94:19‭

I often wonder how this new generation, the children growing up amid war, will turn out in the future.
These kids grow up praying for the soldiers defending us at the frontlines.
They learn to fundraise and donate to the army’s needs.
They want to have nothing in common with the aggressor (refusing to read in Russian or about Russia, avoiding “Z” symbols because the Russian invaders use them, and learning which countries ally with Russia to stay away from them as well).
They know what to do during an air raid and how to deal with a blackout.
They follow the news (sometimes behind their parents’ backs), hoping to hear something about our victory.
They master keeping it together when they get homesick or desperately miss their friends and loved ones.

A couple of days ago, we were at a social charity event. There was a small concert there, and a young girl was singing an original song, a sort of prayer for Ukraine. I don’t remember the lyrics, but there was a passage that the children don’t ask God for gifts, they only ask for all the soldiers to return alive and well, and once the victory comes, we will thank our defenders and glorify God. The song was good, but I caught myself wishing our children could sing something lighter. However, I was moved to tears when I saw our 9-year-old son (who is highly sensitive by nature) weeping during this song because it stirred up something in his heart he’s been keeping down, something he wasn’t quite aware of or unable to verbalize.

I am proud of our children, but I hate that they had to mature so early.

But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will bring back on them their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
Psalm 94:22‭-‬23