From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 1169)
The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear. What can man do to me?
The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
Psalm 118:6-9
It’s our school’s late spring break this week, so my son and I got to go to my grandma’s village. It’s quiet and relaxing, which feels very refreshing. However, how much worse it feels to read the news of the night attack on Kyiv! There were drones and ballistic missiles. Several city districts were affected. The drones and debris hit apartment buildings. Russia is raging, terrorizing Ukraine while preparing for its “Victory Day show.” There were multiple air raids throughout the day, so I must admit I felt relief that we were not at school and didn’t need to have lessons in the basement. However, being away from home and reading about the attacks feels worse than living through them. It explains why so many people don’t want to leave their homes.
This year’s spring is strange. We had heat waves of +30°C (85 F) in April and cold nights of +2°C (35 F) in May. Frostbite destroyed many tree blossoms and early bloomers. The farmers are worried about the unpredictable weather’s effects on the harvest and are trying to guess a good time for planting.
A tulip caught my attention today. It’s short and small, having no majesty or beauty to make it desirable, which may result from the swinging temperatures. It looked dull yesterday, and I thought two days of rain and colder weather would completely take it down. However, I noticed it was gaining vibrance today. It didn’t look at the circumstances, it was fulfilling its purpose to the best of its abilities. This tulip reminded me of the encouragement received at the ACSI Europe conference (and follow-up worldview sessions with one of its keynote speakers) — fear not and be faithful in reflecting God’s glory; do not let your circumstances define you, but let the Lord be the source of your identity; and do not hide from the hardships and suffering, but let them refine your faith.
That’s a picture of the tulip instead of a destroyed building to accompany my post today. I chose this image not to avoid the ugliness of war but to allow the gentle courage of a flower to bring a more powerful message.
Voice of Ukraine 