пʼятницю, 22 червня 2018 р.

five minutes friday: ocean


I've never really seen the ocean.

But the moment i saw the word, i wanted to translate this one here. Or at least tell that story. Maybe it's cheating. Whatever. I just love it and it's still in my head, yes...
It's a snapshot from my dear friend & speech therapist, who works with autistic children.

So, we were drawing a whale. And he thought that the fountain on its head means explosion. He thought the whale was hurt and he started crying. I explained to him that it's a fountain, that the whale splashes water on himself, when it's hot.
He asked - What if the water runs out?
I said the water in the ocean will not run out.
But he asked again and again, getting anxious - What if the water runs out???
I said - If the water runs out, I will pour some more.
And he calmed down, smiled, and continued drawing.

Do you know what will happen if the ocean of grace runs out? God will pour some more!


* end of five minutes here. see, i'm still going to cheat*

I was asked to edit prayer cards for our camp with special needs & orphan children.
And, of course, I was peeking at the lists of teams and housing. With some of the children so challenged that nobody would ever dare to send them to any camp before, and with only as many volunteers, probably, as it was possible to afford and host.

It seems I was reading every second kid "needs attention", "need special attention", "needs VERY special attention" and "this camp would be a chance to give this child ATTENTION they lack so much in an orphanage"
And i can't help but add similar words about the kids from the orphanage I know, who don't have any obvious special needs, because they all still need good undivided attention!

Remembering last summer: simultaneously having to help a girl with cerebral palsy walk, to catch a kid with ADHD who was running back to the sea to swim, to figure out out why one kid was crying, another refused to cooperate, and yet another I had no idea where she was because she didn't make any trouble and I often overlooked her... while on the way to make them all take showers before dinner starts and making sure they have something to wear that is not wet and smelly and that some lovely new volunteer is not feeding them peanuts and sweets... how in the world was I going to give them good quality attention they needed and give them something about Jesus that would stay with them after camp?

As I read about their dreams and expectation, knowing that each one of them, special needs or not, orphans or not - are endless, precious, restles, hungry attention needing souls... I wonder what their experience in the camp will be, for real, as I can't expect or even dream I can possibly fulfill those needs, had I even just one kid for the whole week of camp to care for.

And yet we're still going to do that crazy thing all over again.

That is when I need to be reminded about the unseen unlimited ocean of grace. And if i can't even imagine - like the boy at my friend's work couldn't imagine that the water in the ocean will not run out - at least know that God will pour some more.

To be calmed with that. And continue drawing...





This post is a part of http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/06/21/fmf-link-up-ocean/

пʼятницю, 15 червня 2018 р.

five minutes friday: restore



Oh, come on...
That word, for five minutes, seriously?






That’s a word for life, not for five minutes.

RESTORE can look like an endless process, not very cute and cozy at times.

Sure, that is what our God loves to do, but not without any participation on our part. Like those guys and a prophet, who were restoring Jerusalem walls. They built all day and stood on guard all night, despite the Lord was with them and fighting for them.

A friend compared that RESTORE work inside a heart to making a renewal in a home and having to carry all kinds of trash from the inside out.
It's a tiresome work. It’s discouraging at times - especially when you see all that's coming from the inside of you is trash... But it’s not endless. The more trash out – the more space there is for RESTORE. Even if one can’t recall anything worthy to be restored – God is making something new and beautiful out of nothing. 

And when it feels like things are going worse rather than better, it's comforting to know that “The walls you are rebuilding are never out of my sight. Your builders are faster than your wreckers.” (somewhere from Isaiah)

*the end of five minutes*


Going to watch “MissingPersons” with A21 tonight - A21.org/10



When working in the aftercare, I witnessed a lot of RESTORE in the lives of women rescued from trafficking.

Witnessed is what I call it, because most of the times, it seems the only thing I did was I got to witness, to be there, to walk with them, while they were doing all the hard work of restoration, inside and out, day and night. Some people said I must be a very strong person for doing that kind of social work, but I really wasn't. It is those girls, who must be very strong persons, to survive and not give up and dare to RESTORE.

And with all the supernatural God's power, it is still incredibly hard work. RESTORE is not what you normally see working in a shelter in every regular day. Or better to say, RESTORE is often hard for us to see in every work day, behind all the struggles, backslides, unending needs, tiredness, stupid paperwork, failures and helplessness... but it is there. Never out of His sight.

As I think back to what my friend said about taking the trash from the inside out, I realize there is so much more RESTORE that happens inside. It can be hard to notice, even harder to measure, impossible to show in TIP reports and stats. And yet that's what matters most in a long run.

I treasure all the ways God allowed me to witness the restored. It helped to see the struggle worth it and gave courage to keep fighting, not only in A21 work. But I guess we can also be encouraged and hopeful and keep fighting, knowing about those restored we don't get to see. 

Until we come home ;)

Restored, beyond what people believe is possible to restore. 


пʼятницю, 8 червня 2018 р.

five minutes friday: fly


They say when children are flying in their dreams, they are growing.
Babies are supposed to grow up and fly away one day. All kinds of babies. 
What if they don't?

We were floating down the river with the kids this week and saw how a wild duck flew out of the cattails. 
- Wow! What kind of bird is that? - asked one of the boys.
- A duck.
- I didn't know they can fly.
- They can. It's a wild duck. I guess chickens could fly too, if people didn't trim their wings and feed them too much...
- Yeah, I was thinking about that too! If they are birds and have wings, why don't they fly...

It's not enough to just have wings apparently. 
One - they need to grow whole (or be made whole!) to be able to fly.
Two - they need to be wild and hungry enough to try. 



Let's see, if i can do this writing thing here... sounds like a cozy challenge:

плавання туди-не-знаю-куди

- Обережно, там пливе якась...
- Давайте якось назвем наш катамаран?
- ...Древесина!
- Да, древесина - отлично!


- Ми перші пливем! - радіє Анічка. Обертається і тихенько додає - і прошу зауважити, з нами не пливе жодного мужика!
Насправді наш катамаран ходить зигзагами по всій річці, бо сил нам не бракує, але ми ніяк не можемо домовитися, хто і коли гребе. 

- Дядя Саша сказав, що там будуть пороги...
- Ти знаєш, що таке пороги?
- Це такі штучки, коли тебе колбасить.

Сплав – це час не тільки плавати. Хоча плавати весело, і пороги, і лабіринти у високому очереті, і просто ловити ногами квіточки з води…

- Так красиво, просто жесть!
(Макс, широко усміхаючись)

Це також час дізнаватися нове. Один про одного, про себе, про світ.
Як приготувати їсти, як розвертати катамаран, як на воді не вбити телефон і один одного, як зреагувати, коли ти намочив шорти, а з тебе сміються, і кажуть, що ти впісявся?

Хтось вчиться сміятися з себе.
Хтось вчиться жарутвати обережніше.
Хтось вперше ставить палатку.

- Хлопці!!! Це не наша палатка!!! Тут вушні палички!

Сплав - це коли все смачне, навіть комари, які впали в чай, і спати раптом хочеться навіть найактивнішим, просто хтось сидіти біля вогню любить більше, ніж спати.

- А ще можуть уві сні руки дригатися, наче ти гребеш...
- Рефлекси
- Ага...
- Не гребіть мені вночі. Якщо розбудите тьотю Машу, будуть вам рефлекси!

Це час спостерігати і дивуватися. Пташкам, жабам, павукам... один одному, розмовам, які вночі заходять за несподівані повороти, як катамаран в очеретяних лабіринтах, іноді заплутуються, але рано чи пізно виходять на якийсь берег.

Це плавання туди - не-знаю-куди, час наважуватися і випробовувати. Свої сили і цікавість - іноді плисти вперед, як розвідник, а коли треба, чекати підкріплення. Тестувати рятівні жилети.
- Дивіться!!! – хлопці у захваті вибігають з води, розвертається і бігом залітають назад. -  Цей жилєт реально мене держить!!!

А ще, це багато часу і простору для уяви та гри. Можна, наприклад, виламати собі меча і трощити дракона з кропиви. І заодно придумати свою мову.
- Кучу-пуку. Тьотя Маша, знаєте що таке кучу-пуку? Це значить - я не можу знайти свої тапочки!

- Макс, ти лівша, чи правша?
- Я лівша!
- Да?? І що робить тебе лівшею?
- Я можу тільки лівою ногою бити!