Beautiful Easter Eggs
Ukrainian Easter Bread- the majority of people purchase or make this bread, then take it(along with the other food items for that day) to the Orthodox church to have it blessed by the priest.
Easter Treats: Easter Bark. I wanted to have a special treat for the boys, so spent yesterday afternoon making this candy. It was really good! To see where I got the idea, click on the title of this blog entry and it will take you directly to the website.
It's not a good picture, but it's all I have of us and the boys having Easter lunchSometimes, all it takes is a little perspective to remind me of what I truly have. I've felt sorry for myself at times about not being at home for the holidays with my family. And then over the last year or so, I've met and begun to get to know some of the orphan boys that my roommate serves. And my heart just breaks for them. One(I'm going to leave them all nameless) began to come to church with Laura in January of 2010. He is saved and has brought multiple friends along with him. One of the other boys has also been coming to church regularly since last spring and we're fairly certain that he is also now saved.
These boys are all orphans for different reasons. They all have family of some sort, but none who can or want to take care of them. They've been abandoned. One has a mother and older brother in jail. He has a well-off grandfather who completely ignores him, in spite of the fact that he(the boy) really wants a relationship with his grandfather. Another has a mother, but only knows that she lives somewhere in the center of the city. They all have heart-breaking stories of abandonment and hurt. Most orphans fight, drink, smoke, do drugs, steal- whatever it takes to get by. They're hardened at an extremely early age by the life that has been dealt to them.
Many of them have relatives, however, who try to stay involved in their lives. They bring them clothes, pick them up for occasional weekends, and take them away from the orphanage for holidays. But a handful are always left behind; the rejects of the rejects. My heart breaks for these children. Our boys(who come to our church) are some of the ones who have no home for the holidays. And though it's not much, it made me so happy that they could come over today and have Easter lunch with us. Laura takes them for lunch after church every Sunday and I join her when I can, so I've gotten to know them a bit. Easter may not be a huge holiday here(not as much commercial hype), but I was so thankful that we could give these boys at least a bit of something special today, before they once again return to the orphanage, the only home they have.
My heart breaks for these boys, who within months will be too old to be adopted and will be pushed out of the orphanage and told to survive on their own at the age of seventeen. How do you survive and grow into a healthy adulthood when you've not had parents, or a family, or a home, or learned basic skills? How do you learn how to get a job, handle money, have a relationship, or even how to trust people? One of these boys in particular has stolen my heart and the thing that grips me the most is that he's now too old to be adopted. He's so gentle and sweet, polite, kind, tender. How is this boy going to survive on his own out there in this harsh world? The one thing that gives me any peace about this boy's future is knowing that he is a child of God and that all things are possible with God. God can take care of this boy and nurture him and teach him and guide him through the almost certainly treacherous path ahead of him. God is good. All the time. Sometimes, like today, I must remind myself of that. Christ died to give us all(including these dear boys) a future and a hope. And if they know Him, their home here on earth may never be anything more than a place to lay their heads, but their home in heaven is guaranteed and far greater than they could ever possibly imagine.
Christ is Risen! He's Risen Indeed! And He's gone before us, to prepare an amazing place for us- a HOME, where all who know Him will live for eternity: free from sorrow, sin, rejection, hatred, strife, doubt and worry. Isn't He wonderful?
These boys are all orphans for different reasons. They all have family of some sort, but none who can or want to take care of them. They've been abandoned. One has a mother and older brother in jail. He has a well-off grandfather who completely ignores him, in spite of the fact that he(the boy) really wants a relationship with his grandfather. Another has a mother, but only knows that she lives somewhere in the center of the city. They all have heart-breaking stories of abandonment and hurt. Most orphans fight, drink, smoke, do drugs, steal- whatever it takes to get by. They're hardened at an extremely early age by the life that has been dealt to them.
Many of them have relatives, however, who try to stay involved in their lives. They bring them clothes, pick them up for occasional weekends, and take them away from the orphanage for holidays. But a handful are always left behind; the rejects of the rejects. My heart breaks for these children. Our boys(who come to our church) are some of the ones who have no home for the holidays. And though it's not much, it made me so happy that they could come over today and have Easter lunch with us. Laura takes them for lunch after church every Sunday and I join her when I can, so I've gotten to know them a bit. Easter may not be a huge holiday here(not as much commercial hype), but I was so thankful that we could give these boys at least a bit of something special today, before they once again return to the orphanage, the only home they have.
My heart breaks for these boys, who within months will be too old to be adopted and will be pushed out of the orphanage and told to survive on their own at the age of seventeen. How do you survive and grow into a healthy adulthood when you've not had parents, or a family, or a home, or learned basic skills? How do you learn how to get a job, handle money, have a relationship, or even how to trust people? One of these boys in particular has stolen my heart and the thing that grips me the most is that he's now too old to be adopted. He's so gentle and sweet, polite, kind, tender. How is this boy going to survive on his own out there in this harsh world? The one thing that gives me any peace about this boy's future is knowing that he is a child of God and that all things are possible with God. God can take care of this boy and nurture him and teach him and guide him through the almost certainly treacherous path ahead of him. God is good. All the time. Sometimes, like today, I must remind myself of that. Christ died to give us all(including these dear boys) a future and a hope. And if they know Him, their home here on earth may never be anything more than a place to lay their heads, but their home in heaven is guaranteed and far greater than they could ever possibly imagine.
Christ is Risen! He's Risen Indeed! And He's gone before us, to prepare an amazing place for us- a HOME, where all who know Him will live for eternity: free from sorrow, sin, rejection, hatred, strife, doubt and worry. Isn't He wonderful?
2 comments:
That's moving & a very cool easter
Thank you for sharing this. And, it was very good to talk to you. I'm glad you could share yours with the boys. We missed you here. Love you, Mom
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