WALKing His Path: Holy Week...

As I sit here and reflect over this Holy Week, I am flooded with emotions, memories, and gratitude. First and foremost, I am grateful for the one that paid the ultimate price so all of us can have a chance. It is hard to fully comprehend the magnitude of the sacrifice that was made for us. I am understanding each day that the less of myself I have, the better off I am. A year ago, I never would have guessed I would be where I am at now, if God would have showed me the picture then, I would have laughed and said, " that looks nice, who would you like me to tell about your picture, because I know that is not me in the picture." Sometimes I still look at the picture and although I see myself in it now, I sometimes don't recognize myself. I had mentioned previously about the emotions I have been facing and trying to make sense of. I have realized that the person I was a year ago is not capable of handling what I have to handle now. I have realized that I am being transformed and that I have to be "more" in order for this to work. In every way, my new life requires more, and I guess at first I didn't realize how much "more" I needed to be as well. I feel like our new family is a work in progress and if I could use an analogy ( for those of you who know Russie, this is how he likes to explain things..) I would say we are a rose bush. Everyone knows what Roses look like and how the process works to have beautiful roses. It starts with the soil, the soil has to be prepared and remain nourished in order for the bush to grow and produce beautiful roses. Just like the bush, we have to be nourished in order to survive. We also know that roses have to be pruned in order to produce more flowers. I know when I go to cut back my roses every year, it makes me a little sad to cut off the branches. The first time I had to do this I questioned and wondered how cutting it would make it grow better. In the same way, Although it is not always enjoyable for God to "prune" us, he knows it is necessary. This is the phase I feel personally like I am at now. I feel the pruning in my life everyday. I feel the branches that are being cut, I feel the pain of it. Although, it may hurt at times, it is necessary and I am starting to see the picture of the next step of the process. I took notice to my rose bushes outside my house the other day and I was excited to see the green leaves starting to grow on them. Within weeks, there will be more green than brown, and not long after that, there will be beautiful fragrant flowers. I see the potential that our family has, and it is like a beautiful rose every time I think about it. There is one more thing to highlight about the rose bush though, always along with the roses, there will always be the thorns. There will always be the thorns in our lives, even when the roses are beautiful and bountiful, because we are human and we will face hardships and temptations as long as we are in this life. It actually comforts me to think about the thorns, because we are not expected to be perfect, we can't be, and it is okay, we can still bear beautiful fruit regardless how many thorns there are. That is what God has showed me this week...and here is the some of the other details of the week that made it a full week for us...

Our Easter festivities began last Sunday with painting Ukrainian Pysanky eggs (check it out to see what they are www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/) . The kids headed up to the lodge where they were meet by a lady named Francine, who had graciously offered to show them how to do this Ukrainian tradition. I think the little kids may have been more interested and patient than the older ones ! Unfortunately, we only had 2 that made it home in good shape, the eggs are blown out, so they are very fragile. Also this week Russie headed to Altoona with all the kids to get bikes. He has been wanting to get bikes for the family for a few years now, and I guess he finally decided it was time. Each of the kids had to pay for half of their own bike, and he paid for the other half. When he told them what his plan was, they were on board. Vika asked " Pop, how much money are bikes?" He gave her a ball park, and she said, "but Pop, I only have $6 dollars" Anslee and Vika were excited to hear that in the cupboard they had 4 target gift cards with their name on them from their welcome home party. They didn't understand even when they received them what they were, but when we explained they would buy them a bike, they quickly understood. The girls told me when they got home, that this was their first bike that they ever had and they always wished they could have one of their own. I guess mother nature didn't really get excited as we were about the new family bike adventures, because she has not provided too much ideal biking weather this week, but we still managed to find a few times to try the bikes out. On Friday, we took the kids to rails to trails to ride. It was cold, but we went for it anyway, the last 2 miles we were determined to make it, even though it was hailing !!! Russie and the older girls, and Erik and Lena, rode to Tipton last night, and the girls goal is to ride to Altoona, so if you live between Tyrone and Altoona, you may see a bunch of crazy bikers heading your way ! The girls also went to a youth event this weekend that they enjoyed very much. There was many kids their age that went with them. They were excited to tell me that they understood the preachers when they were talking and told me their favorite part of the event was communion by candle light. I am grateful that they were able to understand the word of God, they have came so far in 2 short months !

Take notice of Bubba's face in this picture !

It was also very nice being able to celebrate our first holiday today with the girls. We have been able to talk to them about what things they did in Ukraine to celebrate Easter and we were able to show them what it means for us here. We told them that when they woke up today that there would be something special for them, they would just have to find it. They had no trouble find their Easter baskets this morning and marvel at the things that were in it. We got them each a bible in English, their favorite gum, a summer outfit, and some Ukrainian chocolates ( thanks to Dusty and Tina for telling us about the Ukrainian food store in State college ) They were amazed to see the chocolates and wondered how I got them. There was not too much extra time this morning to enjoy the easter baskets because we had to be at Sunday School by 9:00. In the midst of my craziness to get all the kids ready and hair done, I heard 2 sweet voiced saying, "mama, we have something for you" Grace led me to the kitchen and had a bracelet and a picture she had drawn for me on the counter. She said I am sorry we stayed up so late last night, but we were working on this for you and Daddy. Vika and Anslee had also stopped at a store when they were away for the weekend and got me a necklace and bracelet, which I wore to church this morning. There was so much joy for them when they watched me put it on, and the joy went two ways, I was overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness, it diminished the rush and the stress of getting everyone ready. I know I need to stop and concentrate on the moments like that a lot more than I do. Just like I used the analogy earlier of the rose bush, we need to always remember to stop and smell the roses because there is a lot that goes into growing a beautiful rose...

Here is a link to a song that is my favorite song this Easter season...

http://youtu.be/E2KNvuscKRA