Strawberry Swing
Finding time to acknowledge the good around oneself is more complicated when placed in a challenging situation. And as most of life is challenging, we must acknowledge the wisdom that comes from both hardship and comfort.
Whether comfort comes from good habits, relations, or things, we must remember not to romanticize trouble or comfort entirely. Instead, I believe that in hardships, comfort aids through gratitude, and in comfort, hardships aid through experience.
The war separated Aaron and Nissa’s family.
Aaron and their 6-year-old daughter left for California. Nissa stayed to uphold her job and start her newfound responsibility of locating and evacuating civilians through underground operations in areas such as Mariupol.
It was wonderful to see our friend after so many years. She had taken some time off her work and drove from Kremenchuk (an industrial city around four hours southwards of Kyiv) to our estate to spend a few days in the countryside.
Nissa informed us that the sounds of bombings outside her apartment were starting to irritate her... Russian soldiers kept failing despite attacking Kremenchuk several times and were starting to resemble rather obnoxious pests.
We spent the time together discussing life’s varied topics. She had brought along some of her friend’s lovely desserts to be enjoyed, and our conversations ranged from literature, psychology, and our general perspectives on the future. She and Aaron were thinking about adoption.
It was beyond an agreeable time. We gathered together and enjoyed each other’s presence during the time given to us. The day peacefully ended with a prayer for our families and nations…
Such good friendships and relations can only be described as prosperity. Simply being thankful for such an opportunity seems to fail to establish how greatly God works within our lives through others, especially in challenging circumstances.
