Compassion

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Plato

I am learning compassion right now. Loving others by being compassionate. Nobody's "lawn is greener"; everyone has their battles, we may not know them, but all people struggle with something and everyone has their weaknesses. I am learning to be understanding. How could I not be when my own shortcomings are vividly displayed before me all the time? That would be total hypocrisy.

And right about now I have to pack for a fun New Years cabin trip. I can't decide how I feel about packing. I think I both like and hate it. It's a love/hate relationship. Hope you all have a splendid New Years as you reminisce over the past year and prepare to face the upcoming year with hope and a renewed strength that only the Lord can provide :)

Blessings,

Alla

what does love look like?

This song by Misty Edwards, called Arms Wide Open, has such amazing words:

And then I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
He was looking at me, looking at Him, staring through me
I could not escape those beautiful eyes
And I began to weep and weep

He had arms wide open, a heart exposed
Arms wide open; He was bleeding, bleeding

Love’s definition, love’s definition was looking at me
Looking at Him, hanging on a tree
I began to weep and weep and weep and weep

This is how I know what love is, this is how I know what love is

And as I sat there weeping, crying
Those beautiful eyes, full of desire and love

He said to me, “You shall love Me, You shall love Me
You shall love Me, You shall love Me”

With arms wide open, a heart exposed
With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding

If anybody’s looking for love in all the wrong places
If you’ve been searching for love, come to Me, come to Me
Take up your cross, deny yourself
Forget your father’s house and run, run with Me
You were made for abandonment, wholeheartedness
You were made for someone greater, someone bigger, so follow Me
And You’ll come alive when you learn to die.

I was reading Prince Caspian to the kids, and this may sound silly to you but, God even spoke to me through that. Lucy is this character who delights in Aslan, and all she wants is to be with Him. Even when everyone else stops hoping in Him and lets circumstances stand in the way, she is faithful to Him and in complete adoration of Him. She just loves Him.

Then I spent a whole day with my lovely and amazing friend, Anastasia, and I just saw her whole heart on fire for God, and realized how much I lack of it. We had the best conversation that day.

And it hit me...that's all He wants from me..my love..my whole heart. My whole adoration. Not dutifully obeying Him with reluctance, not at all.

My New Year's Resolution list is going to be different from all the previous years. In fact, it's not going to be a list. It's going to be one prayer.
My prayer is that God will make me fall in love with Him...
only then will everything fall into place.

Africa

How I desire to go to Africa someday. Really I do.

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Nanny Diaries

And thus, I must begin the nanny diaries. A mini-series that relates my own nanny experience with my wild niece and nephew. Their parents are in Mexico till Saturday..and so since I am one of their last young single (therefore available to help) and (beloved I hope) aunts, it has befallen on me to watch these cuties. It didn't occur to me how much work I would have to put in. However, it has been a blessing to be able to serve and get to know them better. Perhaps, you'd like a run-down of our schedule? Waking up at 6:40 [barely], doing Angela's hair [she likes braid concoctions], breakfast [french toast, anyone?], studying for history and science tests [thermal energy wha?], checking homework [no, I will not write an essay for you.], dinner ["no more borsh'' they demanded], present wrapping [you know..elementary gift exchanges], dealing with separation anxiety [I get anxious when they fight and so I must separate them], tucking into bed [all three of us in their parent's bed..at least it's huge right?], and Prince Caspian story time [they like when I read in British accents], followed by Bible time and a prayer fort [needed: flashlight, blanket, and prayer, neat]. And I left out other details. Can you believe it? I have huge respect for what my sister does now. Whoaaaa. I wish I was more cool like Mary Poppins and could sing. Now, that's a superb nanny. I guess the closest I'll ever amount, is popping a musical into the dvd player. Oh well.....wish me patience, blessings, and for my sanity to remain intact :)

Clarifications:
*oh oh, lest you think that I can make borsh..let me be honest, and say that the borsh they were complaining about was my sister's borsh...I have never made borsh, and still do not know how. My mother is outraged. I am an object of scorn among the Russian society, and get sentences thrown at me such as "what if your husband will love borsh?! What then?!" Okay, so it's not that dramatic. But, I assure you all one day..I will..learn how to make borsh.

*I said British accents...in case you are confused, there is indeed more than one type of British accent..
if you are interested in obtaining a British accent, I am considering giving lessons. Contact me.

*I understand separation anxiety can be a serious issue, and am by no means making light of it. Only pointing out a minor form of it.

*Braid concoctions: Yes, I do hair. Contact me if you want a braid for a special occasion like a wedding or birthday. My services include: a side braid, mean messy bun, and the "updo" (a fancier way of me saying pathetic ponytail). So yeah give me a call.

I love

I love aiports, planes, and people watching at airports (people fascinate me). And airports are such bustling areas filled with a variety of different people, they're like a melting pot. It's the perfect place to people watch. I, unexpectedly, had to fly to the Seattle airport, because my flight left without me. No, the reason was not because I was wearing shoes that did not go with my outfit. [On the plane there, the flight attendant literally said, over the loudspeaker, that he'd be coming around to see if our shoes match our oufits or else ha.] It was because the line to check in bags (at 6am!!) was so gigantic they had to put me on a different flight. But flying is fun, so I was alright with that, even though I was a bit nervous at first. :)

I also love my mom's crepes. They're perfect with a delicious cup of coffee. Thanks mom.

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Comfort Me

Lord hear my plea

Come comfort me

My heavy burdens at your feet I lay

Help me to find your rest without delay

Finish this race in your enabled victory

Meet your face wrapped in full glory

Want to fight to the best of my ability

To lose the pride, and embrace humility

Help me cultivate that heavenly mind

Leave all the earthly worries behind

To make you the focus of my adoration

To always come to you first, no hesitation

Lord make these things complete in me

And till my last breath, your servant to be

Film!

Finally found a wonderful website with great deals on polaroid film. I am delighted. And this time, I'm positive it won't come with embedded alcohol advertisements (yes, this did happen).

Hopefully the arrival of the film is at hand soon! :)
These neat images were found on that website as well, they have more good ones on there.

Challenge

I have decided I will stop inflicting harm on my hair with a straightener. I am going three months without straightening my hair. It's my new challenge. Natural, yeah. I'm sick of wasting time straightening my hair. Hello waves and curliness. I'm stuck with you for life. Phew.. glad I got that out there, and off my back.

Wow, I just made a blog post about hair! I can't believe it! This is highly abnormal activity...should I be concerned about myself?

much more

Today, I found myself utterly bewildered. I was thinking about great novels and brilliant writers of past, and due to my usual inquisitive thoughts I wondered “how did they do it?” How in the world does one sit down and write something as exceptional as Mere Christianity or the Screwtape Letters? What inspired Dostoevsky to come up with ingenious novels such as, The Idiot or Brothers Karamazov, just out of the blue from the imagination of his mind? How did Austen gather ideas for Pride and Prejudice and so eloquently present notions and characters to the reader? How did Alexandre Dumas devise the intriguing story of the Count of Monte Cristo?

History’s pages contain countless superb minds, such as these, who rank high in my book. As more of these questions pressed upon my mind, I decided to do some research. I looked at biographies of the authors' lives. Research did not prove itself unhelpful. I gathered that these authors could write the way they did, because of their ability to observe life and things around them through certain perspectives that allowed them to see the bigger picture through the common details, that people usually discard and take for granted. They were not content staring at the surface but dared to peer deeper into things, gathering grander ideas through smaller notions.These authors had the chivalry to ask questions and look for answers. Writing is more than fanciful words and sentence structure, that is but a small component of it; it is so much more.

And here I find myself, a little eighteen year old girl with little life experience and not too much vast knowledge as I’d like to have and not even a lick of the writing capacity those characters had, fumbling to think of a story, struggling to write something good. Nevertheless, I will keep on writing, I will keep on reading, and I will keep on observing, leaving the rest up to God.

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Ridiculous

My parents have the most ridiculous tree, that we first got ever since I was a baby. It is a huge fake tree. Arrayed with atrocious silver tinsel and random pops of color everywhere, it has no color scheme; this thing screams for attention. It is crowned with one of those cheesy angels on top, and a cute old Santa Claus is placed underneath. Simple is not this tree's creed, just the opposite. Two sets of lights are always placed on it, the regular white ones and then the rainbow ones (surprised? I think not). Some of the ornaments we've gotten 16 years ago and still have! So I remember all of them. It's probably the most obnoxious and ridiculous tree you've ever seen..but it has grown on me. Albeit, I love it! It's my most favorite tree in the world, and even if it was placed next to a neat classy one, I would pick mine hands down! I miss this old tree. In fact, if my parents ever got rid of it, I'd be very unhappy. When I was younger, after everyone in my household would crawl under their blankets and no creatures were longer stirring, I'd stay up by the fireplace looking at that tree and just delighting in it. Mom said that they already put up the tree this year!! I think I'll have to take a picture for you when I go visit. It sure is a sight for sore eyes ;).

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