Tulips & Ashes

Chapter One
Merciless February

February 24 – 28, 2022

You wake up from birds chirping and bright sunshine coming from the window. You open your eyes, and it takes a moment to understand why you are not home, why your child is sleeping with you in your bed, why the furniture has been rearranged to move it away from the window. It is because yesterday you woke up in hell that your country has been thrown into by its “neighbor.” Day 2 • February 25

Hope Based in Past Memories: A season to plant

A passage that came to mind today as we were praying, and I felt weary, was from Isaiah 40:28-31: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. It is with these words that I go to sleep tonight and trust that while I try to rest and regain my strength, the Lord of Hosts who does not grow weary will keep me, my loved ones, and my nation safe. Day 4 • February 27

The Experience of Survival: A season to make roots

Please, pray! Ukraine is under attack. There are sounds of explosion in different cities of Ukraine. We heard them in Kyiv. Please, pray for peace and wisdom for all. May God bless us and keep us. Day 1 • February 24

At least close the sky and give shelter from the sky… This night there was a missile attack on Kyiv, on our neighborhood. One of the apartment buildings was on fire. Another warning about attack from the air coming now. Please, do something!!! Don’t just watch! The war will come to your home and your country sooner than you think if we don’t stop it! Day 2 • February 25

This night is crucial, so the Russians will try an aggressive attack. Please, pray for God’s protection over our people, for protection of those who sacrificially stood up to defend us. Pray for Kyiv, our capital city. Pray for repentance of Russian people who came with guns, may they surrender and live rather than murder and be killed. May they flee as they see the army of the Lord of Hosts protecting our nation. May God give all of us morning. Please, lift us in your prayers and may God help the oppressed as He is faithful to do. Day 3 • February 26

Please, keep us in your prayers, especially when it’s nighttime here. May we all see the morning. Day 5 • February 28

When Hope Felt Distant: A season to cool

Today, people in Ukraine are like a lamb at the slaughter. And it is not enough to give food and clothes to the refugees. It is important to stop the murderers. Day 2 • February 25

Defiance in the Face of Aggression: A season to grow

Don’t be a silent bystander. Don’t sponsor the bombs falling on the homes of peaceful Ukrainian families. Make Russian government pay for their evil. Day 1 • February 24

We will not give up! There are so many stories of courage! There are endless stories of our people loving on stranded strangers. There are testimonies from our defenders who were rescued from enemy strikes only by the hand of God! We are fighting this Goliath who is drunk with power and who thinks he can mock God, yet we respond with the words of David: “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Sam 17:45). Someone shared this message from our brothers and sisters who are praying for Ukraine: “We’re asking God to confuse the enemy and to blind them at the right time. And to let them see the angel armies that are present in Ukraine whom they are fighting against. This is a spiritual war, between good and evil, that has manifested into a physical war.” And that’s very encouraging as that’s the same prayer I’ve been praying lately. Day 4 • February 27

But we will also remember countless acts of courage: • people in the occupied cities of Berdiansk coming into the central square, chanting “Go home!” and singing the national anthem of Ukraine in the faces of armed invaders (caused them to leave!), • unarmed people blocking the road in their village causing the enemy tank to turn around and leave, • young boys emptying fuel tanks while the invaders station for a break, The list can go on and on but I’m too exhausted from monitoring air-raid warnings to continue it. We will remember these stories, we will write books, songs, make movies to make sure these are not forgotten! Day 5 • February 28

Celebration, while Aware of the Costs: A season to bloom

Thanks to your prayers Ukraine stands strong. We see miracles, big and small. Many testimonies, please, feel free to share them in the comments. Let’s give God glory and praise He deserves. Day 3 • February 26

We will also testify about God’s faithfulness: Russian soldiers getting lost and confused, running out of fuel and deserting their tanks, missiles hitting just enough “off” the intended target causing minimal damage, Ukrainian defenders get a sudden urge to change their position and are saved from an attack, seven Russian soldiers surrendering to one Ukrainian. Ukraine standing strong against the monster – “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Day 5 • February 28

Loss and Lament: A season to regenerate

You wake up from birds chirping and bright sunshine coming from the window. You open your eyes, and it takes a moment to understand why you are not home, why your child is sleeping with you in your bed, why the furniture has been rearranged to move it away from the window. It is because yesterday you woke up in hell that your country has been thrown into by its “neighbor”. Day 2 • February 25

However, the situation remains intense. The enemy gets very aggressive in its agony. They attack Red Cross vehicles, children’s hospitals, orphanages, civilian evacuation buses. They are attacking peaceful people right now. Day 3 • February 26

My heart is bleeding with pain. Three hundred fifty-two Ukrainians killed (including fourteen children), 1,684 wounded (including 116 children). Our “safe location” got an air-raid warning. Praise God, we’re fine, but our son was scared to go to sleep tonight, and (to be honest) so am I… Day 4 • February 27

We will never be the same. My close relatives, dozens of dear friends and neighbors with young children are spending night after night in bomb shelters in Kyiv. My niece has been “rescuing” her blankie and favorite toys as they receive an air-raid alert. Peaceful cities are bombed and attacked with cruise missiles (close friends of my neighbor burned alive in their car). Museums are burned down. Civilian evacuation busses are shot down. More than forty million people (not only Ukrainians but from many different nations) who had their lives turned into nightmares. Tears of thousands of mothers, wives, children, and men. Those will never be forgotten. Day 5 • February 28

Resilience and the Seeds of Future Hope: A season to multiply

As we were praying today, I saw this image: darkness, explosion flashes on the horizon, anxiety and terror. But then you realize that the flashes change into the bright morning star that brings peace and light. And there was this passage from Revelation 22:12: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” I know that the battle belongs to the Lord and that He has already defeated death once and for all. Day 3 • February 26

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