Perspective

Showing off their smiles
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Again yesterday Will had to be at church early, so Jaan and I waded through the mud without him. So you understand, we're talking about walking for an hour on unpaved roads. It really wouldn't take that long usually, but with short little legs and all that mud, it did. I actually looped a belt over my arm so that Jaan would have something to hold onto, while I used both hands to hold sleeping Raia.

As we were walking through a particularly messy spot, all I was looking at was our feet, trying to find a way through, and I was thinking about how yucky the ground was. Out of nowhere, Jaan said, "Мамочка, на небе не грязно." ("Mama, in the sky/heaven it's not muddy." I don't know if he meant the literal sky or heaven; he was looking at the sky.) I looked up, and I think I smiled the rest of the way. I'm so thankful for a little boy's perspective to remind me to look up!

"Радуйтесь и веселитесь"
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(The photos are from last night. Jaan and Raia loved their smiley stickers! Jaan wanted to know if Jesus had stickers when He was little. )