Happy Birthday, Leska!

I can still remem­ber the first day that I met you like it was yes­ter­day. I walked into your hos­pi­tal room full of fear and yet full of antic­i­pa­tion. I was scared if you would like me or not, accept me or not. But my excite­ment to meet you pushed me towards the door. Though I was only step­ping into your room, in real­ity I was step­ping into one of the most dif­fi­cult times of your life. I felt as though I were an impos­tor. Who was I to walk into such a vul­ner­a­ble time in your life?

I can remem­ber your young 14 year old face. Your beau­ti­ful blond hair pulled back and braided into pig­tails. Your big, bright blue eyes shin­ing with excite­ment to see Vitaliy and yet full of pain behind their sur­face. Oh, I remem­ber you were so excited every time Vitaliy walked into the room! It was so beau­ti­ful to wit­ness the love between you two. Though I could sense your hes­i­ta­tion with me, you were kind and wel­comed me.

And what a jour­ney we have been on since! You are not the same girl I met 4 years ago at a hos­pi­tal in Ukraine. I seri­ously feel that I can­not accu­rately put into words the way my heart feels for you. You are just so beau­ti­ful­ly  cre­ated by our Lord. He has designed you so uniquely and so spe­cial. I told Vitaliy the other day that you are like a beau­ti­ful, del­i­cate flower. I have seen your petals slowly open and open over the years and I am so enjoy­ing every glimpse of the inner Leska that God has designed. I love every new find­ing, every new growth, every set­back, and every tri­umph. God is doing such a work in you and I am truly blessed that He has cho­sen me to be a part of it. Vitaliy and I love you with all that is in us. I hope you never for­get that. Happy 18th Birthday!

~Your God-Sister

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**If you are new to this blog and do not know who Leska is, please read this post.**
Below are a few pic­tures we took at a recent ses­sion with Leska for her Junior Year pic­tures. I chose a few of my favorites to share here to dis­play a few lay­ers of Leska.

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This is every­day Leska. The most nat­ural side of her. It’s such a sim­ple pic­ture but I love it.

This is Leska let­ting loose. Though Leska is very intro­verted, every now and then I can get her to let go and let loose. Here she is doing a lit­tle dance! I love to expe­ri­ence this part of her. Because it’s not often, it makes it all the more special.

Love it! Maybe I have been able to influ­ence her a bit. If noth­ing else, to at least be a lit­tle crazy! She is so darn cute.

This is the del­i­cate flower that I men­tioned. Intri­cately designed, del­i­cately crafted, beau­ti­fully composed.

This is one of those looks where Vitaliy and I con­tem­plate lock­ing her up in her room and telling any boys who come knock­ing to come back in 10 years.

Though Leska has been dealt a dif­fi­cult hand in life, she cau­tiously moves for­ward observ­ing and enjoy­ing each new day.

Leska is a deep thinker. Almost to a fault. I love the way this pic­ture depicts that aspect of her.

Leska is a quiet force full of power and strength. On most days, she would not call her­self strong. But I do not have enough time in this post to describe the kind of strength she pos­sesses. These images rep­re­sent the pain that Leska car­ries, and yet por­trays the inner strength she has to over­come immense tragedy. I will end this post with a verse that really reminds me of the Lord’s work in her life.

Isa­iah 61:3 (Speak­ing of Jesus’ ministry)

“to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beau­ti­ful head­dress instead of ashes,
the oil of glad­ness instead of mourn­ing,
the gar­ment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of right­eous­ness,
the plant­ing of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”