Moscow: city--hero

...and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19

Today is Victory Day in Russia, a celebration of the victory over Hitler and the Nazis (they say 'Gitler' here, and it never ceases to crack me up--I'm seriously like a two-year-old about the 'h' words that have g instead). Russians have every right to be proud of their history of standing up to Hitler in the Second World War. Read the history--the reason Moscow was saved from annihilation was that her citizens simply dug in and absolutely refused to be taken. We have heard stories of Stalin holding meetings in the metro to rally the troops. Citizens who fought to hold back the Nazis here are called partisans, and they were less military operatives than they were ordinary men, women, and children who simply loved their land so much they couldn't bear to see it taken. There is a fierce pride in being Russian. It is one of the many things I love about the Russian people collectively. Think of how much you love being American. Russians love being Russian.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the Cold War history of hostility between America and Russia. However, I will tell you that Russians are very interested in America, and I have never sensed hostility toward us because we're American. (Trust me--everybody in our building knows we are the Americans in apartment 54--especially since the children were playing with chalk and drew a welcome mat outside our building, complete with the word welcome spelled out in English.) Marc was with a trustee and his son in Red Square this week, where they met a retired Soviet General from WWII. He told the trustee's son to tell people in his school about Red Square, and to remind them that "Soviet soldiers and American soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder to save the world." Living in America, I'm not sure how much of a sense of that we have, but living in Europe, I see constant reminders--statues, memorials--of the immense price Europeans, and especially Russians, paid. Russia lost more of her citizens than any other country in the war. I'm certainly not downplaying America's role in the war, but I think we forget sometimes that other countries paid a high price to save the world, too.

This should be an interesting day. We are watching the parade on tv (you have to have tickets to even get off the metro stops at Red Square today) and having brunch as part of our lesson today. It should be fun. I am headed off to the store to buy the stuff for brunch, which should be a nice bit of exercise in the brisk morning air. Tonight, we have team meeting in preparation for the group of musicians coming from University of Mobile next week. Somewhere in all of this I have to deep clean my home...not sure when that's going to get done. Oh, well. By the way--the title of this blog is from my favorite billboard celebrating Victory Day. It has a picture of WWII soldiers, and an outline of part of the city, and it simply says "Moscow: city--hero." I couldn't have said it better myself. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are filled up with the fullness of God, and that you take some time today to thank God for the men and women who joined together in spite of ideological differences to save the world. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye