A Window Into Childhood

A Window Into Childhood

“One spring evening at Moscow the door of the drawing room where all the family was assembled was thrown open, and the bailiff of the Darovoye estate appeared on the threshold. ‘The domain has been burnt,’ he announced in a tragic voice. At the first moment, my grandparents believed that they were entirely ruined; but instead of lamenting, they knelt down…and prayed to God to give them strength to bear the trial He had sent them. What an example of faith…they gave their children, and how often my father (Fyodor Dostoevsky) must have remembered this scene during the course of his stormy life!”[1]

–By Liubov Fedorovna Dostoevskaia, (Fyodor Dostoevsky’s daughter) from her book, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Study 

Mikhail Andreyevich Dostoevsky, the father

Mikhail Andreyevich Dostoevsky, the father

Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow to Russian Orthodox parents. His father, a military surgeon, was severe in nature and held his family to rigorous standards. His very presence created an atmosphere of strength, but also condemnation, distorting the concept of God as a father.

Maria Fyodorovna Dostoevskaya, the mother

Maria Fyodorovna Dostoevskaya, the mother

Fortunately, his mother personified the unconditional love of God. “She was a pretty, gentle creature, devoted to her family, and absolutely submissive to her husband.” Together they had eight children—four boys and four girls—but one daughter was stillborn. Fyodor was born second. The interplay between his parents’ opposing natures is evident in Dostoevsky’s works and totally impacted his idea of God.

Though he grew up in the Lithuanian militaristic atmosphere of his father, he had the kind smile of his Russian mother. Liubov, his daughter wrote,

“He was livelier, more passionate and more enterprising than this brothers. His parents called him ‘the hothead.’ He was not proud…He loved the poor, and felt a keen interest in their lives. There was an iron gate between my grandfather’s private garden and the great garden of the hospital.

Dostoevsky's birthplace and hospital where his father worked

Dostoevsky’s birthplace and hospital where his father worked

The little Dostoyevskys were strictly forbidden to go to this gate; my grandparents distrusted the manners and behavior of the lower class Moscovites. All the children obeyed the injunction, with the exception of my fatherContinue reading

Such A Time As This

Such A Time As This

777_banner_800x240.jpg__800x240_q85_crop_upscaleAnne Graham Lotz recently issued a call to prayer on the Internet. She said,

“I am blowing the trumpet. . . sounding the alarm. . . issuing a national prayer initiative, entitled 777: An Urgent Call to Prayer. The call is for God’s people to pray for each of the first seven days in the seventh month—July 1-7. Then on the 7th day, we are to pray and fast for 7 hours.”

MH17-crash-jpgTen days later, a Boeing 777 commercial airplane—flight number 17—crashed on July 17th, when a surface-to-air missile struck it at 33,000 feet.

 

The crash left no survivors…nearly 300 souls violently ripped from their earthly lives.

You’ve heard the news. I felt utterly heartsick. I’ve been praying for the remaining families every day since.

What is God saying in times like this?Continue reading

God’s Voiceover

God’s Voiceover

Last night while lying in bed with the light on, I looked around my room. In the quiet comfort of home, I studied family photos on the wall. On my dresser stood a half-finished painting I started last summer—a landscape of a place I love. The feather comforter over my body felt light as a cloud. A fan gently droned in the corner. How easy it is to take it all for granted—to go to sleep in clean sheets, peace, and safety.

HandcuffedAcross the world from me in a Sudanese prison cell, a woman’s fate hangs in the balance. Though she has just given birth to a baby girl and has her toddler son with her, she is shackled like a criminal for being a Christian. She faces 100 lashes and death by hanging. But she will not renounce Christ. By the time this posts, I don’t know if she will be alive or dead.

Streetside Beggar PeopleI thought about that all day. It’s easy to pick up the concerns of the world. In my mind, it compounds very quickly. For instance, at this moment, thousands of children are crossing our southern border desperate to stay in America. Iraq is being overtaken with terror beyond belief. Many days it feels like I only have two choices: get overwhelmed or get numb. I’m not the ostrich type.

Yet as I laid in the stillness of my room last night, I wondered…God, where are You in all this? What on earth is happening? What kind of world will my children and grandchildren face?

I do feel we are living in a critical time of history with many unprecedented changes. The Lord is shaking the earth so that everything that remains is unshakable. Hebrews 12:27

But in times like this, what is our hope?

For years now, I can’t even count how frequently I see the number 722. On clocks, receipts, airplane tickets, confirmation numbers, license plates, you name it—722 comes up every other day. A pastor friend once said: when you see a number sequence more often than coincidence, search it out in Scripture. So I looked up every possible verse and read the context around it.

Though the study proved interesting, only one verse stood out:Continue reading