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“Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
Sherrilyn Kenyon
During my more than 20-year career at sea, I have been through storms and hurricanes many times. At times I was scared, especially the first one. However, fortunately, I never had a chance to really test the ship’s strength. At most I risked losing or damaging an expensive, but still insured, cargo. When I decided to end my career at sea, I thought I had left all my storms behind. But on February 24, 2022, I woke up and found my life barometer at the end of the scale. But this time I was not sailing a modern cargo ship, but a wooden boat without a map, radar or satellite navigation system.
When I decided to stay in Kherson to resist Russian occupation, I had no idea what kind of storm I would be thrown into. This time I risked my life, and it wasn’t even insured. There were situations when I was overcome by fears and doubts about the adequacy of the decisions I had made. After the fake referendum and the start of the evacuation, the most difficult period began - a test of faith. At some point, the clouds above me thickened so much that the light was no longer visible. First there was a worrying “knock” from Russian officials in my telegram. Then, communication with the outside world was lost, electricity followed soon, taking along my money, tap water, a refrigerator with food and room heating. The situation already seemed worse than grave.
And suddenly, Kherson was deoccupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces without a fight.
I’m unlikely to be able to find more precise or sufficient words to express what humanity has known for a long time. But I can apply my experience and my life to them, along with lives of all other people who were with me. Do not give up!
When I decided to stay in Kherson to resist Russian occupation, I had no idea what kind of storm I would be thrown into. This time I risked my life, and it wasn’t even insured. There were situations when I was overcome by fears and doubts about the adequacy of the decisions I had made. After the fake referendum and the start of the evacuation, the most difficult period began - a test of faith. At some point, the clouds above me thickened so much that the light was no longer visible. First there was a worrying “knock” from Russian officials in my telegram. Then, communication with the outside world was lost, electricity followed soon, taking along my money, tap water, a refrigerator with food and room heating. The situation already seemed worse than grave.
And suddenly, Kherson was deoccupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces without a fight.
I’m unlikely to be able to find more precise or sufficient words to express what humanity has known for a long time. But I can apply my experience and my life to them, along with lives of all other people who were with me. Do not give up!
1. “It often takes the darkness of a storm to show us the light of God’s presence.”
Tony Evans
2. “The wise man in the storm prays God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him[,] not the storm without.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. “God doesn’t author hardship but uses it to strengthen us for greater conquests. He never leads us into a storm that He doesn’t give us the power to overcome.”
John Bevere
4. “He knows when we go into the storm, He watches over us in the storm, and He can bring us out of the storm when His purposes have been fulfilled.”
Warren W. Wiersbe
5. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Haruki Murakami
6. “Sometimes a storm in your life is what will
blow you to the place you are longing to be.”
blow you to the place you are longing to be.”
Beth Moore
7. “Life can give you strength. Strength can come from facing the storms of life, from knowing loss, feeling sadness and heartache, from falling into the depths of grief. You must stand up in the storm. You must face the wind and the cold and the darkness. When the storm blows hard you must stand firm, for it is not trying to knock you down, it is really trying to teach you to be strong.”
Joseph M. Marshall III