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Conquer Your Mountain
Warriors,
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Article from Donne' Clement Petruska
I recently took a trip to Europe, as many of you know, and it was a life changing experience. I visited many churches, cathedrals and abbeys as I ventured with my husband through many European countries. Our first stop was London, England. Some of you may have seen my broadcast from Buckingham palace that was aired the same week on The Den, where we discussed the prophecy my father gave regarding the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Our flight into London was easy; I slept 8 of the 11 hours, and surprisingly enjoyed the meal. My husband John said that when he turned to wake me and ask if I wanted the chicken or the beef that I was drooling on myself, which wasn’t as embarrassing as I would have expected considering how tired I was having just finished final exams at school. Also, I found out a week later that I was pregnant so I’m sure that added to my exhaustion without me even realizing it. When we landed, we gathered our four pieces of luggage (big mistake, next trip we will have one piece each) and went to look for a cab to take us to our hotel. My cousin Joelle lives in London and had warned us not to, under any circumstances, take the black taxicabs but rather the yellow numbered ones because the black cabs charge more money and take advantage of unsuspecting tourists where the yellow cabs have a regulated flat rate that they are bound to. (Let that be a warning to any of you who are planning a trip to London, take the yellow cabs!) Unfortunately, even after we had been warned, we forgot, in all the excitement, and got into a big beautiful vintage black taxicab…and 80 pounds was the consequence. I quietly observed the ancient city as we passed through. The first thing that struck me was the mix of new and old buildings. Ancient relics alongside new construction stood out to me as a testament to this city. It reminded me of San Francisco, New York and even New Orleans, and of course, all of those towns were probably influenced by London from their very beginnings. I personally preferred the old construction, still standing, sometimes overgrown, which made it even more beautiful to me. While in London, we visited Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, all of them astounding and beautiful. But one place in particular stood out to me the most, Westminster Abbey. We went there twice, the first time it was too late to go inside so we ventured around this millennium old place of worship from the outside. I was shocked at this structure, that something this old could be this detailed and beautiful. The entrance alone was shockingly detailed and stunningly beautiful. A huge statue of Mary with the baby Christ adorns the doors to this massive work of art. We made it inside the next day and it was even more astounding as we walked through the marble church. All around were the tombs of famous names in history, flung to the forefront of my mind and memory as I came upon Mary Queen of Scotts, Queen Elizabeth and even Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton in their final resting places. Everywhere was marble and gold, carved with the utmost skill and unending patience. It blew my mind how these works of art were created, how long it must have taken, entire lifetimes dedicated to the creation and expression of this one place. And as we continued through, it occurred to me that as beautiful and life changing as it was to witness such a place; it is still only a museum now. Yes, services are held there, and I’m sure there are many genuinely dedicated people who attend and conduct these services, yet it is still a graveyard, albeit a magnificent one. It registered very strongly in my heart that the Spirit of God is not confined there, but alive and moving throughout the city and the world. That this was a place from which to look back and reflect, perhaps to guide into the future in some ways, but certainly, it was a tomb. And this theme stuck with me throughout our trip through Europe. In Italy, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Germany, I visited numerous historic churches and cathedrals, but always left feeling I had visited a memorial to the dead things, as beautiful, inspirational and interesting as it may have been to see, I knew that God was not confined to these places, or any place or single group of people. He is the creator of culture and diversity and moves freely and continuously through all places and peoples. This only made me feel more love for those who are different than I am, for anyone who may not think exactly the way I do or use the same language that I use. I will be glad to share more details of our trip in future articles, where I can give more details of each place that we went to. Before we left London, we were stuck in a huge traffic jam because of the new skyscraper being built there. The construction had just reached the height that made it the tallest building in Europe, which was a cause for much celebration in the streets of London. The massive structure, almost all glass, rose high above the city, touching the ancient sky. And as I looked up at it, and around at all the other buildings within my view, I noticed how much of the new architecture in London is glass, reflective. This was interesting to me as it seemed to represent a generation reflecting its past, a past that reaches so far back in history, that has influenced so much of our world today. And I was quietly touched in my heart and honored to have visited one of the few places in the world that still has a royal family with castles and knights and crown jewels, and inspired by the beautiful and resilient old things that continue to stand the test of time. UPDATES I am glad to give a brief report on my new sisters, LiAnn and Mia. They are doing extremely well, and I especially noticed after being away for six weeks. I returned to a much more outgoing Mia who is looking a thousand times healthier than after her surgery earlier this year. Her hair is growing and so is her confidence. She will be having another surgery before the end of the year to complete everything that needs to be done to her little heart so that she is 100%. Because she still has a ventricular septal defect, which is a hole in her heart, they will have to do another surgery. But after that she will be a normal, healthy little girl. LiAnn is talking and talking and is definitely a great big sister to Mia. She is a leader through and through and loves to be in control. She can see much better, thanks to the procedures they have done to improve her eyesight and she is a sweet and loving little girl, and cute as a button. We thank you for all your prayers and support through the adoption and all the surgeries and sleepless nights. We know that this is definitely God’s will. We are so excited to continue to share with you as they grow and progress, especially because they will start school soon so I’m sure we’ll have a lot to tell you. This will be our first Christmas together with Mia and LiAnn and we are so excited! We can’t wait to experience all of our Christmas traditions with them and see what they do. I’m sure when they see the big tree and all the lights, and all the wonderful things my mom does to make sure Christmas is special for us, they will be elated. As we celebrate this most wonderful time of the year with our new family members, we pray that each of you have a cherished and special Christmas season too. Love, Donne’ |
