Like Father, Like Son

This morning all of Kyiv woke up to see a blanket of clean white snow covering the city.  Being Sunday morning there were not many people on the street as Marianna and I began our journey to attend church.  As we walked down the street towards our Metro stop, we began to see more and more people, several with small children in tow dressed in snowsuits, hats, scarves, and boots.  One could barely see the small round faces of these children.

Just a few short years ago it was rare to see children and strollers.  The kindergartens were being closed and some of the buildings were sold.  A combination of fear from the Chernobyl nuclear accident, instability in the government, poor economy and uncertainty about the future led to a situation were the death rate exceeded the birth rate.  But this has changed dramatically in the past 12 to 18 months.  Maybe due to the increase in hopefullness during the Orange Revolution or because the government began paying couples $1500 if they gave birth to a child, but Ukraine is experiencing a noticeable population explosion.

So as we approached the Metro a father with his son in hand stamped his feet to remove the snow from his boots.  The son followed suit stamping his feet even before the father had time to tell him what to do.  What a simple reminder that our children are watching everything we do and ready to duplicate what they observe.  Yes indeed, more is caught than taught.  Like father, like son we learn so much from our parents.  May we look to our heavenly Father and learn from Him.