Easter Tradition

I love my family’s Easter tradition. On Saturday, the day before Easter, my mom, my two sisters and I bake sweets. My favorite part is when we make “kulich”, a Russian Easter cake. It has a rich mixture of sweetened curds, butter and raisins; it’s so DELICIOUS. J Usually we have one big kulich and a couple small ones. On the top we sprinkle with different toppings. We also boil eggs and put Easter stickers on them. Everything else is pretty much the same. We always have Russian food like olivye, pelmeni, kartoshka, vinegret, and shashliki.

Every Easter after church my family gets together and we eat lunch. That is the time when we get to eat all the yummy food. Kulich reminds us that when Jesus Christ had risen he ate a meal with his apostles. Since we only make kulich on Easter, we place it in the center of the table because that is the most important dish. When we start eating the dessert, we make sure everybody gets a piece of the big kulich. Then we talk about Easter, and I can imagine Jesus eating with his apostles. I’m so glad we have this tradition!

Church is a Community

Church is a community. Church is a place where one can praise God and express his or her religious beliefs. It's a place where people support each other. Love for Jesus Christ and desire to worship him is what holds churches together.

Most people come to church to hear the word of God, to praise the Lord, and communicate with other church members. People share their worries and their joyful moments. Church is a place where somebody can get support through prayers, financial aid, and spiritual discussions.

I’m sure in any church you can find a few people who like to criticize everything. They are the people who sit in church but don’t do anything. They don’t even try to do anything. If they don’t like something, they don’t give suggestions for something different, they just criticize. It’s hard for the people who are actually trying to do something in church because when they hear this, they feel like they should quit. This is one tension that I see within churches.

I love my church, even though it’s not perfect. For me it’s my second home. I have great friends there. Our youth is very friendly. We have a lot of things in common. We have similar hobbies and interests. We volunteer together, we put up plays, we play volleyball, and we worship our God. This is why I want to be part of this community.  

What's in my Purse?

If one was to open my purse they would be surprised to find so many things inside. Even though my wallet is very simple, I have other things that I carry with me.

My wallet has a twenty dollar bill, Starbuck’s card, Everett public library card, Sno-Isle library card and 2 photos of my family. Looking at my wallet, a person would probably be surprised because there are no credit cards or debit cards. They would most likely think that I love libraries and that I spend a lot of time there. Also, they might think that I love my family and Starbucks. Another assumption they could have is that I’m poor. They could even predict that this wallet belongs to a young teenager since there’s no driver license or permit.

Looking inside my purse, the person would see: Chap Stick, mirror, gum, notepad, pen, tissues, comb, hairspray, lint roller, cough drops, French hand fan, Neosporin and a Bible. Based on these findings, one could assume that I like to look good, I get sick often, and I’m Christian.

Although some of these assumptions are true, the contents in my purse do not construct a vivid image of my identity. For instance, I rarely go to a public library, but I have the cards with me just in case I’ll need to check out a book. Also, I am not that little. I am 17 years old. I don’t have my license but my permit is in the car, which I don’t take out because I drive only one car. I don’t get sick often but I like to be prepared. This way I can fight the virus with what I have! The reason I don’t have credit or debit card is because I think it’s best to pay right away. Who knows what the future will bring. Today I have a job, tomorrow I don’t. That’s life…

On the other hand, I am Christian and I love my family. I often go to Starbucks with friends. And like most girls, I want to make sure my hair looks good when I go out somewhere. At the same time, the person wouldn’t know that I love to travel and play volleyball. They wouldn’t know that I’m horrible at math. They wouldn’t know that I want to make a difference in this world.

Perhaps a stranger looking at my purse could make a generalization about who I am but that would only be one piece of the puzzle. To put all the pieces together it would take much more time and details to find out who really I am.

Lets get this started!

woohoooo :)