Zarya

If my memory serves me correctly, the first time I cried while speaking publicly was at a conference in East Africa when I was sharing about my daughter, Zarya. She was less than a year old at the time, but she had already made a deep impact on me. She still has great impact on me today.

Zarya is a true introvert, and I love that about her. In some ways, it helps me better understand myself, though it is both fun and scary to see hints of some of my character traits in her. Misha and I chuckle every time we come home from a social event and notice Zarya has immediately disappeared into her bedroom with the door closed to recharge.

Zarya seems shy, but she can be completely fearless when standing in front of a room of people. She has excelled in Bible quizzing competitions and recently recited a long gospel passage from memory during a Sunday morning church service. She thinks incredibly well on her feet, regardless of the people and pressures around her.

A relatively new discovery is that Zarya finds motivation through working with animals. She insists on regular visits to the local humane society to spend a few hours cleaning cat kennels. Neither she nor I are huge fans of exercise simply for the sake of exercise, but she loves to come with me on my days off to walk humane society dogs and runs endlessly with whatever dog she has on the leash. I’m finding great value in these moments with her and hope the trend will continue for a long time.

Zarya is an amazing sister. It’s fun to compare her behavior as a firstborn with my experiences as the firstborn. It has been a few years now… Did I boss my sisters around that much? (ha ha) Zarya enjoys directing her younger brothers, but she is also an incredible playmate (probably much better than I was), even when the activities or topics aren’t quite her favorite. She is a good example to Jerod and Devin, with influence I pray will have good, long-lasting impact on them.

When we moved to Colorado, Zarya was entering an age when friendship was becoming more critical. It was when I was around her age that friendships started to become really significant to me, and I wanted that for her, too. It can be challenging for introverts who are new in town to make friends, so good relationships were a regular topic in my prayers for her at that time. Since then, she has made some friends with whom she seems very comfortable. Loyalty and trust are building, and we’re thrilled these friends seem to have character qualities we value. Praise God!

Zarya and I almost see eye to eye (literally) now, as she stands a mere four inches shorter than me at the moment. I’m convinced she will pass me up, which almost seems to fulfill my childhood dream of being taller than I actually turned out to be. She will stand out in a crowd for her height and probably grow very tired of inquiries about basketball or volleyball, but I’m most excited to see how her character continues to develop. I expect she will surpass me in many things beyond just physical stature. I’m grateful.