Heart Hope by Olga

The Obama stimulus money is at work in our community. It is being used to put in a series of round-abouts, so there are construction workers at every intersection directing traffic. I have gotten to where I pass them often enough to recognize them and wave, but that is obviously not the case with everyone. The signs are 2-sided with “stop” on one side and “slow” on the other. Recently I observed two cars either unknowingly or perhaps on purpose ignore the stop sign of the construction worker. (They must have been from Texas, because Texans get blamed for everything and since I claim that citizenship, I can poke fun at them.) The worker was clearly upset because of the unlawful behavior of the drivers, so in order to try and restore some semblance of dignity to her job, as I obediently followed her instructions, I rolled down the window of my car and said, “Thank you for doing a difficult job.” It seemed to make her day as she smiled back at me and waved. Of course I began thinking abo...

While volunteering at the Vail Valley Medical Center this week, I met someone special. You know there are those people that you meet and you like them immediately—this lady was that kind of person. She had been an educator, enjoys biking and loves to sew, therefore, we just clicked. I don’t know where this new friendship will go, but at separate times we both referred to each other as our “new best friend” to other people. I think it is interesting how God puts people in our path and maybe this encounter was just for today, but I believe that it is for another purpose, a long lasting friendship. Proverbs 14:20 The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. In the Bible verse, I don’t really think it means that if you have no money or possessions, you will be shunned by those around you and if you do have wealth, you will have many friends. Instead, I think maybe God is trying to tell us that you are poor if you can’t even be friends with your neighbors an...

* Watching a five year old skip * Hunting for Indians on the hill in the backyard * Puppy dog and princess pajamas * Hearing, “That’s bootiful” and “I like that” from an almost 3 yr old * Abundant laughter * Seeing the patience of my daughter as she parents * Races in the yard * Soft hands stroking me in the morning * Hearing my name, Olgie, used hundreds of times a day * Watching my son-in-law play as hard as the kids And the list could go on and on… Can you tell that I have just spent the last three weeks with my grandchildren? It was so much fun, but boy am I tired. The house just does not sound right today; it is too quiet. There is no running or screaming, no cartoons or dinosaur movies and no out of control giggling. The neighborhood children have not been knocking on our backdoor and there is no afternoon popcorn. Whoever said, “The best part of being a grandparent is being able to send them home,” was wrong in my book. I am already looking forward to September when I will see t...

Have you ever been on a hike with a five year old? If so, you know it can be quite an experience. If there are rocks, they want to kick or throw them. If there are puddles; they want to jump in them. And if there are hills to be climbed, they want to keep on going until they get tired and then they want you to carry them. While hiking today with Will, my 5 year old grandson, we came upon an area that had bees, yellow jackets and biting flies. Now up until this point he had been the brave warrior who could conqueror the mountain, but when he saw the bees, his whole persona changed. He started jumping up and down waving his arms and screaming at the top of his lungs in a high pitched voice. I don’t think it did anything to scare the insects, but it probably did draw more of them to us, because it seemed that more of them encircled us. When he finally calmed down enough to continue through the woods, Will walked right in front of me, in fact he was actually almost glued to the front of my...

Wildflowers are a sight to behold no matter where you live. Whether it is the bluebonnets in Texas or the pink buttercups in Mississippi, or the orange poppies in California, it can be breathtaking to look at a field of flowers that God Himself has planted, watered and grown so that everyone can enjoy them. However, I think the wildflowers in Colorado have to be more beautiful than anywhere else. I’m not sure if it is because there are so many different varieties or if it is that I am so excited to see color exploding everywhere after the long cold days of winter. One of my favorite wildflowers is the lupine which may be found in pink, purple, yellow, white and red. While hiking in the woods, I spotted a purple lupine plant that had finished blooming and had seeds pods hanging from the spike. I took a few of the pods off of the plant, thinking that I would try to grow a few plants from the seeds in my garden. Upon returning home, I laid the pods on my kitchen counter. Tonight while do...

Dick Cheney recently had a tiny pump implanted to assist in the functioning of his heart. The device was inserted after Cheney had discussed his previous heart problems with doctors and they determined that if nothing was done, his heart could possibly fail. Other people have experienced a much better quality of life after having the same type of surgery, so it’s great that science and technology have progressed so far that people’s lives can be improved by procedures like this. Our spiritual hearts sometimes need a little bit of help also. They might get hard and calloused or they might become divided and distracted or stubborn and prideful. When we have these things going on in our hearts, we are in danger of failure in our Christian walk. Those hearts need some help from the Great Physician, who can perform the spiritual surgery that can improve the quality of our lives. God does not just change our hearts, but He is willing to give us a new heart, a pure, loving heart. This is His ...

Yesterday I had four children between the ages of 5 and 2 eating popcorn on my back porch. You can only imagine the mess that was made by children grabbing the kernels and stuffing them in their mouths as fast as possible. When all of the bowls were empty, I swept the wooden deck and my grandson, Will and I discussed what might happen to the popcorn during the night. He thought perhaps a bear or raccoon, or maybe even a fox might eat it. I thought the sprinkler would come on and soak it into the grass. This morning Will woke up early and eagerly went to check on the popcorn kernels. There was not a one to be found, so we became detectives, looking for clues to solve our mystery. Since we found no evidence on the lower deck, we decided that we needed a better vantage point and would go to the upstairs deck to see if we could find any signs by looking down on the scene. Will thought he saw a bear track that could have been a hint, but it turned out to be an Aspen tree root. While looking...

I have always thought of myself as being pretty good in the kitchen, but after burning myself twice in the last couple of years I am beginning to question my skills. The first time I burned 70% of my hand when making a congealed salad. How hard could that be??? Let me warn you--I put water in the microwave to boil it and after removing it from the oven, poured the Jello directly into the water, which caused volcanic action to occur directly onto my hand, resulting in 3rd degree burns. So, lesson number one is: be careful when heating liquids in the microwave, because it is definitely one of the most painful things that I have ever experienced. Most recently, while frying bacon, the handle on my Cutco carving fork caught on fire without me knowing it and I picked it up, burning the palm of my hand and a blister formed that was the size of a quarter. So, I guess the second lesson is: don’t pick up a utensil that has caught on fire … or maybe a better lesson would be: just don’t cook baco...

Today we took a “field trip” to Denver. The main function of the trip was to take my son-in-law, Billy, to the airport, but my daughter, Margaret along with the kids, Will and Molly decided that it would be fun to go along and stop at the Museum of Science and History to check out exhibits for the dinosaurs, the Indians and the animals native to Colorado. Of course, just as we were pulling into Denver, Molly fell asleep for her afternoon nap, which put a damper on the original plans, so plan B went into action. Billy and Will went in to see the displays while Margaret and I waited in the car for “Sleeping Beauty” to wake up. At five years of age, Will is very inquisitive, so he and his dad had some fun daddy/son time with Will asking hundreds of questions and Billy doing his best to answer each of them. They scurried from exploring the enormous dinosaur skeletons to see the scary mounted bears, mountain lions and wolves while we waited in the car. When Molly finally got up from her nap...

A video clip asking Warren Buffett what the most important advice he had ever received was on Yahoo News this morning. The unusual thing about his answer is that it is not about finances, but about how to live your life. Here is his answer: "The power of unconditional love. I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child, I mean, you’re 90 percent of the way home. There may be days when you don’t feel like it — it’s not uncritical love; that’s a different animal — but to know you can always come back, that is huge in life. That takes you a long, long way. And I would say that every parent out there that can extend that to their child at an early age, it’s going to make for a better human being." Mr. Buffett also went on to say that it was not just with words that his father taught him this concept, but by example. Although I know that I am not on the same level as Mr. Buffett, I would like to add a bit to his answ...

This time of year always brings back fond memories of days gone by. When the kids were all little, my friend, Susan and I would pack up all of the kids in her suburban and hit the road. With the car pointed northwest, we would head for the hills, to get away from the oppressive temperatures of Texas, to have some rest and relaxation and also just to have fun. Susan is the type to find out all of the great things to do in a particular area so she always had surprises for us along the way. Whether it was visiting the cave dwelling Indians, viewing the exquisite Royal Gorge, seeing plays at the Palo Duro Canyon or taking the out of the way nooks and crannies , we always had a blast—or so it seems now. Looking back, I long for those carefree days of summer on the open road. I even miss the kids yelling in the back of the car, the spilt Dairy Queen Blizzards, kids falling out of the raft into the rushing river and mysterious rocks flying through the air landing on other’s heads. I can even ...

On the walking path near my home, I spotted a cute family out for a bike ride. The mother had the baby on the back of her bike and the dad was standing with them on the side of the path. About 10 feet away I saw the reason that they were stopped. Their oldest child had gotten off the bike path and was struggling to get back on. Even though it was just about a 2 inch rise, she was unable or maybe unwilling to do it on her own. In a whining voice, she shouted out, “Daddy…I’m in the baddest spot...will you help me?” When glancing over my shoulder, I saw her beloved daddy hopping off of his bike to come to her rescue. The scene was a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father. We get ourselves into a predicament and then we call out to our Abba Father (Daddy) for help. He is ready and willing to help us in His time and in His way, but He wants us to call out to Him. A friend of mine recently told me that she usually went to God to “fix” her problems when they had turned into a big mess and t...

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays--I can’t wait to see the parade, eat some barbeque, and watch the fireworks. Our forefathers fought for and gave us a gift that we don’t often stop and think about, but take for granted. I think they would be surprised if they were able to see our country today. Their desire was to give us freedom from all of the burdens and abuses that were harsh, domineering, tyrannical, and unjust that they suffered under the ruling hand of England. What they did was admirable, and courageous, but it was not a new concept. God had said long ago that He wanted us to be free—free from the burdens of sin and the chains that it puts on us. So if He has set me free, why would I choose to be bound again to sin? Today while I am eating potato salad, waving my flag, singing along with the marching bands, I hope I will remember to be thankful for the freedom that we have in America, but also the freedom that we can have in Christ. Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that C...

I am so excited today that I can hardly contain myself. If you are wondering why--it’s because I am anticipating the arrival of my grandkids this weekend. (Of course I’m excited about seeing their parents too!) The Fourth of July is a fun-filled time where I live, with parades, fireworks, concerts, people and much more, therefore, the Texas part of the family likes to come to visit each year for the holiday to beat the heat and enjoy the festivities. Today my step is a bit peppier, my countenance is brighter and my arms are longing to hold precious Will and Molly. The expectation is so great, that I am not quite sure how I will make it until Saturday. The old Carly Simon hit says: “Anticipation, anticipation is making me late, is keeping me waiting” and I agree with her that the hard part of anticipation is waiting. It even seems that the clock is ticking a little slower than usual. While we are waiting, we are thinking of the ones we love and longing to be with them. We might even be ...