Heart Hope by Olga

The dreaded phone call, the one that no mother wants to have, happened today at exactly 9:00am. I thought it was a bit unusual for my phone to be ringing at this time; after all I had just spoken to my daughter an hour earlier. It was unlike her to call me at the office, so I eagerly anticipated what she wanted to tell me. However that was short lived when I answered the phone.   The words coming though the receiver were, "Mom, there's been an accident." The rest of the words were blurred and garbled through tears and gasps for air on the other end of the phone. All I could make out were Griffin...fell...head...not moving...bump. My heart stopped What could I say or do? Prayer was the only answer I could come up with, but the words that normally would flow off of my lips were stuck in my throat as if paralyzed. It's one thing when an accident involves your child but it is compounded when it involves both your child and your grandchild. Wh

2 eggs 1/8 t salt 3/4 c scalded milk 1 c whipping cream 1 T gelatin 1/4 c cold water 1/2 c sugar 1 t vanilla Chocolate crumb crust Beat sugar and egg yolks. Then add milk and scald until it sticks to the spoon, stirring constantly. Let gelatin and cold water soak until dissolved, then add to milk and let cool. Whip cream and egg whites separately and then mix together. Mix cream and egg mixture to the milk that has been cooled. Add vanilla to mixture. When this begins to congeal, pour into chocolate crumb crust. Put into refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Sprinkle crushed crumbs over the top before serving. www.hearthope.org

Most children have good and bad days, up and down periods, delightful and challenging stages.  My grandson Will has had a great year with a wonderful teacher and my daughter wanted to compliment him on the current positive phase in his life, so she said, “Will I am so proud of all you have learned this year.” Without hesitating, 7 year old Will responded, “You shouldn’t be proud of me. You should be proud of my teacher, since she is the one who taught me.” His statement made me laugh, but I thought there was a bit of truth to it. We tend to want to take credit for what we know, what we accomplish or what we can do. However if we really stop to recognize the one who deserves it, we will thank God because without Him we would be nothing.  God gives us wisdom and knowledge along with skills and talents to learn, to achieve and to succeed. He is the One that needs to be praised and honored. You are awesome, O God , in your sanctuary; the God of Israel

Have you ever had one of those moments that you knew it was going to be an important time in your life? It might have been in a common, ordinary spot or someplace you had never been before, but you knew that God was at work. One of those times for me was on a trade show floor in Toronto, Canada. I was alone in the booth as it was early in the day when suddenly a man approached, but it was no ordinary man. He could not speak and his method of communication was by writing in a small spiral notebook kept in the pocket of his coat.  It didn’t take me long to determine that he was a man on a mission. He had come to the bustling trade show in hopes of introducing men and women to the Lord…quite a feat for a man without an audible voice. When he pulled out the Four Spiritual Laws I told him that I already knew Jesus.  He began writing excitedly about what had happened to take his voice away, describing how God had led him to the huge auditorium that afternoon and enc

Lynn with 2 of her rescuers, Ryan and Sue Over the last few years I have posted this on or around Valentines Day. It is the ninth anniversary of Lynn's life changing  cardiac arrest. So here goes once again: Valentines Day over the years has had different meanings. In elementary school it was how many Valentine cards you received from your classmates. In high school it was did you have a date for the special evening. As a young married it was where you go for a romantic dinner. However on Valentines Day six years ago it took on an entirely different meaning for my family. Let me give you a little bit of history. In 2007 life was good. My 27 year old daughter, Lynn had just gotten married, returned from her honeymoon and started a new job. My oldest daughter was pregnant with her second baby and everyone was happy, healthy and employed. While having lunch with a colleague on February 14 th I was surprised to see my husband dashing into the restaurant when he w