Heart Hope by Olga

The stockings should be hung by the chimney with care and reindeer landing on the roof instead of dogs (that as a story for another time) but instead my house seems to be in chaos. Yes, I know that Pastor Craig's sermon series this month is entitled White Serenity and it is meant to help us focus on a peaceful, worshipful season. That's what I want, but that is not exactly what I have.  Our condo has been overly crowded with people and packages; wrapping and toys; food and sticky notes all over the floor, placed strategically by a two year. I love every minute, even though it is far from serene.  Focusing on what is really important during this season and the message of hope and salvation that the birth of Jesus brings, can be accomplished even with chaos around. After all, think about the first Christmas.  On the beautiful Christmas cards we see each year, the scene looks picturesque, each participant perfectly placed. However if we stop and think about it, th

What I had hoped it would look like The scene was not as I envisioned. The picture I had conjured up was one of peace and serenity at bedtime with all the kids snuggled up in bed with me imparting words of wisdom to them, but the reality was it was more like Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed - and One Fell Off and Broke His Head. There were actually only 3 monkeys, one dog and Grumps and no trips to the doctor, but the bedtime ritual showed lots of similarities. I had high hopes that I would be able to have teachable moments with the grandkids while we were keeping them, but it just didn't seem to happen at bedtime. However, there were other times that there were truths spoken. Walking through the neighborhood with Griffin we talked about God as the Creator of the beautiful flowers and leaves and trees. It seemed to stick as he brought it up on his own the next time we were walking and pointed out to me the purple and green leaves and reminded me of the morning g

Don't judge me and I won't judge you.  The lunch box should have been filled with organic fruits and vegetables, low fat and low salt treats and protein packed, sugar free delicacies, but it wasn't. Instead it was laden with processed junk food--goldfish, pretzels, Nabs, and an oatmeal bar. Not one thing that I would really classify as healthy, but it was the best I could do with the likes and dislikes of the preschooler.  As I realized that the teacher might be judging me for what was in the lunch, I thought about how often I judge someone for something when they are only trying to do the best they can with the situation, resources or circumstances. I'm going to try to turn over a new leaf. When I see someone who is "not up to my standards" instead of being critical, I'm going to try to be more understanding, more compassionate and more kindhearted. After all the mother with the dirty young child at the store, may be working full time and

I'll confess. It wasn't just a bad hair day, but a bad haircut which ultimately means a bad hair month. I've tried it curly; I've tried it straight. In front of my ears and behind have also been part of the experiment. Nothing seems to work like it should. It must be bothering me more than I thought because I even dreamed about it. In my nighttime fantasy I returned to the salon and asked the hair dresser to help me do something with the mop of locks. He tried one thing after another and then walked away. Wondering where he went, I turned and saw he was sitting in chair first shaking his head and then hiding his face into his hands because he had no solution. It was a hopeless situation. Chuckling as I awoke remembering the dream, I was relieved to know that in the grand scheme of things this was not that important. I was also grateful to reflect that even though we often are in situations where we feel we have no solution, God never is. He always has the pe

It was a fabulous fall day and we had the privilege of having Thomas for a few hours . Riverwalk was having a festival so Grumps and I headed there with all of the young parents to enjoy the beauty of where we live. Like any other 22 month old, Thomas is fascinated with pumpkins these days and went straight to the rocky pumpkin patch. Seeing a photo opportunity with Thomas standing on a "big heavy" rock, I instructed him to "Look up," meaning at the camera, but he took me literally and looked at the sky. He seemed to know that there was something more important than that camera and showed me that I too need to look up all day, every day beyond the here and now and look to my Heavenly Father. As little Tommy climbed on the rock to see the "big heavy" pumpkin, Grumps was standing near, with his arms outstretched ready to grab hold for a quick rescue if needed. That's what God does with is. We might not even know that He is near, but He is rig

Olgie! Olgieee!!!! OLGIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! Those were the screams I heard coming from behind the closed door of Thomas’ bedroom just after putting him down. I knew that he was tired and that it was his bedtime. If he had just been crying or fussing or acting like he wasn’t ready for bed, I might have resisted the pleas. But he was calling my name; he wanted me and he sounded desperate. So I went to him to comfort him and let him know that I was there for him. Did I have to do it? Absolutely not. Did I want to do it? Yes, because he is mine and I love him. I wonder if how we approach God matters to Him. If we go to Him just whining and complaining about things, does that encourage Him to want to listen to us? If we only go to Him asking for things, does He look forward to our time together? But if we go calling His name because of our love for Him, is He pleased to answer our cry? I believe so. God always loves those of us who belong to Him. He desires to spend time with those who

The envelope arrived written in blue crayon; the one name Olgie scrawled on it. The only thing inside was a beautifully colored Bible verse. Molly knew who the letter was supposed to be delivered to and assumed everyone else would too.   When I received it there was no question as to who it was from even though there was no signature or return address. When you know someone so well, no explanation is necessary. When I go to God in prayer, worship or even in solitude I don't have to tell Him who I am and explain why I'm there; He already knows. And I don't have to guess if He will listen to me because I already know He will. When you know someone, care about them and love them things are different than with someone that you know casually or is only an acquaintance. When I thanked Molly for the lovely picture, she didn't ask me how I knew it was from her, because I knew where she got the coloring sheet; I knew how artistic she is; I recogni

The smiles on the faces tell all. The kids were ecstatic to see their dad. It had only been a week since they had been with him, but they were clearly excited to be home and to hug his neck. I'm certain the feeling was mutual with Billy’s great expectation waiting to have his children home. The Bible tells us often that we are to wait on God: Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. These are just a few of the verses that tell us to wait on God, but I couldn’t find a single one that tells us that God waits on us. After all He is self-sufficient; He doesn’t need us at all. However scripture does point to the fact that He desires to spend time with us. From the beginning He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, because He wanted to spend time with them.

The three week visit had included almost everything offered in our resort town: Biking Hiking Rafting Rodeos Parades Fireworks Day camp Horseback riding Rock climbing walls Trips to Breckenridge Golf-regular and Putt Putt Swimming in three different pools Paddle boats and paddle boarding Adventure Ridge with zip lining, alpine coasters, ropes courses, tubing, bungee jumping I sure I left something out, but it gives you an idea of the action packed time that the kids had while visiting earlier this summer.   The night before they departed, I asked Molly what she enjoyed the most, anxious to see where her passions lay. Her response surprised me when she said that the thing she liked the most was spending time with me.   Now she may have just been saying it to make me feel good and if so she would have been right. But I do think there might have been a bit of truth to it, since we did have some quality time during her trip.   Joy welled up in my h

I’ve always said, “Everybody has a story.” Some are known and very visible while others are silent and unknown. First timers at church can often be spotted by the questioning look on their faces, but this couple was different. They had been in the Valley for only about a week, and were not the usual summertime vacationers in for a respite from the heat or retired second home owners. They were looking for answers to the question, Is this where God really wants us? The wife was a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient and they had discovered the cancer center in our community. The questions swirling about them stemmed from whether or not they had jumped too quickly to the conclusion to move or was it truly from God. If we are honest, this is something most of us do when we are trying to figure out if we are following the path that God has for us. After my conversation with the couple who had been prayed over by a fellow parishioner, talked with the pastor and visited wit

Stopping at Starbucks on a whim, I was greeted by an unpleasant barista. Shouting across the café that she would be with me in a few minutes, I wondered if she was just taking her time due to prejudice, after all I was in Mississippi and she was black and I was white. Once at the register with a scowl on her face, she continued barking at me regarding the gift card payment method, the temperature of the drink and even where to pick it up. Faced with a choice, I could be brash back to her or I could try another method. I decided on kindness. An excuse was offered by saying you seem unhappy at work today, can I pray for you? Her first reaction was surprise, but she quickly said that she was just tired and would like for me to pray.   So we stopped right then and there and said a short prayer for her to find peace and rest. As she opened her eyes, I noticed that her countenance had changed as the young woman announced that she felt like she was going to cry. It was then that t

The red and white candy cane stripes on all of the metal poles along the bike path in strategic places are meant to indicate danger, however I have discovered that there are many dangers much more hazardous than the immovable guardrails. You see, it's summer in the mountains and the crazy visitors are beginning to congregate in my quiet little town. Yes, the vacationers are the real hazards along the path. The locals seem to know the rules, but the tourists seem to have forgotten their brains when they packed for their vacation. A few of the dangers encountered today include: Teenagers walking five across covering the entire path, almost daring you to make them move The man letting his dogs sit in the middle of the path stretching the leash as tight as a bungee cord in front of people passing by  The child crisscrossing along the path on her scooter, so others don't know whether to pass on the left or right The hazards abound on my bike path as well as the p

Is it better to be the best player on the worst team or the worst player on the best team? If you're in the best player scenario, you will get to play more, you will get recognition and awards and you'll have your teammates looking up to you. The downside is that even though you are good, you will still be losing all of the time. If the worst player situation, you don't get much playing time, you don't get much recognition and not many people will even care if you show up for the game, but you will have bragging rights because you are on the championship team. So which is better...I'm still not sure. But one thing I do know, in the game of life I would always prefer to be on God's team, because His is the winning team. On His team there is always playing time, because He has the game plan that utilizes each person according to their strengths and abilities. Each player is important and special in His plan and is missed if not part of the game.

  Oxygen...we must have it to survive. Our bodies were made to breathe in air and extract the oxygen, then release the other parts back into the atmosphere. That's the way a normal body should work, but my friend Molly's doesn't process that way and therefore needs to have straight oxygen shooting into her nose to keep her body oxygenated. On our recent trip all was going great until Paula noticed her mother's coloring looked a bit pale. The next sign that things might not be right was when Molly declared that she wasn't feeling so well. But the final blow came when she put her head back, closed her eyes and began breathing with a gurgle. A quick check of the oxygen tank revealed that it had not been turned on that morning and Molly had almost passed out from lack of it. What could have turned out to be a disastrous situation was quickly rectified by just a few deep breaths of the pure oxygen. Our spiritual lives can resemble this experience. We nee

One out of a hundred...now that would not be such a great thing if on a math test if that was all that you had gotten right. And it certainly would not be a good thing if you only got one coconut jelly bean out of a hundred tropical flavored jelly beans. Nor would you want to be the only one out of a hundred not to have been chosen to attend a special event, but at my recent eye exam, when my doctor told me I was one out of a hundred I was thrilled. About a year and a half ago, I was having issues with my eye. They thought it had been a stroke, but it ended up being something else that had caused the optic nerve to be damaged by lack of oxygen. The tests last week showed that there was no evidence of any damage to the optic nerve and no peripheral loss of vision when less than a year ago my neurological ophthalmologist had informed me that the issue would probably never get any better. The doctor said that only one in one hundred people who had suffered what I had would hea

  I walk the path often beside the sensory garden and see the plant stages during all seasons. After the winter, the pitiful little twigs are barren and lifeless next to the sign deeming it to be a rose bush. At that time it is difficult to determine if the shrub will bear leaves and flowers in the near future, but the label lets you know that there is hope for the dormant plant. And since I have passed the plant for many years, I have observed the rose bush in full bloom, coming back from its sleeping state. Christians too are labeled. It could be from the cross that hangs around your neck or the fish that rides on the back of the car or even the fact that you attend church. For some it is relatively easy to gaze upon their life with attitudes, actions and words and readily see the qualities and characteristics that represent the label. For others you look at the sign and question if it is really true, because if the label had not been there, it would have been hard to tell

We should have known something was wrong. Only one time out of the bed and into the den before settling down for the night should have provided us with a reason to check on Griffin, but we didn't until hours later. At eleven o'clock Margaret turned the doorknob, but it was locked. The old fashioned means of using a straightened clothes hanger produced no successful results. Neither did knocking forcefully on the door and shouting Griffin's name. Was he alright in there? We could tell from the living area that the light was on in his room, but there was no response of any sort. The last resort was to send Grumps over the railing of the deck, onto the roof to take off the screen and climb through the window. The miracle of the night is that for the first time in months, the window had been cracked open, by Margaret who is normally cold or the devised rescue plan would never have worked. Once through the window and the door opened, we figured out what had occ

Thomas was an early walker. He didn't want anything to do with crawling. Upright was his preference--standing, jumping or taking steps was the way he wanted to move. Because he started taking steps at 10 months it was all hands on deck to assist and make sure he didn't get hurt. First we would take turns holding his little chubby hands as he walked everywhere. Then two of us would sit on the floor several feet apart so he could practice within our reach. As he gained confidence he would toss our hands aside and venture off for a few unassisted steps. We were always close by to protect him just in case he lost his balance or stumbled. Now he is quite independent and we only have to watch out for hazards in his path. Even as an adult we have to sometimes be careful where we walk. During the winter months I am always diligently watching out for icy patches that might cause me to slip. And when walking in the snow I wear boots with deep treads to help stabilize my st

It was time for everyone in our office to get new headshots. A new website was being developed and they wanted consistent photographs for the team—the others had been random shots. One outside in a tank top, one in a studio, another in winter…you get the picture, they just didn’t go together. Our local photographer was called in to do the job. The morning of the shoot there were lots of complaints. I hate to have my picture taken and I like my old headshot were common themes, but the real complaints weren’t voiced until the pictures were snapped. I look fat. My hair looks bad. Can you get rid of my wrinkles? Will you Photoshop my gray? Will you take another? And another? And yet another? I like my old headshot better. The poor photographer was just doing his job, but he took much abuse for the hour long session. We laughingly said it must be much easier to do an on-mountain shoot with skiers who don’t care nearly so much about the way they look. When m

My seat mate on the late night flight was quite chatty. Usually I will talk for a while and then settle in, but not this time. The entire flight was consumed with conversation. His story was compelling. He was apparently a successful business man and family was important to him. He had been through the loss of his beloved son and had been on quite a journey to get through the tragedy. As he described the way that he, his wife and family had each dealt with the death, he also shared the goodness of God. Several years before the death he had helped to start a new church and had grown in his faith. It was a season of preparation. One of the most profound things my new friend told me was that prior to the death of his son, he would have said that he was a Christian, but now that he has walked the difficult road he said, “Now I know that I am a Christian.” Have you had an “I know” experience? Let’s hope that it doesn’t take a tragic event for that discovery, but the ma

We all have a choice about how we can react to situations and circumstances. How we respond can say a lot about us. On a recent trip I saw two drastically different reactions displayed. When traveling I most often carry my Bible with me to prepare a lesson or just to read. As I was waiting for a delayed flight I was reading my “old friend” when a fellow traveler exclaimed, "That's the biggest book I've ever seen. What is it?" When I told her that it was my Bible, she asked me if I was reading it through and I told her that although I have done that, this time I was reading it in preparation for an upcoming talk. Then I asked her if she had read it and she said that she had read only part of it when she was in Hebrew classes. As we continued the conversation, she said she was very interested in religions other than her own and perhaps she should read through the whole Bible, just to know what it says. As she departed I prayed that she would read it and that her