Heart Hope by Olga

A couple of days after Easter, my friend and coworker asked if I wanted to hear something funny and then she clarified by saying, "Well, maybe it's not really funny." She then proceeded to tell me that her sister asked her child why we celebrate Easter. You might expect that the answer might have involved bunnies or eggs or spring even if they didn't say anything about Jesus, however the child surprised everyone by replying matter of factly that it was to honor those people who had lost their lives in war. Hmmm..... Not exactly the way I would have wanted my children or grandchildren to have answered that question, since the only thing the two have in common is that death was mentioned. But Easter really is not about death--that's Good Friday. Easter is about Jesus overcoming death by conquering the grave. Now I think the question is why did the child answer the question the way they did? First they were confusing the Christian holiday with a gover...

Cross Joann Made for Me A few weeks ago a man was walking through our confusing maze of an office with a clipboard, looking up then down, drawing and then erasing. When I asked what he was doing he replied that he was drawing a floor plan of the office. I was perplexed because I had one sitting right on my desk due to the upcoming office moves. With the curvature of the building, the different sizes and shapes of the offices and the hidden hallways his task was next to impossible. You can imagine his elation when I offered to make a copy of the diagram for him. You would have thought I had given him the best gift ever. A simple drawing made his job of placing all of the water sprinklers so much faster and more efficient.  What is the best gift you have ever received? An expensive piece of jewelry? A trip? A gift of time? Or something entirely different? Gifts come in different sizes, shapes and forms. Each person can probably remember ones that impacted thei...

My grandson called me this morning to wish me a Happy Easter and also to let me know that he had found an Easter egg that he wanted to give to me. I questioned him on why he wanted to give it to me and he announced it was because it had a cross on it and he knew that I would like it and you know he was right. I like the fact that the Easter bunny had brought eggs that represented what the holiday is really about and I like the fact that my grandson wanted to give me one of the prized possessions that he had so eagerly hunted, but the thing I like most is that my grandson associates Jesus with me.  Lord help me to be a woman of influence in the lives of my grandchildren and not just within my family, but to many in the next generation. Help me to open my mouth and tell others about Jesus, but more importantly, help me to live a life that is a worthy example to others of Your sinless life. I hope you have had a blessed Easter. For what I received I passed on to you as of first...