Heart Hope by Olga

The mountains of Colorado are a great place to live with the cool crisp air, the azure blue sky, the dark nights filled with sparkling diamonds in the sky, the white snowfall blanketing the earth and the sheer beauty all around. The thing that I feared most when moving to the mountains was the question, “Would I be able to survive the snow on the ground during the long winters?” However I was wrong, the snow doesn’t bother me, but one thing does.  Since the roads are icy and snow packed dirt, sand and gravel are put down to prevent cars from slipping and sliding. Therein lies the problem, that dirt winds up on my car and on the floor of my garage. It seems that if I get my car washed, it snows the very next day and the car accumulates a thick layer of grime on it right away. And the clumps of slush, snow and dirt mixed together that gather underneath the car ends up on the garage floor, making it a mess even if cleaned on a weekly basis. It’s a constant battle to...

If you read about my dreaded phone call I’m happy to tell you that little Griffin is fine now.   Thank you for all of your prayers and concern. When Will and Molly returned home from school the afternoon that it happened, they couldn’t believe all that they had missed in the eight hours that they had been gone. The accident, the paramedics, the emergency rooms, the tests, and the release from the hospital all happened in such a short period.  Although they had been told that their baby brother was going to be all right, Will was struck with compassion, since he too has made several trips to the emergency room and hates pain. In his seven year old mind, he spouted out his solution, “I wish I had a time machine so that I could turn back the time and rescue Griffin before he fell.” We have probably all felt that way at one time or another. Maybe it involved an accident, but it may also have been something not so life threatening like a hurtful action o...

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 o...