Heart Hope by Olga

A light is blinding my eyes as a masked person draws near with a sharp object in hand. My knuckles are white from the clenched fists. Fear and trepidation flood my body…I am at the dentist office to have my teeth cleaned. Why am I so apprehensive about this visit?  I have a friend who actually looks forward with excitement at the prospect of going to the dentist. So why is my reaction so different from hers? Perhaps it is a matter of perspective. Maybe my friend likes going to the dentist because she looks at the long term benefit—clean, white, polished pearls to last a lifetime. I tend to look at the process of scraping, and whirring and poking which usually lasts for a moment instead of looking at the end product.  My reaction to life can be a lot like the visit to the dentist. If I am only looking at today, the situation might look bleak and frightening, but when I look at the long range viewpoint it can be analyzed in an entirely different way. When I see the challenges ...

If you are a gardener, you know the principle that in order to promote proper growth and production of fruit on a tree; you must occasionally prune the branches. There are multiple reasons why we need to cut the branches back.  First and maybe most important is so that they don’t become a safety hazard for someone. We don’t want a dead branch to fall on a person’s head or a low hanging branch to hit someone in the face. We also clip back branches that are unhealthy or that have become infested with insects. This makes the whole tree healthier and more productive. And finally trees are pruned to make them more beautiful and shapelier. God does the same thing in our lives. He prunes us so that we are not a danger to other people and He trims us to make us more beautiful on the inside, but He also snips off the parts of us that are not healthy, so that we can become more productive for His plans and purposes.  This struck me recently as God has just opened the door of opportun...

It was almost 7:30 PM and I had been gone from my house for nearly 12 hours. I had just finished ringing up and paying for $26.60 worth of groceries. I was tired and still had to go home and prepare the purchased items for an event the next morning. When gathering up the groceries and my purse to leave the store, I realized that I had not rung up the small yellow onion hiding in the back of my cart.  Thoughts began going through my mind—it’s only one little onion, I could just throw it in the bag and be out of here. No one would know—no one except me and God of course. So I unloaded my arms and rang up the $.37 onion then dug in the bottom of my purse for the correct change to deposit into the coin receiver. There was no applause or fanfare; no congratulations for making the right choice. It would have been much easier just to have tossed the onion in the bag, but it would have been wrong.  Everyday I encourage people to do the right thing, to be obedient to God and to ma...

Easy Kolaches This recipe is from Judie Byrd who has a cooking school in Fort Worth, TX. It is so easy and good. 1 stick of butter or margarine 2 packages of 10 count flaky biscuits 1 can pie filing (any flavor) Topping: 6 T flour 4 T cold margarine 1/2 c sugar Separate the biscuits in half, according to the flaky layers. Dip each piece in melted butter and place on a cookie sheet. Make an indentation in the middle of each using your thumb. Put about 1 tablespoon of pie filling into the indented space. Make the topping by cutting the flour and sugar into the cold butter. Sprinkle topping over pastries. Cook at 375 degrees about 15 minutes or until good and brown. If you don't have pie filling, you can use jam. www.hearthope.org

While visiting with my friend last week, it was decided that we needed to pray about a project that we were involved in. Since her 4 year old daughter was present we asked if she wanted to join in with us. She came and stood by us and then climbed into her mothers lap as we prayed. When the final amen had been said the precious little girl glanced at both of us and announced, “I didn’t really pray.” I burst into laughter and loved the honesty of that child. She has learned at a young age what many adults have not—that just because you bow your head and close your eyes it does not necessarily mean that you are praying.  There are many other things that can be going on in our hearts and minds during times of prayer. Our thoughts can be turned towards our plans for later. We can be distracted by other things going on around us. We can be daydreaming. We can be absorbed in ourselves. When these are the focus instead of our Father in heaven, we are probably not really praying either....

I'm not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I'm not dumb.  I also know I'm not blonde.   ~Dolly Parton Hair…we spend a lot of time and money on it. We cut it, grow it, color it, highlight it, extend it, condition it, perm it, straighten it, braid it, curl it, roll it, and blow dry it. We wear it short, long or in between; we wear it up and down.  Need I go on? Why is our hair so important? Is it because it is so visible to other people? Is it because we want to look younger? Or is it because we care more about our outer appearance than our inner beauty? I’m not sure the answer to any of those questions, but the Bible does tell us a few things about our hair. We should be proud of our gray hair - Proverbs 20:29 (So why do we hide it?) The hairs on our head are numbered - Matthew 10:30 (God must have a hard time keeping up with my numbers since I seem to be losing them all the time!) Not a hair on our head will perish when you are doing God’s will ...

I have no clue as to how an airplane gets into the air and stays there for hundreds of miles, but I do trust the fact that it will happen. Each time I board a jet-liner, I put my faith and trust in something that I do not understand and cannot explain. I know there are laws of aerodynamics that determine speed, size, shape, engine thrust, etc., but since I can hardly fold a paper airplane to keep it airborne for any length of time I would never attempt to describe the way an aircraft flies.  My lack of understanding does not prevent me from getting on the plane, buckling my seat belt and relaxing while the plane and pilot work in tandem to get me to my destination. If I can have faith in an inanimate object and a frail human pilot, why should I have trouble putting my faith in the Creator of the Universe? He has given us evidence of Himself in the world that He designed. It all points to Him, so why do we choose to ignore those signs and try to do things our own way? Faith is...

1  3 1⁄2–5 lb. fully trimmed    beef tenderloin, butt end left intact 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt, to taste 3 tbsp. dijon mustard 3 tbsp. cracked black peppercorns 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh thyme 1 1⁄2 cups sour cream 3 tbsp. prepared horseradish   Put beef on a sheet of plastic wrap; rub with oil. Sprinkle with salt; rub with mustard, then season with pepper, rosemary, and thyme. Wrap in plastic wrap; let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Heat oven to 425˚. Place beef on a rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest end reads 115˚, about 35 minutes. Switch oven to broiler setting; broil until crusty, 5–10 minutes. (A thermometer inserted into thickest end should read 125˚.) Let roast rest on a cutting board for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine sour cream and horseradish in a bowl to make a sauce. Thinly slice beef and serve with sauce. Ser...

Molly is my cousin Charlene’s dog, a beautiful 12 year old Springer spaniel. Although this dog is aging and is has lost her hearing, she has not lost her passion for living. Molly likes to be with people and seems to have a built in clock which tells her exactly when dinner should be served—by dinner, I mean her’s. She has a favorite spot where she can put her chin on the window sill and gaze out on the beautiful Cape Cod landscape, checking out who or what might be entering her territory.  Molly’s lineage was bred to be hunters or retrievers and because of that she is very gentle with her toys. Instead of gnawing and tossing them around, she holds them carefully so as not to hurt them. She also does not like to be alone--wanting to be with people constantly. She goes out to do her "business" and like lightening she is back at the door, requesting entrance so she can again be a part of the group.   This too is part of the make up of her breed--to go and return when her jo...