Heart Hope by Olga

A favorite past time is to watch the people who utilize the path just over the ridge from my upstairs bedroom. You can see bikers, walkers, runners, skaters along with miscellaneous others. Last weekend gazing out the window I saw a child racing down the path on his bike, looking like there wasn't a care in the world. I knew there had to be adults coming along somewhere. But next was another little tyke, but his journey was different because he kept looking back to be sure that the parents were not far behind and he was right. They were next in line. However the show was not over...two more were yet to come. The third child was standing, pumping the pedals fiercely trying to catch up to the others. The last in line didn't appear to be trying too hard to gain access to the group, instead his tactic was to whine and cry in order to get the attention of the others in hopes that they would wait for him. Our journey in Christ can mirror that family out for a leisurely r...

When bees are doing what they are supposed to do, sucking the nectar from flowers and in the process pollinating the flowers so that they will produce a future crop, I don’t think anyone has a problem. However when they start invading our territory and swarming around us, the alarm begins. Most people do not relish the thought of being stung by a bee or wasp, but most probably don’t have the panic arise that envelops my daughter when any where near the creatures.   Lynn has always feared the flying, buzzing, and stinger ladened creatures. She swats, she swings, she jumps. Yet she has been stung three times. Once was in her home (it seems that should be a safe place) and another on a bike ride (wasn’t she going fast enough for the flying creature to leave her alone). Although Lynn is not allergic to the pesky creatures, it still hurts and involves pain. Needless pain since she certainly is not the one who elicits the encounter with the insects. Several verses i...

Two Sales and Marketing awards sit at my desk. One is for assisting with growing the revenue for owned and operated properties through increasing reservations in our call center. The second is for re-inventing the media wedding FAM for Vail and Beaver Creek. Awkward describes how I feel having the awards, because I was just one insignificant piece of the team that won the decorated snow globes. In both circumstances if I had not been invited to be a part of the group I wouldn’t have won anything. Almost anyone could have done my part in each of the successes, but one thing is for certain it took the whole team to win the prize. For the award received last year, if the reservation agents had not done their job, it wouldn’t have happened. If the IT department had not gotten involved it wouldn’t have been as effective. And if the managers had not supported the effort, sales would not have increased. In the case of the recognition this year, our PR firm brought top not...

The sign says, “Please share the trail.” So I wonder if it’s just that people can’t read or is it that they just don’t care. Today was one of the last few days that I will have to bike to work, so I hopped on it ready to enjoy the deep blue sky, sunshine and cold breeze. Just a short distance from my home I noticed a lady and her dog up ahead. The dog looked well behaved chasing the ball even though it was not on the required leash. Just steps in front of me, the dog tossed his ball onto the trail right in my path. Darting into my lane, his owner ran over to grab him as I slowed to avoid an accident and she yelled an apology while hastening home. Catching her out of the corner of my eye, I realized that it was a former co-worker, so I shouted over my shoulder, “No problem.”   This afternoon, it was gloomy and gray and I wondered if I would make it home before the late afternoon shower rolled in. I was racing to beat the storm when up ahead I spotted trouble—a man...

Spreadsheet mania...that's what I call it when I am up to my eyeballs in Excel documents at work. It may be budget season or bonus time or month end close but I may have a worksheet with 12 or more tabs with rows and columns of numbers that have to be examined, evaluated and analyzed. For an accountant that might sound like an ideal day, but not so much for me. My eyes get tired, feeling strained and blurry. However a feeling of success does come over me when the task has been completed and the documents sent off to the appropriate person. My eyes may remain unfocused for a period of time as I move onto other tasks trying to get them back to normal. Our spiritual eyesight can become strained and blurry too. It all depends on what we are focused on. When we have the focus on God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Truth found in the Bible, we will see clearly. However when we are focused on the world and the things in it we will become tired, stressed and won’t be able ...