Heart Hope by Olga

Nine year old Will was intrigued when he saw the picture which said, "My daughter found Christ in Afghanistan." He had taken the words literally and thought that the daughter had found the body of Jesus that had been buried, when indeed it was intended to say that the daughter had found Jesus as her Savior by reading the devotional book while she had been serving our nation in the military. The perfect teaching time was at hand. I explained the meaning to my grandson and continued the lesson by explaining that things aren't always what it seems or sounds like. Jesus couldn't have been found in the desert because if His body couldn't be found on Easter morning it would never be found. It was in heaven. The deep theological conversation went on late into the night, but I wouldn't have traded the time for anything in the world. Questions about satan, sin, God, love, death, heaven, dinosaurs. I am inspired by the thoughtful questions that the littl...

My grandmothers were prim, proper and old. My mother, grandmother to my girls too was prim and proper, but not so old. I have determined that I don't want to be prim, proper or old to my grandchildren. I want them to see me trying new and different things; I want them to think of me as fun, strong and vibrant. That's why I decided to ride the Gold Runner coaster at full throttle, to race as fast as I could on the Alpine SuperSlide and bungee jump with the older kids. While waiting in line watching the bungee jumpers I was given instructions on flips, which was easiest, how many were possible and techniques of when and how to approach them. After strapping on the harness for my turn, I informed the attendant that I intended to try a back flip. He looked a bit skeptical, but encouraged me to go for it.  Jump...jump....jump...and then I did it, a back flip. I was as surprised as everyone else, so I tried a second one. Success again, however as I was completing tha...

Have you ever stopped to consider the creativity of God? He started with a blank slate and from there He created everything that exists. Light and darkness Land, sky and water Sound, wind and rain Grass, trees and flowers Colors, textures, music Smells and tastes Animals, birds and fish This partial list is only the tip of the iceberg to show the creativity of the Creator. With any one of these items you can delve deeper into it and see more. As I walked along the mountain meadow, my Father’s creativity was in full display all around me with the steep peaks and the deep azure sky dotted with white puffy clouds. However, the thing that struck me most was the wildflowers of every shape and color all along the way. God could have just made one variety, and just reproduced it in different colors and sizes, but He didn’t. He chose to make ones with lots of tiny petals, others with a towering cone of flowers and still others with a trio of large circular pet...

The knock at the door and the yelling from outdoors happened simultaneously. At the door was a man questioning my husband if he was missing a child. The voice outside was shouting, “Is anyone missing a two year old?” Until that moment no one seemed to know that little Griffin was lost, not even him. Here’s how it happened. We were all together in the condo next door when Tommy and children all left while the women continued talking. I thought nothing about it, because an adult was with the kids. What I didn’t know is that Molly and Griffin got on the elevator to go to their room, while Grumps and Will went next door to watch TV.  After about 30 minutes of peace and quite, I did begin to wonder if everything was all right. The mother’s intuition was confirmed when Tommy raced by the door and asked if we knew that Griffin was in the lobby. That’s when the scurrying began.  Margaret had heard from her condo the voice calling out. Her heart stopped b...

Do you ever wonder why bad things happen to good people? Do you ever question why God allows situations and circumstances into our life that cause pain and heartache? Why do relationships crumble? Why do people get cancer? Why are babies born with abnormalities? Why do businesses fail? Why do stock markets crash? Why do people suffer with depression? Why do loved ones die? Why are jobs eliminated?  The questions could go on forever if we are honest. God didn’t create this world to have the suffering that we experience. He created it perfect and wonderful; He described it as good and very good. He wanted to have the perfect sinless relationship with us. So what happened? Man in the form of Adam sinned, causing the perfection to be destroyed. And what does that mean for us? God is still in control of the brokenness. He allows it, but it is all sifted through His hands. He uses it to grow our faith. He uses it to build our trust. He uses it to make us ...