Heart Hope by Olga

All it takes is seeing Matt holding his newborn son to get a glimpse of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. Matt's eyes light up, his smile brightens and his arms cuddle the little guy that God has entrusted to him to love, care for and nurture. The wonder of it all is expressed in words like, "It's amazing to see his tiny little fingers," "He's perfect" and “I can't believe how much I love this little guy." How special it is to watch this automatic and unconditional love expressed when the little guy he is enthralled with can do very little except eat, sleep and poop. Matt loves little Tommy just because he belongs to him. Although this is the kind of love God intended for every child to experience, it doesn’t always happen. All fathers are not kind, caring and compassionate toward their children and that is a tragedy. The type of love that Matt shows his son reflects our Heavenly Father and the feeling that He has for us. It...

Enjoying the peace and quiet time all alone on the mountainous path last fall, I was just reflecting about how my life had changed over the last year and how the path was such a great parallel. In some places it was wide open and you could see far into the distance exactly where you were headed, but at other times there were tree lined curves only allowing you to view the next few steps before facing the unknown. For a long time my life followed the same path year after year, but now I'm not exactly sure what will be just around the bend. At one spot along the narrow road there was a shortcut where it appeared that many had taken. I was tempted to do the same, just to shave off a few minutes of the winding hike down the mountain, but I reconsidered and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. If I had taken the shortcut, I would have missed one of the most beautiful views of the day.   The loop that would have been cut out had spectacular views of the western sloping mou...

Sadie was a good ole girl. When she was just a little pup you could already see glimpses of her personality. In the first picture from the breeder you could see "the attitude"--look at me, because I know I'm adorable. Once the formal adoption had taken place and she came home you could see the perfection in her markings with the blush and brows in just the right spots. You could tell that she thought she was better than other dogs, in fact she really didn't want to be bothered by the likes of them. Her nose was always stuck high in the air. She was smart and perceptive and could certainly work the room in order to get any human attention possible. With that being said, I believe Sadie fulfilled her purpose. She was a gift from Matt to Lynn and was treated as a pocket pooch while she was small. She graduated to become a lap dog, a constant companion to Lynn. When Lynn had her cardiac arrest, Sadie was a big part of the healing process, always gentle and cari...