Heart Hope by Olga

It was the perfect picture--a robin redbreast with feathers puffed out to stay warm in the cold temperatures sitting on the corner of the roof facing the morning sunshine glimmering on the mountain with the backdrop of an azure sky. As I lifted the iPhone to snap the picture he flew away and the opportunity was gone. Although I'm not a photographer, I do like to take pictures to capture the moment, but I have found out that if you hesitate, you will miss the chance and it will probably never return. The lighting will change, the flower will fade, the child will not cooperate or something else will be different. Opportunities lost are not just with taking pictures, but also in investing in lives of people around us. We need to seize the moment to tell others about Jesus, to pray with them, to encourage them, to share our story with them and to invest in the lives of the people we encounter each day. The opportunity for these things may never present themselves again. A ...

On my husband Tommy's last birthday, he was required to get a new driver's license. In the state of Colorado, you can usually go online and renew it, so he questioned why that was not possible for him. After going to the motor vehicle office, he understood. The officials at the DMV told him that for the last nine years he had been driving with no valid license and he would have been arrested if he had been stopped for a violation. Because of this situation he would have to take the written test, go to driving school, take the driving test and pay a large fine. All of this was due to a mistake. Tommy had gotten a traffic ticket almost ten years before and although he had paid the fine that was due, the court had not recorded the payment on time and it caused the revocation of the license of which he had not been notified. He was unknowingly guilty. As a member of the human race we are all guilty, but many don't know that they fall short of God's standards and are u...

It's funny how we can learn simple concepts from the children in our lives, sometimes more easily than from other adults.   I had spotted a herd of deer and wanted to show my grandson, Will, however he was less than thrilled about seeing them and let me know by saying, "I've seen deer before."   That wasn't what I expected from him. I wanted him to be excited with me instead of being bored or complacent with the idea.   What he taught me is that I can easily be the same way with God. In reading His Word, I realized that I might read over familiar passages quickly, thinking in my mind, "I've read that before" or "I know what that verse says." When in reality, God wanted to share a special moment with me or to point out something new and different about a familiar passage.   Will made me realize that I don't want that to be my attitude, instead I don't want to miss out on one experience or one word or one gift that...

A couple of days after Easter, my friend and coworker asked if I wanted to hear something funny and then she clarified by saying, "Well, maybe it's not really funny." She then proceeded to tell me that her sister asked her child why we celebrate Easter. You might expect that the answer might have involved bunnies or eggs or spring even if they didn't say anything about Jesus, however the child surprised everyone by replying matter of factly that it was to honor those people who had lost their lives in war. Hmmm..... Not exactly the way I would have wanted my children or grandchildren to have answered that question, since the only thing the two have in common is that death was mentioned. But Easter really is not about death--that's Good Friday. Easter is about Jesus overcoming death by conquering the grave. Now I think the question is why did the child answer the question the way they did? First they were confusing the Christian holiday with a gover...

Most people reading this blog would never consider harming a church building. We would never spray paint the interior or the exterior with graffiti. We wouldn't go in and turn over the chairs or pews. We wouldn't steal anything from the building. And we certainly would not destroy any part of the place where we worship. However, we might be inadvertently doing just that. You see God tells us that when we belong to Him, our bodies are not our own, but they are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So that means that if I put bad foods, including too much sugar, fat or processed foods into my mouth, I am defiling the temple. If I choose to be a couch potato instead of keeping fit, I am allowing the temple to become in disrepair. And if I choose to participate in behaviors that are known to cause diseases or illnesses, then I am destroying the very place that God resides. Any and all of these behaviors can cause our bodies harm and not be as healthy as possible, th...

It had been raining that day, which made it a perfect setting to reflect on the death and burial of our Lord and Savior. We had stopped to take a look at what many people think is the place mentioned in all four of the Gospels as the place of the Skull where Jesus had been crucified alongside the two criminals. Previously we had been to the place that most scholars believe is the most accurate place for the burial site of Jesus, but since it has been enthroned with a massive church building it doesn’t look like what our minds and hearts expect. Then we found ourselves in the spot that we envision the Garden Tomb setting to look like, beautifully landscaped, quiet and peaceful. Our group had gathered under a pavilion to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. The bread and wine in tiny wooden chalices were served as we were reminded of the evening that Jesus had gathered with His disciples and the ultimate sacrifice that He had made for us. It was a somber moment and one of ...