Heart Hope by Olga

Working in the church nursery can be a pretty mindless way of serving in the children's ministry at church. Now don't get me wrong, I serve in many other ways that require preparation and time, so just to be able to show up and love on babies is a perfect job for me once a month. I had the young pastor's children - one 23 month old and the other just a baby.  Since the baby just slept I had quality time with little Lane. He was quite chatty using one word "sentences". Yellow, fish, hat, ball were some of his favorites. So when his mother came to pick him up, I informed her of his impressive vocabulary. Her reply was surprising in a way. She said, "Yes we really have to be careful what we say around him." In my mind I was wondering what the pastor would be saying in front of him that was not appropriate. You can probably imagine where my mind was going, however I was relieved when she gave the example. Her husband loves football and she said ...

In the Rocky Mountains we are experiencing a disaster. The pine beetles are attacking not just a few of the pine trees, but three million acres of pine forest have already been destroyed. The black rice-sized insects burrow into the lodgepole pine bark and chew on the wood and get the sugar to help them sustain life during the harsh winter. Trees that are most susceptible to the damage are the older trees, in crowded areas that have poor growing conditions. Also vulnerable are injured trees or ones under stress with too little sap to expel the insects. Young trees are not likely to become destroyed because the diameter of the trees and the general health of the vegetation. The first evidence of attack is shown by sap that is flowing from holes bored in the tree and you might also notice powder at the base of the tree, especially in late summer when the adult insects leave the damaged trees to find new healthy ones to attack. It takes just 2 weeks after the initial migratio...