Heart Hope by Olga

A couple of weeks ago, I was having kind of a down week. I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe it was the weather, or things going on at work or perhaps it was because I was tired from the 10 days spent with grandchildren or even the let down feeling from the trip being over. What ever the cause didn’t really matter, but the interesting thing about the situation was that the topic of my next speaking engagement is “Finding Joy in Your Journey” and here I was not feeling much joy. I even had a post it stuck on my computer that said—“Our contagious joy should be the distinguishing factor in the life of a follower of Christ.” I laughed to myself as I walked down the hall at work…I’m going to be telling others how to find joy when I’m having a bit of trouble with it myself. At that point God brought to mind the passage that I had been reading the previous morning—Ephesians 1:3-14. It speaks of all of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ.  A picture formed in my mind that at the time...

Those of you who know me, understand that I am not your typical mountain woman. I prefer to sit on my veranda drinking iced tea and reading, but I am trying to get out and enjoy the beauty and nature of the outdoors more often. Several friends encourage me, push me, teach me and most of all are patient with me when I do venture out into the sporting world. So when my friend Deb asked if I wanted to ride bikes to Vail, I cringed inside thinking I could never do that; she doesn’t know my skill level, after all, I am a flatlander, but I consented to try it. We got off to an early start to beat the heat of the afternoon and enjoyed the cool crisp morning air and the magnificent views of the green mountains and the raging river. As we rode, I thought of all the blessings I would have missed if I had chosen to say no—the views, the workout, the wind in my face, the fellowship with a friend. But the funniest thing I would have missed is seeing my friend, Christy’s face when we ran into her ou...