Heart Hope by Olga

My favorite local lake, Nottingham, is totally torn up. Earlier in the summer we learned that the lake was leaking and needed repairs. Knowing that there were a couple of events that needed the lake to be filled with water, the local authorities decided to make a couple of small adjustments to get through the need period. Once the events were over they completely drained the lake and began digging. You see the earlier repairs were only temporary fixes. They town could have made the decision to just continue repairing the lake as needed in order to save money, time or visual appeal, but the real problem would still exist deep beneath surface of the water. If the source of the problem is not corrected in the lake, year after year more troubles will come to light. Digging deep right now might seem inconvenient or drastic, but if that will correct the situation for many years, it is the best thing to do…really the only thing to do. In our lives we sometimes try ...

The trail of animal crackers on the stairway was a mystery upon first glance. But upon further investigation, I saw Molly with the bag of cookies carefully placing one treat in the center of each step. What in the world was she doing? When I asked her, she revealed that she was trying to get her baby brother to follow her up the stairs. She didn’t know that what she was doing could be harmful if toddler, Griffin actually followed that bait and began climbing the steps. She didn’t want to hurt her brother, just get him to follow. God has the same desire that Molly had…He wants us to follow Him everywhere. Sometimes we think we know best and go our own way. Other times we allow people to sway us with the way that they want us to go. But I think we often aren’t paying attention to the signals that God is giving us that show us the way. The primary way that God reveals His path for us is through His Word. The Bible is filled with guidelines that our Father wants us to ...

A year or two ago, my granddaughter Molly's favorite word seemed to be NO. You would ask her just about anything and the answer was probably going to be no. It might be said in different ways, such as an emphatic NO. Or sometimes it was a whiny no. And oftentimes it was a musical noooooo. Whenever she was in that kind of mood, I would laughingly tell her that no must be her favorite word and that would always get a no answer. One morning I suggested that we count how many times she said the word in a day. We didn't have to count long, only about ten minutes to count 14. One, two, three....fourteen in only ten minutes. We both laughed as the number grew. The conversation would go a bit like this. Molly lets get dressed for school. No.  Do you want to wear pants or a skirt? No. Would you like a snack to take to school? No. Answering with the word no had become a habit for Molly. She didn't always mean it, but it was her way of expressing independence. I'm ...

The Xterra Games have been in town again. My position was to cheer on the runners and make sure that they took the correct path at the mid point of the run. After all they had already completed the one mile swim, an eighteen mile bike ride and a half of the 10k run and probably needed a bit of encouragement. I wouldn't have been able to do even one portion of the event with the cold water, the long distances and the steep terrain, but I could be a cheerleader for those who chose to push their bodies with torture and I could help guide them to the right route. In our Christian walk we too need encouragement. It's easy to get weary and worn out when working for the Lord. I am so glad that God has given me friends and family to be my cheerleaders. They provide positive words when needed, they pray for me, they guide me and they even scold me and let me know that I should be taking care of myself and not just taking care of others. Everyone needs a least one person...

Who wouldn't want to visit here? It's tourist season. I've seen them all around town--in the stores, in the roundabouts, at the events, even in the neighborhood. This week, pulling out of our area on my way to church, I spotted a multigenerational group of about 10 people blocking the gated exit that I needed to go through. The oldest man stuck out his hand motioning for me to stop. My thoughts were not pleasant; instead I wished that he would just get his group to move so that I wouldn't have to stop. Why did they have to stop in the middle of the road? Couldn't they congregate on the grass? Don't they know the common courtesies of the road? Once they had moved, I quickly became ashamed of my unkind thoughts for several reasons. First, since I was on my way to church and yet I was not exhibiting behavior that would please my Savior. And second, as I surveyed the group I noticed a bald child who was obviously undergoing chemotherapy. The group ma...