Heart Hope by Olga

One out of a hundred...now that would not be such a great thing if on a math test if that was all that you had gotten right. And it certainly would not be a good thing if you only got one coconut jelly bean out of a hundred tropical flavored jelly beans. Nor would you want to be the only one out of a hundred not to have been chosen to attend a special event, but at my recent eye exam, when my doctor told me I was one out of a hundred I was thrilled. About a year and a half ago, I was having issues with my eye. They thought it had been a stroke, but it ended up being something else that had caused the optic nerve to be damaged by lack of oxygen. The tests last week showed that there was no evidence of any damage to the optic nerve and no peripheral loss of vision when less than a year ago my neurological ophthalmologist had informed me that the issue would probably never get any better. The doctor said that only one in one hundred people who had suffered what I had would hea...

  I walk the path often beside the sensory garden and see the plant stages during all seasons. After the winter, the pitiful little twigs are barren and lifeless next to the sign deeming it to be a rose bush. At that time it is difficult to determine if the shrub will bear leaves and flowers in the near future, but the label lets you know that there is hope for the dormant plant. And since I have passed the plant for many years, I have observed the rose bush in full bloom, coming back from its sleeping state. Christians too are labeled. It could be from the cross that hangs around your neck or the fish that rides on the back of the car or even the fact that you attend church. For some it is relatively easy to gaze upon their life with attitudes, actions and words and readily see the qualities and characteristics that represent the label. For others you look at the sign and question if it is really true, because if the label had not been there, it would have been hard to ...

We should have known something was wrong. Only one time out of the bed and into the den before settling down for the night should have provided us with a reason to check on Griffin, but we didn't until hours later. At eleven o'clock Margaret turned the doorknob, but it was locked. The old fashioned means of using a straightened clothes hanger produced no successful results. Neither did knocking forcefully on the door and shouting Griffin's name. Was he alright in there? We could tell from the living area that the light was on in his room, but there was no response of any sort. The last resort was to send Grumps over the railing of the deck, onto the roof to take off the screen and climb through the window. The miracle of the night is that for the first time in months, the window had been cracked open, by Margaret who is normally cold or the devised rescue plan would never have worked. Once through the window and the door opened, we figured out what had occ...

Thomas was an early walker. He didn't want anything to do with crawling. Upright was his preference--standing, jumping or taking steps was the way he wanted to move. Because he started taking steps at 10 months it was all hands on deck to assist and make sure he didn't get hurt. First we would take turns holding his little chubby hands as he walked everywhere. Then two of us would sit on the floor several feet apart so he could practice within our reach. As he gained confidence he would toss our hands aside and venture off for a few unassisted steps. We were always close by to protect him just in case he lost his balance or stumbled. Now he is quite independent and we only have to watch out for hazards in his path. Even as an adult we have to sometimes be careful where we walk. During the winter months I am always diligently watching out for icy patches that might cause me to slip. And when walking in the snow I wear boots with deep treads to help stabilize my st...

It was time for everyone in our office to get new headshots. A new website was being developed and they wanted consistent photographs for the team—the others had been random shots. One outside in a tank top, one in a studio, another in winter…you get the picture, they just didn’t go together. Our local photographer was called in to do the job. The morning of the shoot there were lots of complaints. I hate to have my picture taken and I like my old headshot were common themes, but the real complaints weren’t voiced until the pictures were snapped. I look fat. My hair looks bad. Can you get rid of my wrinkles? Will you Photoshop my gray? Will you take another? And another? And yet another? I like my old headshot better. The poor photographer was just doing his job, but he took much abuse for the hour long session. We laughingly said it must be much easier to do an on-mountain shoot with skiers who don’t care nearly so much about the way they look. When m...

My seat mate on the late night flight was quite chatty. Usually I will talk for a while and then settle in, but not this time. The entire flight was consumed with conversation. His story was compelling. He was apparently a successful business man and family was important to him. He had been through the loss of his beloved son and had been on quite a journey to get through the tragedy. As he described the way that he, his wife and family had each dealt with the death, he also shared the goodness of God. Several years before the death he had helped to start a new church and had grown in his faith. It was a season of preparation. One of the most profound things my new friend told me was that prior to the death of his son, he would have said that he was a Christian, but now that he has walked the difficult road he said, “Now I know that I am a Christian.” Have you had an “I know” experience? Let’s hope that it doesn’t take a tragic event for that discovery, but the ma...

We all have a choice about how we can react to situations and circumstances. How we respond can say a lot about us. On a recent trip I saw two drastically different reactions displayed. When traveling I most often carry my Bible with me to prepare a lesson or just to read. As I was waiting for a delayed flight I was reading my “old friend” when a fellow traveler exclaimed, "That's the biggest book I've ever seen. What is it?" When I told her that it was my Bible, she asked me if I was reading it through and I told her that although I have done that, this time I was reading it in preparation for an upcoming talk. Then I asked her if she had read it and she said that she had read only part of it when she was in Hebrew classes. As we continued the conversation, she said she was very interested in religions other than her own and perhaps she should read through the whole Bible, just to know what it says. As she departed I prayed that she would read it and that her...