Hope in Battles

     The lady walking beside you just got diagnosed with breast cancer and it has spread too far to treat.  The man that just cut you off earlier got the news that he was let go from his job and has 5 kids at home to feed.  The teenager that you waited for to cross the street has severe depression and could barely get out of bed.
     Everyone has battles that they face every day.  Some are more clear than others.  How many of us take time out of our day to give hope to those around us?  You never know what a simple act of kindness or service could do for somebody.  A poll was taken asking recovering suicidal people what would have changed their minds about suicide.  I was pretty surprised about the  majority of the answers.  They said a smile or a wave. Can you believe that?  That is something so simple.
     I remember one Sunday I really wasn't feeling well. I hadn't slept much the night before. I went to church but three hours was tough to sit.  This one boy that I had said hi to a few times came up to me and said, "You know Olivia, you make me so happy. Every time I see you it just makes me happy. Thanks." It touched me so much that I wrote down the date it happened and everything. On January 5th a simple compliment changed my entire day.
      My little brother, Rudy, used to say, " Imagine everyone is fighting the hardest battle and you are probably right." Ever since then it has changed my outlook on people around me . I wave at almost everyone I pass driving by.  I smile at people walking.  I am certainly not perfect at all and I have my bad days, probably more than others. But, I am also positive that the simple things make the biggest difference.
     That lady that I mentioned earlier? Someone told her how beautiful her eyes were. That man that cut you off?  Someone anonymously dropped of dinner at their house.  The teenager? Someone befriended her and sat by her at the lunch table.
     Battles at first seem so impossible.  There is hope.  Give hope out to people.  Smile, wave, and give compliments. You never know what they are going through.  You never know what kind of a difference you might make. 
    
     

Hope in Timing

     Our whole world is based on time. Time for appointments, soccer games, or shifts at work. Life is crazy and we only have 24 hours in one day. What about His timing?  Our Father in Heaven's timing, that is.

     I get so frustrated waiting.  When is life going to go like I want it?  That is completely the wrong attitude.  This week I have tried to look at time differently.

     Have you ever had something happen to you and you knew that it was supposed to happen?  I love looking at these things as tender mercies.  I remember moving to Provo.  I knew nobody and I was moving into my apartment.  I was taking loads upon loads of stuff  to my new place.  I had just worked 9 hours and I was getting really tired.  I remember saying a prayer, asking for somehow to have some help bringing my stuff in.  Out walks a beautiful girl.  She glowed and had such an amazing spirit about her.  She went and got friends and in 10 minutes I was done bringing my stuff in. Chance?  No. That was His timing. 

     Another kind of timing I want to share is the beauty of the non-importance of time. Each year my dad, siblings and I go on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. It's 100 miles and my favorite place on the earth.   No cell phones, no cars.  Just good company and the beauty that surrounds us.  Time is forgotten.  It's amazing.  For 5 days we forget about worldly stuff and concentrate on the wonderful gifts that our Father in Heaven has given us.

     I challenge everyone reading this to find hope in timing, to recognize the tender mercies in our lives and to forget about time for just a bit.  I promise you that you will find amazing things around you.

Hope in Opportunity

     When we think of opportunity we think of chances or adventures we were offered to take. Whether it's a new job or a new place to live, we have to choose. We have to look at our lives and decide whether it's going to work or whether we are going to back out. It is so important to take chances and opportunities because they might not come by again. But, what about the things that happen in our lives that we don't decide to have? You know, the things that we hate or question-Why me? Well this week a light bulb went off for me.
     I was driving in my car during my lunch break at work. I was in a lot more pain than usual. I can usually deal with it and at least put a face on, but that day I couldn't hold it back. During my lunch break I had a huge pity party and did what most girls do, I called my mom. Tears were shared and motivational thoughts were exchanged. As my mom wished she could be there with me and told  me how proud she was of me, I felt hope. However, I still hurt and no matter what, I had to choose to change the effect it was having on me.
        I went back to work. I smiled and worked hard. Standing on my feet wasn't the best but I knew I could do it. When I got off work I was driving once again and I got a wonderful epiphany. How blessed and lucky am I that I get the opportunity to feel pain and suffer!  I know that probably sounds strange to people but I just felt so blessed. I get to feel a very minuscule part of what Jesus felt. I get to feel empty and alone like so many people in the world feel. I get to help people in a way that I would never have the opportunity to help.
     I challenge everyone who is reading to take the difficult things and hard trials in your life and look at them as opportunities. Opportunities to grow, to show hope, and to lift others up. We can't do this alone and no matter the circumstance or the pain that you are feeling now, there is hope. There are amazing opportunities coming your way. Just look around you. They are everywhere.
    

Hope in Patience

Patience has never really been my thing. I wish I was one of those chill, "come as it comes" people, but it didn't really come in my blood. As a little kid I was always really busy and into EVERYTHING. My patience, or rather lack of patience, truly showed in my young years as I went from project to project. My siblings would beg me to play Mario Party with them just so they could have four players. If I was doing bad, which was often, I would throw my controller across the room and turn off the TV, losing all of the progress. Needless to say, I had and still have a lot to work on!

Patience is defined as the ability to remain calm when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems or difficult people. Nobody enjoys waiting. Waiting, I feel, does nothing but build a huge pit in your stomach. Sometimes waiting mends the heart,  when other times it destroys you. Hope is the one thing that minimizes your pit. No matter the situation~ there is always hope. This summer I had a couple really painful episodes with lower back pain. I had always been super accident prone so I figured I did something to it while I was messing around or something. I iced it and hoped for the best. The pain would come in spurts. I prayed and prayed for it to go away. But it didn't. My patience was pretty much non-existent. Tender mercies began to pour in. Hope was my main man, I felt like. After getting into a doctor that was near impossible to get into he couldn't figure it out right on the spot. X-RAYS were taken and still nothing. The next step was an MRI. As I went in to the most constricting place I have ever been, tears rolled down my face. I didn't have much hope any more. Church songs came to my mind. Patience was whispered in my head. As I waited nervously for the doctor to tell me the results, so many emotions ran through my body. Fear, hope, anxiety, and about everything in between. As I waited on that annoying paper on the bed in the doctor's office it felt like hours had passed. He finally came in. He pulled up the MRI and showed me that I had a slight tear in my lower back. He did some pressure point tests and gave me the verdict. "Well Olivia," he said, "You have Fibromyalgia." He then explained it as joint problems and chronic, wide spread pain through my entire body. Everything seemed to come together. For 8 years I was waiting for this day. Since I was 14 I have always known I was different and there it was. Patience. Patience is key. Hope. Hope is everything.