• Thoughts

    Let’s Play Chess

    Not too long ago, I invited a son from another mother to move into our apartment.  His circumstances were grim.  Here was a grown man with two young children living in the basement family room of a family friend.  This room was probably 300 sq. ft. at best.  He didn’t have his own bathroom, no kitchen, and no actual bedroom.  This room was his home.  His bed and the children’s bunk beds were in there.  So was his heat plate to make his meals.  This circumstance was difficult at best but fit his price range at $400.00 a month. Here in our apartment of 1300 sq. ft. was a one…

  • Thoughts

    The Change

    Last week I called the airlines to get tickets to Seattle for the big convention this weekend.  Normally, I’d just go on the app and reserve there, but I had a voucher for $600.00 that I wanted to use.  The lady was nice, helped me through it all and reserved the tickets for me. Fast forward to today.  I went on my app to check in early and there was no reservation.  I was sure I had seen the reservation last Friday after I got off the call but I had no trips, so on the phone I went. The first woman I spoke with had no help for me. …

  • Hope letters

    He Knows Best

    Late last year I was struggling a great deal in my job as a manager.  The stress was becoming too much, and my employees were trying to take advantage of me. I kept praying that God would find me a new job or position at work where I wouldn’t be in management anymore, but I could still raise my young family. Things didn’t seem to be going anywhere and so I tried to take matters into my own hands and I asked for a temporary position in a different department as a manager.  To my amazement  they said yes and I thought it was all I could have wanted especially…

  • Hope letters

    Earthly Angels

    Sometimes God uses others to help his earthly family.  This day, we were heading home in the van with the family and we noticed the van was making funny sounds.  We weren’t very far away from my sister’s home so we headed to there. They helpfully recommended a mechanic shop we could take our van to, to get it fixed.  Thankfully, they had a car that my nephew had just purchased for us to drive home in. We were on the freeway just past Salt Lake, when we heard a pop sound that came from the bottom of the car.  Both my husband and I looked at each other wondering…

  • Hope letters

    Thank God for Redirected Prayers

    I had the coolest experience today. I was thinking about this house we are planning to build. It’s really been a strain. We’ve gone back-and-forth, over and over about if we should do it or not. Today, which is Sunday, I thought, “Well, let me really go pray about this.” I went to my bedside and knelt down. (My husband was not home.) I then began to pray about the house and I did so for maybe 3 or 4 minutes, when my son’s name came to mind. Suddenly I was filled with a great desire to pray for him. I began to ask the Lord what I could do…

  • Hope letters

    20/20 Vision

    Today, as I had breakfast with my husband, I overheard the table next to me talking about how interesting it was that this person would lose their job, only to get a better job that made their life circumstances better.  They commented how lucky she was. Hindsight is 20/20.  Oftentimes we have hard things happen to us, only to see a much better circumstance come out of it.  It got me thinking about an experience that I had that had an amazing outcome. When my mom was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, I was living in Sandy, Utah, running my first company, Utah Property Solutions.  We secured bank owned properties,…

  • Hope letters

    Saved by a Backpack

    A father and son who were reported overdue while hiking on a southern Utah trail on Sunday survived thanks to gear that had been discarded by another hiker who had become lost. Julian Hernandez and his 12-year-old son were in the Red Mountain area near Snow Canyon State Park on Sunday when they were reported missing. Search and rescue crews were deployed just after 7 p.m. but were unable to locate the duo due to the dark skies. A member of the search and rescue team later discovered a boot-style footprint in the area where the two were missing, and crews used that to track the father and son. The…

  • Hope letters

    A Little Reminder

    This is a small miracle in some ways, but all the more dear because it was such a thoughtful favor. A couple of weeks ago my sister and I planned a dinner event for a few couples. She is going to be coming into town last minute and she’ll use my ingredients to make dinner when she arrives. When we discused what she’d need,she mistakenly assumed I’d have certain items in my pantry, ie couscous and capers. I made a mental note to get them Today, two weeks later, our dinner is approaching. I was at the grocery store. I remembered I had an assignment, but could not remember the…

  • Hope letters

    He Knows What We Need

    I had my little dog, Lilly, for 18 years. Her kidneys were failing, so it was only a matter of time before I lost her. Since I had lost Kris in June, I didn’t know how much more loss I could take in just a few month’s time. I was thinking about the dogs I would get when Lilly passed on. The vet suggested I put Lilly down because she wouldn’t last long. She actually got a second wind after being hospitalized for 3 days. She was with me 3 months longer than the vet thought she would last! Let me tell you, I really needed that extra time with…

  • Thoughts

    What Really Matters

    When I was little, about 5 or 6, I watched a show on TV about a man doing tricks.  He did this trick where he moved this pencil with his mind across the table.  Boy was I impressed!  I thought for sure I could do that simple trick if he could! I went into a quiet room, put a pencil on the floor and got to thinking.  I really tried hard to move that pencil.  It didn’t budge.  For a long time I wondered why I couldn’t do it when this man on TV could.   As I got older, I realized it was just a trick, and he was a…