Glimmers of Hope

With all the turmoil, violence, harsh words, disrespect, and rudeness that seems to be on display these days, a few stories have surfaced that offer glimmers of hope for the days ahead.

Ashley C. Ford is a writer in New York.  Recognizing that there are thousands of students who are served substitute meals each day because they owe money on their lunch account, Ford wanted to make an impact.  She recently tweeted, “A cool thing you can do today is try to find out which of your local schools have kids with overdue lunch accounts and pay them off.”  All across the United States, hundreds of people have heeded the call, gone to their local schools, and helped pay off lunch debts.  This is a cause near and dear to Ashley Ford’s heart because years ago she was one of those students served the alternative lunch.  Ford replied, “The point was to do something that helps your community.”

Kirby is one of the young men employed to work for the Super Bowl.  Last week, as he was riding the last metro rail of the evening, his wallet slipped out of his pocket.  Not only did he run the risk of losing credit cards, cash, and other items, Kirby would also be without his driver’s license if the wallet was not found.  Even though he had completed the training and worked all week, a valid driver’s license was needed in order to be cleared to complete the tasks on Super Bowl Sunday.  A temporary license would not be acceptable.  One of the rules for the driver’s of the metro rail is to check for any left belongings after they have completed the last run for the night.  Fortunately, the driver was responsible about performing that requirement.  He found Kirby’s wallet and turned it in with everything still in it.  Because of the driver’s honesty and work ethic, the wallet has been returned to the owner and Kirby is set to continue his work for the Super Bowl game.

In January, the Mayde Creek High School men’s JV soccer team played in a tournament in College Station.  Before the game, Coach Ryan Allred was informed by the opposing coach that he was going to be playing a young man with Down Syndrome during the second half.  The player would be wearing the #17 jersey.  Coach Allred talked with his players and asked them if they would be willing to let the player score.  They immediately responded with a yes.  With one minute left in the game, player #17 made his appearance in the game.  The coach reminded his players that the young man was on the field and playing.  One player dove to the ground as if he had missed the ball.  Others followed suit as the player dribbled around them.  The goalie missed defending the goal and the ball went in for the score.  The young man threw his hands up in the air and excitedly ran to the sideline and jumped into his coach’s arms.  All the players were cheering for #17.  After the game, the team was walking to the bus which happened to be parked close to the player’s car.  The Mayde Creek players started chanting # 17’s name and telling him he played a great game.  Wonderful leadership and examples were set by the coaches and players that day once again proving that winning at life is even more important than winning a game.

Even though I don’t have a Twitter account, I can ask you to join me in for looking for ways and opportunities to serve, bless, and minister to others this week and make a difference for God’s Kingdom work so that others can know the eternal living hope through Jesus.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

I Peter 1:3-5

 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:3-4 

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in your power to act. 

Proverbs 3:27

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Luke 6:45

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

Ecclesiastes 3:12

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

I Corinthians 10:31