Making Things Right

Anyone can find the dirt in someone.

Be the one who finds the gold.

Michael Todd recently began his freshman year at MLK Prep in Memphis, Tennessee.  It didn’t take long for his classmates to realize that Michael was wearing the same clothes to school each day.  For three long weeks, he tolerated the taunts, ridicule, and laughter from some of the students.  Michael later told a reporter at KTVI, “I really don’t have clothes at home.  My Mom can’t buy clothes for me because I’m growing too fast.”  Fortunately, two football players decided to do something about the situation.  Kristopher Graham, knowing Michel was still enduring the laughter, texted his fellow teammate, Antwan Garrett, for help.  A few days later, Michael was asked to step into the hall, during a class period.  One of the players apologized for being one of the people who laughed at him and said he now wanted to make it right.  The two football players had collected some clothing, as well as a pair of tennis shoes, that they gave to Michael.  At lunch, Michael again thanked Kristopher and Antwan for the gifts.  When he told them that they were the first to ever give him a gift, there were tears to go along with the good feelings of knowing they did the right thing.

Laura Snyder is a 4^th grade teacher at Altamonte Elementary School in Altamonte Springs, Florida.  Two weeks ago, the students were given the opportunity to wear a t-shirt of their favorite college team on College Colors Day.  One of her students told her he wanted to wear a shirt for the University of Tennessee, but he didn’t have one, and there was not enough time to purchase one online.  They came up with the idea that he could wear an orange shirt to represent his college.  That was a bold step for a student deep in Seminole country.  When College Colors Day arrived, Ms. Snyder noticed her student had proudly pinned a piece of paper with a hand drawn “U of T” design to the front of his shirt.  During lunch, some girls, who did not even participate in the college day activity, made fun of the boy’s logo he had created for his shirt.  Upon entering the classroom after lunch, her student put his head on his desk and began to quietly cry.  Later, Laura sent messages to see if anyone had connections to the University of Tennessee because she wanted to purchase a shirt for the boy.

In the meantime, the picture of the logo designed by the elementary student was posted.  The University of Tennessee gave permission for the shirt to be printed as an official design for a school shirt.  Ms. Snyder responded, “When I told [my student] that his design was being made into a real shirt and people wanted to wear it, his jaw dropped.  He had a big smile on his face, walked taller, and I could tell his confidence grew today!  Thank you to the UT Nation for that!”  There were so many orders for the shirt that it crashed the Tennessee’s online store website.  Recently, band members wore the shirts at a football game.  In addition, the school has made the decision to donate a portion of the proceeds from the shirts to the national non-profit organization STOMP Out Bullying.

Some Vols fans notified Laura Snyder that they would like to send gifts to her student as well as his classmates.  The young boy was sent a jersey, t-shirts, a sports bag, several hats, along with other memorabilia.  Upon opening the boxes, Ms. Snyder also found items for her other students.  Her UT fan proudly passed out water bottles, bracelets, cooling towels, and pens to the other students.  “While the kids were filling their water bottles and waiting to water down their towels, it made this teacher so proud to see the kids congratulating my student.  High fives, hugs, pats on the back could be seen from the kids.  This experience is uniting my class even more than I could have imagined...  THANK YOU so much to all who have made this such a positive experience for my student, and also showing the rest of my class what it’s like to come together and be kind.”  Snyder continues, “Personally, I’m looking forward to wearing the shirt he designed.  It’ll be the one and only piece of orange clothing that this Seminoles fan will ever wear!”

And the most recent gift, to the young fan, is a four year scholarship to the University of Tennessee upon high school graduation!

Sometimes it is too easy to find and focus on the dirt in people or situations.  Oh to be the people who are willing to invest in, build up, and take the time to dig for and find the gold in people and situations.

Whoever seeks good finds favor,

     but evil comes to one who searches for it.

Proverbs 11:27

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

Trials that Bless

Arkansas State’s head football coach, Blake Anderson, expected last week’s game against the University of Georgia to be an emotional one.  He had missed coaching the first game of the season, in order to spend time with his family after his wife’s death on August 19.  Wendy Anderson had endured two years of breast cancer.  Blake and Wendy had been married almost 27 years.  Coach Anderson shared, “Praise Him that she hurts no more and is in His presence now and forever.”  Upon hearing of the death of Wendy Anderson, Dwight Standridge, a Georgia alumnus, tweeted out a message to fans asking them to wear pink to the game in memory of the Arkansas State’s coach’s wife.  When interviewed, Standridge commented that he had lost his own mother to ovarian cancer when she was 37 years of age.  He knew than even if the fans had not experienced cancer in their own family, they knew of someone who had or was currently fighting cancer.  Upon entering the football field, Coach Anderson and his team were met with a stadium full of fans wearing pink shirts amidst a fewer number of the usual red and black.  After the game, Blake Anderson tweeted, “OVERWHELMED, HONORED, and BEYOND GRATEFUL.” #NotFightingAlone.  Dwight Standridge used a past loss in his family to bless a grieving coach and football team.  The University of Georgia football team and fans won more than a football game on Saturday.

Christine Turel works in a bookstore in a town with a large university.  Recently, in the middle of the day, an older lady came in to shop.  She commented how much she liked the bookstore and wished she had longer to spend looking around, but her husband was waiting in the car.  She placed some art supplies on the counter and then thought to buy some chocolate for her husband.  As they finished the transaction, a college student walked up to make his purchase.  The lady turned around, told the young man to place his textbooks on the counter so she could buy them for him.  The young man refused to let her pay, knowing the books would cost over $400, but the lady insisted.  She added a Harry Potter book to the stack and also piled on some chocolates.  As Christine bagged the purchases, the young man thanked the lady and gave her a hug.  As they both told the lady how kind and thoughtful the gesture was she responded , “It’s important to be kind.  You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways.  It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be.  There’s nothing you can do about that.  But you can choose to be kind.  Be kind.”  After the young man left, the lady turned to Christine and continued, “My son is a homeless meth addict.  I don’t know what I did.  I see that boy and I see the man my son could have been if someone had chosen to be kind to him at just the right time.”  Even in her pain and disappointment, the lady was willing to reach out to a young university student so he could possibly avoid experiencing her son’s consequences.  Christine Turel concluded, “You never know how your actions may effect others around you, so you might as well be kind to all.”

What encouraging examples of people who used the lessons learned from past hurts and disappointments to reach out and bless others.  May we, too, not waste our trials, but be willing to trust God to teach and comfort us so we in turn can offer comfort and hope to others in their time of need.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Heart Tug Response

Recently the St. Joseph High School cross-country team, in California, took more than a dozen shelter dogs to accompany them on their morning run.  Each athlete ran with one of the dogs from the Santa Barbara County Animal Shelter.  It seems that the event was a successful win/win for the runners and dogs alike.  Coach Luis Escobar says he hopes to repeat the run again soon.  He is also in hopes that the runners from other schools will give it a try as well.

Cale Wrenn, 14 years old, is somewhat small for his age.  He is used to being called names or having comments made about his height.  Unfortunately, the trend continued as he entered his freshman year at a high school in North Carolina.  On the first day of school, Cale ate alone and tolerated the taunts.  When Cale’s older sister found out about what had happened, she reached out by sending a tweet.  Several members of the varsity football and basketball teams, along with other students, responded by taking it upon themselves to befriend Cale, eat lunch with him, show him around the school, and make sure he felt included.  Tyvon Smoot, one of the seniors, remembers a time when he, too, used to sit by himself.  Wrenn is very grateful for his new group of friends, but he also wants others to be included as well.  “I know I’m not the only person that sits alone at lunch.  In different periods there are different freshmen and juniors and sophomores who sit alone at lunch and I just wish we can do something for them, too.”

On the first day school, Christian Moore, a second grader, along with other students, was outside of Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet Elementary School, in Wichita, Kansas, eagerly waiting for the doors to be opened.  Christian noticed Conner, also a second grader, standing by himself and crying.  Even though they did not know each other well, Christian went over to Conner, took him by the hand, waited with him, and then walked with him into the school.  What may seem like a small act of kindness was a big deal, according to Conner’s mother, April Crites.  Conner has autism and sometimes new experiences overwhelm him.  When he arrived home that afternoon, Conner told his mom that he had a great first day and liked his class and teachers.  The Crites’ had not seen the picture of the boys holding hands until a few days after it was posted.  They were both very touched at Christian’s sensitivity and kindness.  According to Crites, “The lesson is to remember that everyone is struggling with something that may be invisible to those around them.”  Since the first day of school, Christian and Conner have become best buddies.

It doesn’t always take special training, a college degree, or other credentials to make a difference in someone’s life.  A response from a heart tug will do just fine.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.

James 1:22

Checking the Brakes

Whether it’s a car, bicycle, or walker, it’s important and necessary to have brakes that function well.  Last week Larry brought the walker around to my side of the car for me to use to walk into church.  I noticed and commented that the left side was dragging which made it difficult to walk.  Upon checking, I realized that I had not released the left brake. That episode has caused me to pause and think that people have brakes, too.

* There are times for brakes to be used and times for them to be released.

* If brakes are half used, they slow down progress, and make it more difficult to accomplish the task.

* When brakes are not properly used, life can get out of control.

* I need to be willing to put on the brakes when I know it is something I am not to be involved in, think, or say.

* Sometimes having the brakes on gives me time to think, ponder, and make decisions.

* When the brakes are released, I am free to go, explore, minister.

* I am responsible for choosing how and when I will use the brakes.

* It’s good to have brake checks periodically to make sure they are being used as intended.

* No halfway commitments.

* When God’s Spirit prompts me to do something, I need to be willing to release the brakes to wholeheartedly accomplish His purpose.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

Mark 6:31

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

Colossians 3:23