Doing What's Right

Connor Halsa, is from Minnesota.  To celebrate the last few days of summer, before starting his freshman year of high school and hockey season, the 14-year-old went fishing with some of his family.  As they came to a favorite spot in the lake, the boat was turned off, and they began to fish.  Within a few minutes, Connor had a big tug on his line.  He jerked hard and kept reeling in his catch.  When the fish was close to the surface of the water, his cousin, Brandon, leaned over the side of the boat with a net.  Instead of a walleye, Connor caught a wallet.  They took the contents out of the billfold and spread them out to dry.  Along with $2,000 cash, they found a business card and a few other items.  In all the excitement Connor replied, “My dad said we should give it to the person, so I told him we should, too.”  Upon contacting Denney, he couldn’t believe his wallet had been found in the lake that is 70 miles long, 70 feet wide, and 20-feet deep and that it was going to be returned.  While fishing the previous summer, the wallet had fallen out of his back pocket and into the lake.  Even though he was offered a reward, Connor refused to keep any of the money.  Denney drove from Iowa to Minnesota to retrieve his wallet.  He gave Connor a fancy customized cooler and took his family to dinner.  Connor expressed, “I learned some great lessons about myself and doing what’s right.  Yeah, to be nice to everyone and like give back to people.  We didn’t work hard for the money, he did, so it was his money.”  

Three teenagers were walking down the sidewalk when they noticed an elderly man trying to cross the busy street with his walker and a bag of groceries.  Just as the man was about to reach the curb, the bag slipped out of his hand and the contents rolled and scattered on the street.  The boys quickly grabbed the items, put them back into the bag, and helped the man up the curb and onto the sidewalk.  They made sure he was stable, and on his way home, before they began riding their skateboards again.

 

Stacy Stanton was looking down at her rather lengthy list of items at the grocery store when she heard, “Ma’am, do you need help?”  Looking up, she noticed a young man approaching an elderly lady.  Stacy realized she had walked past the woman, without even noticing her.  Patiently, the young man listened and located the items needed.  He offered help, without even being asked.  Stacy commented, “There is so much beauty, if only we would look.”

 

Whether it’s through words or actions, may we, too, be caught doing what’s right. 

 

Start children off on the way they should go,

     and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6

 

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

James 2:8

 

Meeting Needs

 

Feeling like hygiene services for the homeless could use some help, Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi, both 20 years of age, formed Orange Sky Laundry.  The young men had three goals for their project: “to raise health standards, restore respect, and reduce strain on resources.”  With the help of donations, they had an old van outfitted with a portable generator, two washers and two dryers.  The machines can process 44 pounds of laundry in an hour.  Five days a week, the van is driven to different locations around Brisbane, in order to give the homeless an opportunity to clean their clothes and other items.  The young men are also trying to team up with food donation groups that will provide meals for the people to eat while they are waiting on their laundry.  The project is in a trial period.  If deemed helpful and successful, services will be offered throughout Australia with a fleet of larger vans.    

Hugh Howell, Jr. recently responded to a lady inquiring about how to help a friend whose husband died.  Even though she had offered to help, if anything was needed, she wasn’t sure her friend would call.  Howell wrote about his grief experience when his father died.  People called or came by to help, but it was so hard to know what to ask for or even think of what was needed.  It was like his brain shut down and he couldn’t make decisions.  That evening he saw a text on his phone that asked if he would be home at 8:30 that night.  He was puzzled because he knew the friend lived 12 hours away.  He responded, “Yes” and in a few minutes she texted back, “Instacart will be there at 8:30.  Open the door for them.”  Howell responded back, “What?” to which came the reply, “Grief Groceries.”  The Instacart delivery had two large bags of groceries filled with canned soups, frozen lasagna, a gallon of milk, frozen pizzas, ice cream, a box of Oreo cookies, along with other items.  Later on, he realized that his friend did not ask if he needed food, she just sent items he and his family could eat either then or at a later time.  Another out-of-town friend asked a family member the name of a restaurant close to their house where they liked to eat.  Within an hour, a gift card, which would cover several meals, was delivered to their house.  A person noticed the grass needed to be cut and showed up to mow it.  Howell concluded, “In the first few days, especially, it helps to remove as many decisions from their plate as possible.  Eventually they will surface and ways to be helpful will make themselves known.”

 

Whether it is a spontaneous gesture or a thought-out plan, may we find ways to meet the needs of others.

 

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

Titus 3:14

Do Good

 

Police officer Martin Folczyk caught a driver speeding.  The young man, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, pulled over into a parking lot, got out of his car, and explained his predicament.  The student had a big presentation to make in one of his classes.  He was dressed in a suit, but unfortunately did not know how to tie his tie.  He had stopped by a friend’s house to get help, but he wasn’t home.  Officer Folczyk asked for the tie.  As the student continued to explain, the policeman began tying the necktie for him.  After checking the car’s registration, the officer let the young man off with a warning and the gift of being well dressed for his presentation. 

Steve Farmer went to work.  Upon arriving, he locked his bicycle outside the Cannon Street train station.  After getting off work at 6:00 p.m., Farmer went to retrieve his bike.  He soon noticed the chain had been cut and his bicycle was gone.  Steve asked the people at the station if they happened to have cameras.  About that time, a man began waving his arms, to get Farmer’s attention, to see if he was missing his bicycle.  He asked him to put his code in the lock.  When it opened, Abdul Muneeb, who works for South Eastern Railways, explained what happened.  Abdul was on a break when he spotted a guy cut the lock off of the bicycle.  He approached him and challenged him to give him the bike.  Abdul took it inside the station and then waited four hours after his shift ended to make sure Steve got his bike back.  Farmer noted, “The world needs more Abduls; he is a man’s legend and a credit to his employer.”

 

A neighbor complained because a yard that was usually well taken care of was now getting overgrown.  Several people wanted the home owners to be cited by the city.  One lady suggested that they knock on the door to check on the people to see if they were in need of something.  She recalled that the previous summer her mother-in-law’s yard, which was usually immaculate, had not been maintained for several weeks because she was caring for her husband who was dying from cancer.  Then several of the men from their church arrived, with mowers and other equipment, and cleaned up the yard.  The daughter-in-law reminded the people, “Maybe your neighbor has something much bigger to take care of than uncut grass…and maybe they need some help.  Let’s don’t lose all ability to be neighborly.”

 

May we, too, be willing to invest time and effort to do good and share with others.

 

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Hebrews 13:16