Actions Count

 

When recruiting athletes, coaches are looking for talent and abilities. They are also looking for how players treat their parents, teammates, coaches, and officials, which gives them a glimpse of how an athlete will contribute to their program. When evaluating a recruit, Dawn Staley, coach for South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team, states, “If they respect their parents, they are going to respect us. If they don’t respect their parents, we don’t have a shot.” Talent matters and so does character.  

After the July floods in Kerr County, HEB offered free food and cleaning supplies at the Hill Country Youth Event Center. They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner and handed out cleaning products for those in need.

 

Karen Swensen is a former news anchor. While shopping at a Louisiana grocery store, she noticed 90-year-old Air Force veteran Dillon McCormick pushing grocery carts back to the store in an 111 degrees heat index. Swensen found out that McCormick received $1,100 from Social Security each month, but needed $2,500 for expenses. Using her media talents, Karen set up a GoFundMe account and spread the word so people could donate. Within 24 hours, thousands of people had donated more than $240,000. Swensen acknowledged, “The fundraiser proved that people from all walks of life can come together to help someone in need.”

 

Jacqui Hornbach, from Batesville, Indiana, was watching the funeral procession for 89-year-old military veteran Charles Everett Yorn pass by. She noticed two young boys get off their bikes and stand at attention. Hornbach expressed, “To see these two young boys immediately stop to pay their respects to a passed serviceman, without any prompting or knowledge of anyone watching, was just so touching to see. It was so natural for them.” Observing the boys made Jacqui stand up to pay her respects, too. After the gun salute, the boys got back on their bicycles and rode on down the street.

 

What wonderful reminders that there is still good in the world when we are willing to look for it. And it’s even better when we participate in it.

 

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

James 1:22