Stories Of Hope & Inspiration

Kindness From A Stranger

Tionae and her daughter were on the way home. But as they passed a shopping center, Tionae’s daughter begged her to pull over. She’d noticed a boy who looked like he was most likely in elementary school. He sat all alone under a tree in a small island within the parking lot.

“It’s too hot mama,” the girl told her mom.

So, Tionae pulled over and her daughter got out, asking the stranded boy where his parents were. The boy didn’t know.

The kind girl let the stranded boy use her cell phone to give his dad a call. Then she suggested he move from his spot under the tree to the front of a nearby Rite Aid. She told him it would be safer.

Getting back into the car with her mom, the girl asked to wait to make sure the stranded boy got picked up. She hated the idea of leaving him alone. And because of the warmer temps, she wanted to get him some water.

Tionae couldn’t help but brag on her sweet girl, posting the story on Facebook. Soon, Love What Matters shared the post and it soon went viral. Everyone applauded her 14-year-old daughter for showing such kindness.

Plenty of others must have noticed the boy. Maybe they left him alone because they didn’t want to intrude or scare him. Maybe they just assumed someone else would do something. But Tionae’s daughter was the only one to step in and help.

After going viral, more information came out regarding why the boy was stranded. Apparently his parents recently divorced and had their schedules mixed up. Who knows how long the young man would have been waiting if Tionae’s daughter hadn’t stepped in.

Hymn History: The Love of God

Frederick M. Lehman was a California businessman that lost everything through business reverses. He was forced to spend his working hours in manual labor, working in a Pasadena packing house packing oranges and lemons into wooden crates. Not an ideal environment for writing love songs, but this was the environment the Lord chose to use.

Mr. Lehman was a Christian who rejoiced in his salvation. He was so moved by a Sunday evening sermon on the love of God that he could hardly sleep. The next morning, the thrill of the previous evening had not left him. As he drove to the packing house, the makings of a song began to come together in his head, with God’s love as the theme.

Throughout the day, as he packed oranges and lemons, the words continued to flow. Perhaps he jotted down words on various pieces of broken crate as he went along. He could hardly wait to get home and commit these words to paper.

-Continued below-

Nickel Notes: Hymn History: The Love of God

Value



A popular speaker started off a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. A crowd of 200 had gathered to hear him speak. He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

200 hands went up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He crumpled the bill up.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

All 200 hands were still raised.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” Then he dropped the bill on the ground and stomped on it with his shoes.

He picked it up, and showed it to the crowd. The bill was all crumpled and dirty.

“Now who still wants it?”

All the hands still went up.

“My friends, I have just showed you a very important lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, life crumples us and grinds us into the dirt. We make bad decisions or deal with poor circumstances. We feel worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t ever forget it!

To Remember Me

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment, a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist.

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body, and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat, and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow. If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever. -Robert N. Test-

Paint the Light

I was watching a movie entitled “Kinkade Christmas Cottage” on TV. It was a story of how Thomas Kinkade started his painting career and the artist who was a mentor and great influence on his life.

Kinkade had left home and came back for Christmas to find out that his mother was losing their home. Near the end of the story, Kinkade went to his artist mentor who was aged and alone. His wife has passed away. He sat in a dark room staring at his canvas. He wanted to paint again but could not find the expression.

His fingers were bent from arthritis. As young Kinkade visited him at Christmas, he told the old man about his family situation and losing the house. He told him that he had nothing to give him for Christmas but love. He shared his appreciation and love for his old mentor.

He told him “there is one more painting in you.” He looked in the corner of the room and saw a small table with a lit candle on it. He turned to the old man and said, “the light is still in you; paint the light.”

Young Kinkade left the old man and went home.

Later in the day, there was a knock at the Kinkades’ home. There stood the old man with something under his arm. He had walked the distance in the snow. He could barely walk but made the effort. He laid on the table the painting he held under his arm. He told Kinkade that he did have one more painting in him and he wanted to give it to them. He took the paper off the painting and it was a painting of two tall trees with gold and red leaves on them standing side by side. A bright light of sunshine was shining between the trees.

The old man said, “I wanted to paint my pain, suffering and grief from the loss of my wife. I wanted the world to see how I was suffering. But I could not paint that. You told me to paint the light.” He called the painting “The Last Leaf.” He gave the painting to the Kinkades to sell and pay off the mortgage on their home.

This spoke something into my heart and spirit. Regardless of the pain and suffering we have all been through, we don’t need to give that to the world. They have enough pain and suffering of their own. We need to give them the “light” we learned from our suffering. So whatever we do – paint, write, teach, preach, or just live, give the LIGHT! -Cathy Beckom 11/15/18-

The Pulse Oximeter

Eleven years had passed. I looked at her in awe and amazement while she sat down on her hospital bed. She is still that lively and cheerful woman I knew. She is still that someone who sees the world in its colorful hues. A peculiar someone who enjoys life despite its inconveniences. Yet, she is already far from that new and clumsy nurse volunteer we both were when we applied in this hospital eleven years ago.

"Do you still remember about our pulse oximeter story?" She asked me while we talked about how we had been as new nurse trainees in this hospital.

I looked at her with closed brows while my thoughts drifted back to our first days of duty more than a decade ago. I saw ourselves as staff nurses'buddies in a chaotic hospital scene, tagging along our senior staff in attending patients in their different types of morbidities. I saw ourselves running to and fro, pulling emergency carts and suction machines in trembling knees. I saw ourselves assisting in giving NGT feedings, doing tracheostomy care with fear, checking blood glucose and many other procedures. I, also, remembered exactly how we felt a sense of fulfillment for being able to do it all alone for the first time. Yet, somehow, I could never bring back a significant memory about an incident relating to the use of that certain gadget.

Continued below

The Pulse Oximeter

Austin Perine is not your typical 
superhero.

Oh, sure, he looks the part, with his signature cape flapping against his blue shirt. He has an arch nemesis, as all good heroes must. He even uses a catchy name for his heroic alter ego: President Austin.

But two things set this caped crusader apart: His adversary is not confined to the pages of a comic book—President Austin’s foes, hunger and homelessness, are very real. Also, he’s only four years old.

Our hero’s origin story started this past February in the Perine family living room in Birmingham, Alabama. Austin and his father, TJ Perine, were watching a program on Animal Planet about a mother panda leaving her cubs. “I told him that the cubs would be homeless for a while,” TJ says. “Austin didn’t know what homelessness meant, but he was sad and wanted to know more.”

Continued below

This 4-Year-Old Boy Fights Hunger and Homelessness | Reader's Digest[

An Interesting Funeral

One day all the employees of a very unusual company reached their office and all saw a big sign on the main door which said this . . .

'Yesterday, the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym.'

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that person who hindered the growth of their colleagues and the company itself?

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.

Everyone thought - 'Who is this person who was hindering my progress?'

One by one the intrigued employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it, they suddenly became speechless.

They all got to stand near the coffin, and all ended up shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see themselves! There was also a sign next to the mirror that said. . .

'There is only one person who is capable of setting limits to your growth and IT IS YOU!'

Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your husband or wife changes, when your company changes, when your church changes, when your location changes, when your money changes, when your status changes . . .

No, your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs.

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses. Be a winner, build yourself and your reality. It's the way you face life itself that makes the difference.

-Author Unknown-

"When we believe that God is Father, we also believe that such a father's hand will never cause his child a needless tear. We may not understand life any better, but we will not resent life any longer." -William Barclay-

Father's Love Letter

My child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you (Psalm 139:1).

I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Psalm 139:2).

I am familiar with your ways (Psalm 139:3).

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matt 10:29-31) for you were made in my image (Genesis 1:27). In me, you live and move and have your being (Acts 17:28) for you are my offspring (Acts 17:28).

I knew you even before you were conceived (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

I chose you even before I planned creation (Ephesians 1:11-12).

You were not a mistake; all your days are written in my book (Psalm 139:15-16).

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live (Acts 17:26).

You were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

I knit you together in you mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) and brought you forth on the day you were born (Psalm 71:6).

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me (John 8:41-44).

I am not distant and angry, but I am the complete expression of love (1 John 4:16), and it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3:1).

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7:11) for I am the perfect father (Matthew 5:48).

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand (James 1:17) for I am your provider, and I meet all your needs (Matthew 6:31-33)

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) Because I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), my thoughts toward you are as countless as the sand on the seashore (Psalm 139:17-18) and I rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

I will never stop doing good to you (Jeremiah 32:40) for you are my treasured possession (Exodus 19:5). I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul (Jeremiah 32:41).

I want to show you great and marvelous things (Jeremiah 33:3). If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me (Deuteronomy 4:29). Delight in me, and I will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4) for it is I who gave you those desires (Philippians 2:13).

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3:20) for I am your greatest encourager (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

I am also the father who comforts you in all your troubles (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34:18). As a Shepard carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart (Isaiah 40:11).

One day, I will wipe away every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21:3-4) and I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth (Revelation 21:3-4).

I am your father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (John 17:26).

He is the exact representation of my being (Hebrews 1:3). He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Romans 8:31) and to tell you that I am not counting your sins (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Jesus died so that you could be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1 John 4:10).

I gave up everything I loved so that I might gain your love (Romans 8:31-32). If you receive the gift of my son, Jesus, you receive me (1 John 2:23), and nothing will ever separate you from my love again (Romans 8:38-39).

Come home, and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen (Luke 15:7). I have always been your father and will always be your father (Ephesians 3:14-15).

My question is, will you be my child (John 1:1-13)?

I am waiting for you (Luke 15:11-32).

Love,
Your Dad, Almighty God

The black dot

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.

The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following:

“I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams, and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students.

All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet.

After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor started to explain:

“I’m not going to grade you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about.

No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same thing happens in our lives. However, we insist on focusing only on the black dot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend. The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.

Take your the eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”

-Author Unknown-

How to change the world

The ninth week of SEAL training is referred to as Hell Week. It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment and one special day at the Mud Flats.

The Mud Flats are an area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slues—a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing-cold mud, the howling wind and the incessant pressure from the instructors to quit.

As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some "egregious infraction of the rules" was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads.

The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit—just five men and we could get out of the oppressive cold.

Looking around the mud flat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up—eight more hours of bone-chilling cold.

The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo through the night—one voice raised in song.

The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two, and two became three, and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.

The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing—but the singing persisted. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope.

The power of one person—Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan named Malala—can change the world by giving people hope.

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud.

Source: The commencement address by Admiral William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, at the University of Texas at Austin on 17 May 2014

Being and Breathing

One warm evening many years ago…

After spending nearly every waking minute with Angel for eight straight days, I knew that I had to tell her just one thing.

So late at night, just before she fell asleep, I whispered it in her ear. She smiled – the kind of smile that makes me smile back –and she said, “When I’m seventy-five and I think about my life and what it was like to be young, I hope that I can remember this very moment.”

A few seconds later she closed her eyes and fell asleep. The room was peaceful – almost silent. All I could hear was the soft purr of her breathing. I stayed awake thinking about the time we’d spent together and all the choices in our lives that made this moment possible. And at some point, I realized that it didn’t matter what we’d done or where we’d gone. Nor did the future hold any significance.

All that mattered was the serenity of the moment.

Just being with her and breathing with her.

The moral:

We must not allow the clock, the calendar, and external pressures to rule our lives and blind us to the fact that each individual moment of our lives is a beautiful mystery and a miracle – especially those moments we spend in the presence of a loved one.

Love stays

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night, the young marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died. The marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

A blessed U.S. Thanksgiving to you all!

When Mrs. Klein told her first graders to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful, she thought how little these children, who lived in a deteriorating neighborhood, actually had to be thankful for. She knew that most of the class would draw pictures of turkeys or of bountifully laden Thanksgiving tables. That was what they believed was expected of them.

What took Mrs. Klein aback was Douglas’s picture.

Douglas was so forlorn and likely to be found close in her shadow as they went outside for recess. Douglas’s drawing was simply this:

A hand, obviously, but whose hand? The class was captivated by his image. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one student.

“A farmer,” said another, “because they grow the turkeys.”

“It looks more like a policeman, and they protect us.” “I think,” said Lavinia, who was always so serious, “that it is supposed to be all the hands that help us, but Douglas could only draw one of them.”

Mrs. Klein had almost forgotten Douglas in her pleasure at finding the class so responsive. When she had the others at work on another project, she bent over his desk and asked whose hand it was.

Douglas mumbled, “It’s yours, Teacher.”

Then Mrs. Klein recalled that she had taken Douglas by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But that it should have meant so much to Douglas …

Perhaps, she reflected, this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving—not the material things given unto us, but the small ways that we give something to others.

-Originally Published on Readers Digest-

Dear friend: God loves you! Whatever your need He is there to meet you. Trust Him.

The Universe Is Expanding

What does it mean when they say the universe is expanding?(Everyday Mysteries: Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress)

"Everything of God finds its proper place in Him. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross."