Despite all of the horrible things that we read about in the news, the truth is that there are still people out there that are making great sacrifices in order to do good for others. My hope is that these extraordinary stories of human kindness will inspire others to act likewise. We live at a moment in history when darkness is growing rapidly all around us, and our society can feel so very cold at times. Those that follow my work regularly already know that I write a lot about this growing darkness. In fact, just yesterday I posted articles about the collapse of the American family and our wildly out of control drug crisis. One of the reasons why I write so much about the darkness is so that people will start realizing the need for radical solutions. As Kirk Cameron has aptly noted, it can be exceedingly difficult to “try to give a cure to a patient who wasn’t convinced of his disease”. It is time for American to wake up. The status quo is not acceptable, we are steamrolling down a road that leads to national suicide, and we need to understand the error of our ways before it is too late.
What we should all want is a society that is filled with love. As humans, we are meant to love and to be loved, but love seems to be in such short supply in our nation today.
Fortunately, there are still a lot of people out there that are trying to do the right thing.
Let me start by sharing the story of a five-year-old girl named Katelynn Hardee. When she heard that some other families were having a really hard time paying for school lunches for their kids, she decided to take matters into her own hands…
After overhearing another child’s mother say she was having a hard time paying for an after-school program, Katelynn Hardee, 5, spoke to her own mother about how she could help other students.
Katelyn set up a cocoa-and-cookies stand, and it turned into a success. She soon decided the money she made would be used to pay off the lunch debt of 123 students in her San Diego County school district.
“I don’t want people to be hungry,” Hardee told NBC San Diego, which did not say how much the bill was.
Sometimes it takes a child to remind the rest of us how we are supposed to live.
I really enjoy interacting with small children, because their hearts have not yet been corrupted by the great evil that permeates our society at every level. They instinctively understand the value in helping others, and they take great joy in making a difference.
Never lose your joy, because it is a source of fuel that will propel you in the direction of becoming the person that you were always meant to be.
And if you have lost your joy along the way, do whatever you can to get it back.
We all have a purpose, and we all have the capacity to do something really special.
Just consider the story of Nancy Banta of Rumson, New Jersey. According to her daughter, she has been crocheting blankets for sick children in the hospital for many years…
“My mom has been donating crocheted blankets to sick children over the past 20+ years,” her daughter said. “In total she has made 49 afghans this year, 45 of which she just donated to Jersey Shore Medical Hospital’s Pediatric and Pediatric ICU wards.”
This is Banta’s 5th year donating to the hospital.
“She has probably donated over 1,000 blankets to those in need at this point in her lifetime and she’s not stopping anytime soon!” her daughter added.
What a wonderful lady.
That is the kind of person that I want in my life. People that joyfully give to others consistently are always such a blessing to be around.
It has been said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it is also true that being a “giver” makes you a much better person than being a “taker”.
Speaking of giving, a large church in New Jersey made news when they put together over 1,000 food kits for needy children in their community…
A New Jersey-based nondenominational megachurch has helped to pack more than 1,000 food kits for less fortunate children living in the area.
The Paramus campus of The Life Christian Church, which meets at an AMC movie theater at Garden State Plaza, helped put together 1,056 food kits on Sunday with other volunteers.
Terry Smith, senior pastor of Life Christian, told The Christian Post that the food-packing event was consistent with one of the church’s core values, namely, to be “enthusiastic servants of all.”
As I document regularly on my website, tens of millions of American families deeply struggle to pay for the basics in this economy, and things are only going to get worse in the years ahead.
But if we had more churches doing this sort of thing, we would be in far, far better shape.
I greatly applaud what they are trying to do, and I believe that they will be greatly blessed for their efforts.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to share with you the story of Bonita the dog.
Bonita spent 500 days in a shelter in Niagara Falls, New York, but now she finally has a forever home…
After spending 500 days in an animal shelter in Niagara Falls, New York, a 5-year-old pit bull mix is going home for Christmas!
Bonita, the shelter’s longest resident – and one of its most popular dogs – finally found a home just in time for Christmas after she was adopted by local man Ray Kinz.
In a video captured by the Niagara County SPCA, Bonita is given a loving sendoff by her former family members at the shelter. She jumps up and wags her tail as she passes through the crowd with Kinz.
Sometimes, it is those that have been through the most pain that are the most loving of all, and I have a feeling that Bonita is going to shower Mr. Kinz with a tremendous amount of love and affection in the years ahead.
If you want to live a life that really matters, endeavor to be a person of great love. The big news networks are unlikely to cover the stories that I just shared with you on their broadcasts, but it is acts of kindness such as these that are going to make our society a better place to live.
The more we love, the more we will grow, and may we never stop growing.