Tag: encouragement

  • Taking Jesus Along for the Ride

    Taking Jesus Along for the Ride

    On the day before one of our secretaries had major surgery, our front office staff circled up in the head principal’s office to pray with her. After we finished, she handed each of us a little rubber Jesus figurine. He’s about one and a half inches tall, and he’s reaching out with both arms and…

  • The Search

    The Search

    There was once a wealthy heiress to a real estate fortune who was a collector of fine art. In particular, she was keen to acquire the early paintings of Pablo Picasso. Virtually every time a work from his Blue Period, when he painted mostly in shades of blue and blue-green, became available, the heiress tried…

  • Daddy’s First Car

    Daddy’s First Car

    Early in my nursing home ministry days, I purchased a digital audio recorder, to capture some of the fascinating stories the residents shared. I loved the one told us by a ninety-year-old lady about how the children in her one room schoolhouse crowded around one of the few radios in their community to hear President…

  • From Darkness to Light: Stories of Encouragement

    From Darkness to Light: Stories of Encouragement

    I read a story the other day about a young girl who eloped from a shelter for troubled teens in the wee hours of the night. She was found in the woods a few hours later, not by the police, but by a female janitor from the local school. When asked how she knew where…

  • The Triple-A Approach to Helping Someone in Need

    The Triple-A Approach to Helping Someone in Need

    After I left full-time ministry, but before I became a teacher, I spent three years in sales with Frito Lay, Inc. I was a Route Sales Rep, which is a front-line position selling salty snacks to grocery and convenience stores. One day, my boss was helping me set up a huge display of potato chips…

  • Building Legacies Through Kindness and Faith

    Building Legacies Through Kindness and Faith

    This year when I reported back to work as an elementary assistant principal, I noticed some new faces. As I introduced myself to an assistant principal who looked older than me, and I’m a middle-aged guy, I assumed she was someone who retired, and then was rehired. When I told her my name and asked…