Contributions

When James Free looked inside the donation bin, he saw something that he normally sees: a pair of shoes. Free was volunteering with Portland Rescue Mission, the organization that helped him to stabilize and get back on his feet after a season of addiction and houseless living. In his role helping to sort donated goods, he’d seen many pairs of shoes come through the bin. But these shoes looked different. They looked special.

It turns out, they were. They were a pair of limited-edition gold-colored Air Jordan IIIs, which were specially designed at the request of film director Spike Lee to celebrate his first televised Oscar win at the Academy Awards in 2019. Somehow, someone at Nike’s global headquarters in nearby Beaverton, got a pair of these rare shoes, and instead of keeping them or selling them, donated them to Portland Rescue Mission.

After Free saw the shoes, he alerted director of staff ministries Erin Holcomwb, who reached out to some local sneakerhead experts who could help authenticate their value. Eventually Holcomb reached out to Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, who donated an original box and several other design artifacts to complete and legitimize the shoes as a collector’s item. In their final more glorified form, Holcomb personally escorted the shoes to New York, where they could be authenticated and auctioned off by the luxury auction firm Sotheby’s.

Holcomb said, “In my seventeen years of working at the mission, this is the first time we’ve ever decided to resell a donation.” She says those Air Jordans are a great metaphor for the work they do at the mission: helping people rediscover themselves as incalculable treasures of humanity, despite having been discarded or overlooked by others.

The shoes eventually sold for more than $50,000, which was donated to the mission to continue their work. Hatfield said, “I’m thrilled the shoes ended up here. It’s a happy ending to a really great project.”

A vanilla shake is one of life’s simple pleasures, especially on a hot summer’s day. Did you know that vanilla traces its origin all the way back to a twelve-year-old slave boy living on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean? Vanilla is now the most popular spice in the world, but in 1841 the world produced fewer than two thousand vanilla beans, all in Mexico.

Up until the mid-19th century, vanilla orchids were pollinated exclusively by a particular genus of bee in Mexico. Over the years, as demand rose, attempts were made to industrialize the pollination process, to no avail. Vanilla was stubborn. All of this changed thanks to the ingenuity of that 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius on a small island, 500 miles east of Madagascar. He was uneducated, yet he managed to solve one of the great botanical mysteries of the nineteenth century.

In 1822 a plantation owner on the island of Reunion was granted some vanilla plants from the French government. Only one of them survived, and nearly two decades later it still hadn't fruited. Without that bee pollinator, no one outside Mexico could get their plants to flower--that is, until Edmond worked his magic.

The owner was walking his plantation with Edmond in 1841 when he discovered, much to his surprise, that his vanilla vine had produced two beans! That’s when Edmond revealed, very matter-of-factly, that he had pollinated them by hand. The disbelieving plantation owner asked for a demonstration, so Edmond gently pinched the pollen-bearing anther and the pollen-receiving stigma between his thumb and index finger.

By 1858 Reunion was exporting two tons of vanilla. By 1867, it was up to twenty tons. And by 1898, it was two hundred tons. And it all traces back to a twelve-year-old boy named Edmond who hand pollinated a single vanilla vine. From that single vine, a billion-dollar industry was created.

Possible Preaching Angles: Hope; Insignificance; Persistence; Patience; Small things; – The least likely person can be used by God to bring about great changes if they use their gifts and opportunities regardless of their circumstances.

A half-century ago, America's dreams were realized in space. The power of US innovation and spirit took the Apollo 11 crew to the moon and back. That mission was possible because of a diverse team of engineers, astronauts, and mathematicians. It was also possible thanks to the help of one 10-year-old boy who was in the right place at the right time.

In 1969, Greg Force lived in Guam with his father, Charles Force. Charles worked as the director of a NASA tracking station that helped connect the capsule with NASA Mission Control for voice communication. After Apollo 11 began its departure from the moon, a problem arose. A bearing had broken in the dish antenna needed to track the ship. Without it, NASA risked losing the ability to communicate with the capsule as it approached Earth.

Scrambling to find a solution, Charles called home, hoping that Greg's child-size dimensions could be of assistance. He asked Greg to come to the tracking station and squeeze his arm through the antenna's access hole and pack grease around the bearing. The 10-year-old rose to the challenge and scampered up the ladder. Greg said, “I would take a big handful of grease—you know, you squish it. It comes out between your fingers, and I stuck them down in there and packed them the best I could.”

Greg succeeded, and a NASA public affairs officer noted his contribution in an announcement: “The bearing was replaced with the assistance of a 10-year-old boy named Greg Force who had arms small enough that he could work through a 2.5 inch diameter hole to pack [the bearing].”

The Apollo 11 moon landing succeeded with the help of a 10-year-old boy and the rest is history.

Abby Wambach, a forward (or striker) on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, formerly held the world record for most international goals, for both female and male players. In her career she has scored an astounding 177 goals, many of them on her signature move—a diving header. But Wambach quickly credits her teammates for her success. Wambach has said, "I've never scored a goal without getting a pass from someone else."

Editor’s Note: Abby was surpassed by Christine Sinclair of Canada with the most international goals (190) but this quote is still valid

In their book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton provide five principles for what they call "Happy Money." Money can't really buy happiness, but it can bring a lot more fun into your life if you spend it in the right way and on the right things. Based on their research, here are the five principles of happy money:

1. Buy experiences, not just things. We can find happiness in experiences and are often disappointed by things, such as dream houses and dream cars.
2. Make it a treat. Having a house full of chocolate bars is a good way to lose the joy of chocolate, but anticipating a special chocolate treat makes your money go a long way.
3. Buy time. We are "time poor" people so slow down and avoid expenditures that devour time. Recapture the pleasures lost by living in an all-consuming rush.
4. Pay now, consume later. Reverse the established order of our consumer society by having the money before you do or buy something, not after.
5. Invest in others. Whether we give to friends and family or make charitable donations, studies show, most people find more happiness in sharing than spending on themselves.

Dunn and Norton do not mention it, but according to Scripture, giving generously to the church and kingdom causes is the epitome of "Happy Money."

Pennies are a dime a dozen (to coin a phrase). Without much effort, one could find a penny on the floor or in a parking lot. We may even pass one without picking it up. An article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, however, relates the power of pennies when they join forces:

• A one cent per case increase of Coca-Cola would bring the company $45 million a year.
• A one cent-per-gallon increase in the price of jet fuel increases Delta Airline's company costs by $25 million a year.
• A one cent increase in the hourly wage for all the employees of Home Depot amounts to $6.5 million a year.
• If Krispy Kreme increased the cost of each donut by one penny, the company would increase profits by $27 million.