Motivation for Service

The number of Americans living to at least 100 is expected to quadruple over the next 30 years, to about 422,000 by the mid-2050’s, according to the Pew Research Center. Laura Carstensen, founding director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity, says research has made surprising discoveries about the way older people view their lives. With fewer “what-ifs,” they appear to gain more clarity on their place in the world. She added “…changes will be needed to make the most of those added years.”

Most people believe that growing older is associated with loneliness, depression, anxiety, and that mental health suffers. The very good news is, it looks like people do better emotionally as they get older. This has been so surprising to researchers and to the general public that it’s probably been the most scrutinized finding about aging.

A lot goes wrong as we get older. There are physical problems, loss of loved ones, and age discrimination. There’s a lot that isn’t good about growing older, but people seem to do better emotionally. Older people have shorter time horizons. For many years, people thought that must make people miserable and scared. The interesting thing is there’s a paradox. It actually makes people feel calmer not to have to prepare for this long and nebulous future, and to be able to live more in the present.

Younger people are almost always thinking about the future. They almost always have one foot out the door, whatever they’re doing. And older people seem to do better just being able to be in the present and enjoy the moment. I think that is because they don’t have to keep planning. As people get older it’s clearer where they stand in the world and what they’re good at. And older people tend to look at the positive in life.

It doesn’t appear to be good for individuals or societies to have a large group of people kind of sit it out for 30 years. What we need to do is rethink how we live our lives from the beginning all the way through, in order to optimize these longer lives.

Possible Preaching Angle:

If you retire at age 65 or even 70 but live to be 100, what are you going to do for the Lord in those last 30 plus years? Are you really going to just sit in church for all those years? What does the Lord want you to do?

Loneliness is more than a feeling; it’s a public health crisis.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been raising awareness about the loneliness epidemic and its serious consequences. In his 2023 report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” Murthy highlighted the links between loneliness and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. Young people are especially affected, with 79% of adults aged 18-24 reporting feeling lonely, compared to 41% of those 66 and older.

Murthy believes the solution lies not in focusing on ourselves but in fostering deeper connections with others through relationships, service, and community. He notes that modern society often emphasizes self-centered pursuits like acquiring and achieving more, which fail to address the root causes of loneliness. Instead, he emphasized the joy that comes from connecting to something bigger than ourselves, calling service “one of the most powerful antidotes to loneliness.”

Social media plays a significant role in the loneliness epidemic. While apps like Instagram and TikTok allow for increased contact, they often fail to nurture meaningful, deep connections. Murthy explained that the shift from having confidants to contacts, and from friends to followers, has diminished the quality of our relationships. The superficial nature of online interactions can’t replace the intimacy and trust built through face-to-face conversations.

To combat loneliness, Murthy recommends investing time in fewer but deeper relationships, engaging in acts of service, and building community. Small gestures, such as bringing dinner to a busy friend or helping someone overwhelmed, can reduce feelings of isolation and foster connection. Likewise, using personal skills to contribute to a greater cause—like volunteering—can create a sense of purpose and belonging.

Murthy said, “Building community is one of the most important things we can do for our health and wellbeing.” By prioritizing genuine connections and collective purpose, we can address loneliness and its widespread impact on mental and physical health.

Rap artists Megan Thee Stallion and Missy Elliott have been burnishing their résumés as of late; following entries for “platinum-selling recording artist” there’s a new one: “budding philanthropist.”

Megan Pete, known onstage as Megan Thee Stallion, recently established a scholarship fund at her alma mater Texas Southern University. The $150,000 Flaming Hot Fund was established in partnership with Frito-Lay, and seeks to alleviate outstanding student debt. She said, “I feel like everyone knows I love education and I would definitely advise anyone to pursue a real degree and to finish school.”

The Flaming Hot Fund will be partially funded from sales of a streetwear apparel line inspired by Flaming Hot Cheetos, a favorite of hers. Additionally, Frito-Lay will make a separate donation of $100,000 to the Pete and Thomas Foundation, a non-profit Megan Thee Stallion launched in 2022 to help underserved communities in her hometown of Houston.

As for Missy Elliott, she recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her street dedication in Virginia by donating to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Elliott’s donation of $50,000 was enough to pay the past-due rents for 26 families in the area. She said that she wanted the occasion to be an opportunity to give back to the community that gave her so much.

Patricia Elliott spoke at the Portsmouth ceremony, explaining her daughter’s motivation for giving back: “So when you give, you give because you remember those days when you didn’t have. If each person would give when they get to the top, then, what a real beautiful world we would be in.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

You don't have to be a titan of business to engage in philanthropy; no matter your role, position, or station in life, anyone can make an impact through generosity.

In CT magazine, author and podcaster Jen Wilkins writes:

It was a typical Friday night at the Wilkin house. A spontaneous dinner had collected a growing number of neighbors and friends. As the kitchen swelled with people and chatter, I leaned over to each of my kids and whispered the code they were probably expecting: “FHB.”

Family hold back. Maybe you know this strategy, too. Surveying the food relative to the guests, it became apparent that we needed a non-miraculous solution for our five loaves and two fishes. My husband prayed over the meal and then, quietly, the Wilkins slipped to the back of the line, serving themselves minimal portions to stretch the food. They knew they wouldn’t go without; it was not a matter of if they would eat but when. Worst case, we’d order a pizza once the guests had gone home.

Nobody wants to be at the end of the line. Given the choice, we want to go first, to get the full portion, to sit in the most comfortable chair. But Christ-followers understand that life is about more than doing what we want. It’s about doing what we wish. Let me explain.

We can all imagine times when we wanted to be treated better, when we longed for more care, recognition, and grace than we received from others. We are not wrong to hold these wishes. They illustrate the basic human need to be known, loved, and accepted. And what we do with how we feel about our wishes, met and unmet, will shape the course of our lives. To that end, Jesus invites us to live lives directed by wishful thinking, though not in the way we might anticipate: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12, ESV).

Put simply, Jesus tells us to do what we wish. Thinking about our own wish list, we then act accordingly toward others. We give the encouragement we wish we had received…and serve as we wish to be served. We step to the end of the line. We move to the least comfortable chair. We defer what we wish for ourselves and instead secure it for others.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Every day we look for ways to do what we wish others would do for us. It’s easier to take the smaller portion when you know the lack is only temporary. This world is flat-out starving for kindness and decency. It is ravenous for meaning and purpose, and we are just the family to invite them to the table. Do it as Christ did for you.

Do impressive-sounding, inspirational job titles make us feel better about ourselves? Can they change our behavior? Research suggests that job titles have the power to improve our well-being and sense of control, and shield us from feeling socially snubbed. They might even encourage us to apply for a job in the first place.

Since a powerful-sounding job title can signify social status, it’s not surprising workers aspire to them. But a fancy title isn’t always about status. Simply making a title more fun can influence behavior. After attending a conference at Disneyland and upon discovering that employees there were called “cast members,” Susan Fenters Lerch felt inspired.

The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation returned to her office and told employees they could create their own “fun” job title, in addition to their official one, to reflect “their most important roles and identities in the organization.”

Researchers interviewed these employees a year and a half after Lerch’s decision. They found that their “self-reflective” job titles reduced workers’ emotional exhaustion, helped them cope with emotional challenges, and let them affirm their identity at work. Researcher Daniel Cable said, “The titles opened the door for colleagues to view one another as human beings, not merely job-holders.”

Researchers have also found that giving an employee a more senior-sounding title can make them act more responsibly by making them feel happier at work. Sociology professor Jeffrey Lucas found that giving high-performing employees a high-status job title could stop them from leaving. He carried out two experiments and discovered that workers with important-sounding job titles “displayed greater satisfaction, commitment, and performance and lower turnover intentions” than those who didn’t.

“However, as far as job titles go, it's important that people actually perceive the titles as conferring status. In other words, fancy titles that people perceive as being nothing more than just that would be unlikely to have positive consequences.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

This attitude could apply to valuing church staff, elected church officers, and volunteers. Do we follow Paul’s example in giving affirming titles those who serve with us? He publicly appreciated them and called them “fellow workers,” “beloved brothers,” “faithful ministers,” and “true partners” (Phil. 4:3; Col 4:7).

Australian Erchana Murray-Bartlett completed 150 marathons in 150 days, running 6,300 kilometers (3,900 miles) from the country’s northern tip to the southern city of Melbourne in what could be a new world record. The 32-year-old runner crossed the finish line on Monday after a feat that, if confirmed, will beat the previous world record of 106 consecutive marathons set by British national Kate Jayden last year.

While Jayden sought to raise money for refugees, Murray-Bartlett completed her run to raise awareness of the threats to Australia’s biodiversity. She said, “Australia is fantastic, it’s so beautiful, and that was one of the key things I wanted to get out of this run, it was to showcase Australia’s beauty to the world.”

Murray-Bartlett raised more than 118,000 Australian dollars ($82,130) for the Wilderness Society, with all profits going towards conserving Australia’s native animals.

Australia, which has one of the world’s worst records on extinctions, last year announced a 10-year plan to try to prevent any more species from dying out in the country. The country’s wildlife has suffered the effects of natural disasters and the climate crisis, including catastrophic bushfires in 2019-20 that killed or displaced nearly three billion animals.

After setting off from Cape York in Queensland in August, Murray-Bartlett ran 42.2 kilometers (26.2 miles) each day, enduring scorching heat and storms as she crossed dirt roads, rivers, and beaches. She said, “It’s very exhausting, I’ll give you that but I feel very blessed have been out to get to the finish line.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Christians have our own marathon to run with perseverance. Our race begins anew every day, and also has purpose - to please the One who calls us and to share our testimony with the world.

Michael Wingard arrived at Houston Methodist Hospital with a cheerful "Howdy!" He's a young man with a healthy left kidney. In a couple of hours, a surgeon will remove the kidney and sew it into someone else's body. This also happens to be the day before his 20th birthday.

Michael's parents, Adrien and Ed, are with him, and they tear up as Michael is checked in. His mother said, “I'm very, very nervous and scared and all those emotions, but I'm so proud of him. He knew that his friend needed a kidney and he had to do whatever it took to make it happen.”

Michael Wingard's kidney isn't going to his friend, though, because he wasn't a match for her. But he was a match for someone else. And that's how Wingard became the first link in a 10-person chain that took place at Houston Methodist earlier this month.

In addition to Wingard, the swap involved:

Heather O'Neil Smarrella, who will get his kidney. Then her twin

Staci O'Neil gave her kidney to

Javier Ramirez Ochoa, whose son-in-law

Tomas Martinez, donated a kidney to

Chris McLellan, whose father

David McLellan, gave his kidney to

Barbara Moton, whose daughter

Lisa Jolivet, gave her kidney to

Kaelyn Connelly, Wingard's friend.

This 10-person procedure takes place over four days, and it's uncommon. Usually, the hospital has chains that involve up to six people. With all its complexities--from matching antibodies to patient health--a kidney swap of this size is hard to pull off. This one was postponed three times. But it's worth the effort. There are about 90,000 people on the transplant list, waiting for a kidney. Many will remain on the list for years. Some die waiting.

Two days after Michael Wingard's kidney surgery, a group of strangers gathered in a conference room at the hospital. Michael Wingard, Kaelyn Connelly, Heather O'Neil Smarrella, Staci O'Neil, Lisa Jolivet, Javier Ochoa, Tomas Martinez, and Chris McLellan sat around a conference table. And then they weren't strangers anymore. Chris McLellan leans over to Tomas Martinez: "Thank you for giving me my life back." And, he adds, "You have an awesome kidney."

Possible Preaching Angle:

You never know how your service to others, even to strangers, will radiate out into your community.

Melody Thueson is a fourth-grade teacher at Mae Richardson Elementary School, and she nearly helped put her school into the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s because Melody and her community of students and teachers assembled 6,877 cereal boxes, which were all eventually toppled in a domino-like fashion. Captured on a viral video in June, the display eclipsed the official Guinness World Record of 6,391.

Time and other logistical constraints prevented Guinness officials from verifying the feat, but Melody says she’s not worried about that part, since the record was only a fun byproduct. Melody said, “Our Community 101 class had to do a service project. That’s one of the requirements for the class. Our local food bank is ACCESS, and so we thought we’d try to beat the world record. Not thinking we’d actually do it, but we did.”

The cereal boxes were subsequently donated to ACCESS, which serves families in Jackson County, Oregon.

Possible Preaching Angle:

One of the hallmarks of God's economy is that generosity is multiplied. When we go out of our way to be a blessing to others, we also find ourselves blessed.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, US relief agencies began ramping up fundraising efforts to assist in helping out refugees. But many Americans found another way to provide direct relief to struggling Ukrainians, people like Volodymyr Bondarenko.

Bondarenko had a one-bedroom apartment in the capital city of Kyiv, and in the first several days of March he and several others like him were inundated with bookings via Airbnb from people who wanted to donate but had no intention of actually staying there.

The idea came from a social media campaign, which urged benefactors to book trips at properties that are owned by individuals, rather than property management corporations. Bondarenko said, “More than 10 bookings came in today. This was surprising, it's very supportive at the moment. I told many of my relatives and friends that I plan to use this money to help our people who need it at this time.”

Careyann Deyo of New York City is one of many who stepped up to donate via Airbnb during such a critical time of need. She said, “I donated to larger organizations as well. But [I] felt this had a more immediate impact.” Her Ukrainian recipient’s response was humbling. "I'm crying. You are my heroes.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we use our resources to tangibly help and show compassion to those in need, we model the life and way of Jesus.

Broadway actor Claybourne Elder has a tradition that he loves to enact, most recently during the run of his current show, the musical comedy Company. It starts with food. Once a month, he and his four-year-old son Bo make a special trip to a diner. Once there, Bo selects a person and Elder pays for their food. They like to call it “special breakfast.” Elder says, “I think exposing him to that sort of generosity from an early age is very important,”

Elder is committed to paying generosity forward because at a young age, he too was blessed by a stranger’s generosity. Elder was a 23-year-old aspiring actor who had just finished watching a play, when a stranger came up to him in the back of the theater. The man said, “You look like you were enjoying that show more than people in the expensive seats.” He then gave Elder $200, and told him to buy good seats to see the musical Sweeney Todd. He added, “It’ll change your life.” Against what felt like his better judgment, Elder took the man’s money and followed his instructions, but not before taking a quick photo with him.

Turns out, that stranger was right. That version of Sweeney Todd, which starred Patti LuPone, further ignited Elder’s passion for theater, and motivated him to continue chasing his dream. Now his role in Company has him sharing a stage with LuPone herself.

Elder recently decided to level up his gratitude game by giving away two free tickets to Company. In an Instagram post, he explained that he wanted the tickets to go to someone who couldn’t normally afford to go, and he included the photo he took with that anonymous benefactor all those years ago.

Several strangers saw his post and sent him enough additional money to give away 10 free tickets instead of two. In addition, one of his Instagram followers recognized the man in the picture, and put them in touch.

The two shared a FaceTime call days later. Mark Howell was the man who met Elder that day. “I wanted to be an actor when I was his age,” said Howell. “I saw some of my enthusiasm and passion for theater in him.” Elder says, “He gave me this gift 15 years ago, and I feel like, in a way, I got to give him a gift back.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we are generous with strangers, we are modeling the unconditional love that God offers to each of us.

In July of 2021, The New York Times ran a special 55-page section about the 2.5 million essential service workers who kept New York City alive while many New Yorkers worked remotely. One of the heroes of the story was Gustavo Ajeche, a 2004 immigrant from Guatemala.

By day Gustavo works construction. At night he delivers food for restaurants in the Financial District. His wife works as a nanny for a family in Manhattan. This job became a live-in position when her employer had her accompany them to their second home in North Carolina from March through September last year. Gustavo and his wife do not have a second house, but they do have a second extended family to support back home in Guatemala. Their jobs often get little or no recognition or praise.

But at the end of the article Gustavo said, “The pandemic was hard, but it taught me I can help. I would come home exhausted, but hearing ‘gracias” or ‘God bless you,’ that was beautiful. I’ll never forget my roots in Guatemala. I struggled for my community. But I feel like a real New Yorker now.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

(1) The gospel tells us that through Jesus Christ we can hear God the Father’s “well done” on our life’s work. (2) Showing appreciation to others.

When French impressionist painter Auguste Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than him. The two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions. Matisse visited him daily. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. He had to hold his brush between his thumb and index finger. As he painted, students often heard him crying out in pain.

One day as Matisse watched the elder painter work in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out, “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?” Renoir said, “The pain passes but the beauty remains.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

If we were to speak to Jesus on resurrection morning, He might have said the same thing. The pain of the Cross has passed, but the beauty remains: The beauty of new creation, the beauty of an army of disciples that spans the millennia, the beauty of a kingdom established in the hearts of his people, all this remains. But it may be that you are going through pain just now and you can’t see an end to that pain. Can you trust that out of the pain will come a beauty that will last forever? Give that pain to God and ask him show you its beauty.

With 77 years of working for the state of California under her belt, May Lee has dedicated most of her life to public service. Lee recently turned 100 years old, and is California's longest-tenured employee and oldest worker. A financial analyst with the Department of General Services, she began working for the California government in 1943. She has served under 10 different governors, and is "a state treasure."

Lee, who has no plans to retire, has traveled to more than 150 different countries, and has photos of her adventures on display in her office. Looking back at the last century, Lee believes she "did the best I could in this world, both in work and life and with the family. So, I'm satisfied with my life. I'm happy."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Every Christian should make it their goal to serve the Lord as long as health and strength remain. Even 77 years of service is short in view of an eternity of rewards for faithful service.

Author Alan Fadling asks us to consider this parable:

There was once a king who had two servants. One of the servants, for fear of not pleasing his master, rose early each day to hurry along to do all the things that he believed the king wanted done. He didn't want to bother the king with questions about what that work was. Instead, he hurried from project to project from early morning until late at night.

The other servant was also eager to please his master and would rise early as well. But he took a few moments to go to the king, ask him about his wishes for the day and find out just what it was he desired to be done. Only after such a consultation did this servant step into the work of his day, work comprised of tasks and projects the king himself had expressed a desire for.

The busy servant may have gotten a lot done by the time the inquiring servant even started his work. But which of them was doing the will of the master and pleasing him?

Genuine productivity is not about getting as much done for God as we can manage. It is doing the good work God actually has for us in a given day. Genuine productivity is learning that we are more than servants, that we are beloved sons and daughters invited into the good kingdom work of our heavenly Father. That being the case, how might God be inviting you to wait for his specific direction? Or is God inviting you to take a specific step now?

How far would you go to understand the struggles of someone else? How close would you get? Consider the sacrifice of Kris Rotonda. Many thought he was crazy. His girlfriend, family, and friends tried to talk him out of it. But once Kris Rotonda became aware of the struggles the Humane Society of Pasco County faced—a lack of funding and a limited number of volunteers—he knew something had to be done to shed a light on the conditions.

So, he packed rice cakes, protein bars, pre-packaged meals, an ample supply of water, a pillow, blanket, and three lanterns, and barricaded himself in a cage with different dogs at the shelter for 10 nights.

Rotonda said, "(Shelters) are often overlooked. I kind of wanted to wake up … the community a little more and put myself in the position of these animals to understand how solitude gets to you and how to deal with it. It’s very difficult, and it gives you a different perspective.”

Staff employees treated him like a dog, (as he asked them to), taking him outside only for an hour and a half to play and use the bathroom. He said, “I told the shelter, ‘Don’t give me any special treatment. Treat me like a German Shepherd.’” It was hot. He couldn’t shower. There were bugs. The smell of urine filled his nostrils. And the loud barking of up to 50 dogs kept him up at night.

Possible Preaching Angle:

By putting ourselves in the middle of another person's struggle, their loss, their cage, we can better identify with them as individuals. It will not be easy; it will be loud and messy. And it will reflect the work of Jesus. He left the comfort of a heavenly home to live with a bunch of strays. not for 10 days, but for 33 years.

There is no shortage of people today who would like to be used to do something important, something meaningful. But most of us aren’t really sure where to start. Maybe a few words of wisdom from someone who has become known for heroism can help us find a starting point.

He pulled a person from a flaming vehicle in South Korea. He served on President Trump’s security detail during the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He also played a pivotal role in the rescue of junior Thai soccer players trapped in a cave, during which he saved the life of a Thai Navy SEAL. In recognition of those acts, US Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth O’Brien was named one of a dozen outstanding airmen of the year. But the Japan-based airman’s impressive résumé didn’t end there.

On a flight back to the United States to receive the award, O’Brien noticed a 1-year-old choking. He immediately sprang into action, clearing the child’s breathing passage and performing CPR. He said, “I’m thankful that the child is okay and that I was able to help when the family needed support. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

But O’Brien seems to be at the right place at the right time a lot lately. But maybe the uncanny number of heroic opportunities has nothing to do with luck. In an interview, O’Brien had this to say:

If someone needs to go do something dangerous, I volunteer. If someone needs a leader, I volunteer. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s what helped me stand out because I sought out key positions or responsibilities.

He happens to be in the right place at the right time because he put himself in situations where he could be used. He volunteered and found himself being used.

Keoni Ching is like a lot of boys his age. He likes to create things, and he likes to help people. But during a school event, he combined those likes to make a big difference at his school.

He was inspired by NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, who recently donated over $27,000 to help pay off student lunch debts in Santa Clara. Ching wanted to help erase student lunch debts at this school. So, by selling handmade keychain bracelets for $5 each, he raised over $4,000--enough to pay for the lunch debts at his school, and six other area schools.

Ching came up with the idea as part of the school’s “Kindness Week,” and said he selected key chains because “I love key chains. They look good on my backpack.” With the help of his parents and grandparents, he sold over 300 of them.

His mother, April Ching said, “We have sent key chains to Alaska, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Arizona, all over the country. There was one lady who said she wanted $100 worth of key chains so that she could just hand them out to people. ... There were several people who bought one key chain and gave (Keoni) a hundred bucks. It was absolutely amazing how much support the community showed for his whole project.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

God gives each of us opportunities to use our gifts to bless others in need; it's also part of the redemptive cycle of shalom that those enslaved by debts be given the mechanism to be free from those debts.

Here's an example of how a Christian might use the Old Testament law as the basis for ethical reflection. In Deuteronomy 22:8, Moses instructs the people, "When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof." A parapet is an extension of the exterior wall above roof level, resulting in a solid protective wall for anyone standing on the roof.

In ancient Israel the typical home had a flat roof on which lots of living took place. Occupants might sleep on the roof during the summer months, worship there, separate grain from chaff, or socialize. The practical function of a parapet is obvious, given the architecture and lifestyle of the Israelites.

In North America, we typically do not hang out on the rooftops. Most homes do not have flat roofs, and the only occasions on which we climb our peaked roofs are to clean out the gutters (or eaves troughs, for my Canadian hearers), or to replace the shingles. In these cases a parapet would merely get in the way. However, the principle of God's instruction is clear: the safety of the family and visitors to the home is the responsibility of a homeowner. Modern-day equivalents might include railings for our staircases, covers for our electrical outlets (if we have small children), and bracing for furniture such as dressers or bookcases so that they do not tip over. We could even extend our application of this command to clearing snow from our sidewalks so that passersby do not slip and fall on the ice. The point is that as members of the covenant community, it is our duty to look out for the well-being of those around us.

Latonya Young, a hairstylist who moonlights as an Uber driver, is grateful for an unexpected blessing from one of her fares. Young said, “That one ride changed me.”

Kevin Esch was a passenger that Young picked up outside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As they chatted, Young happened to mention that she was recently forced to withdraw from college because of an unpaid student account. Young remembered, “Every time I got ready to pay the money, my kids needed something. I said, 'OK, I'll just wait.’” A few days later, Latonya was surprised to be notified that she was eligible to register for classes at Georgia State University. Esch had paid her $700 debt.

Esch told CNN, “There was something about Latonya that resonates with me and we developed an incredible friendship now and I am incredibly proud of what she's done. I could've bought new clothes or I could've helped someone out. And what has come back to me has come back a hundredfold and I would do it 1,000 times over.”

In December, Esch was in attendance as Young graduated from Georgia State with an associate’s degree in criminal justice. She intends to return to GSU to pursue a bachelor’s degree, the next step in her quest to become an attorney.

Possible Preaching Angle: Part of the call of discipleship is a readiness to be used by God to bless God's people. God can use any relationship or interaction for His kingdom purpose; as Christians we should be on the lookout for opportunities to share God's love through acts of service, gratitude and generosity.

Ethan Crispo hit a local Waffle House looking for a late-night snack. What he got instead, was so much more valuable. Crispo entered the Waffle House on his way home from a birthday party, and immediately noticed a problem. The store was full of “hungry, heavily imbibed customers,” and only one person working, a man named Ben.

Crispo said, “I’ve just sat down at my table and it’s becoming clear I’ll be going home with an empty stomach. From the blue, a man stands up. Asks Ben for an apron, and begins to work behind the counter. It was a transition so smooth I initially assumed it was a staff member returning to their shift. It wasn’t. It was a kind stranger. A man who answered the call. Bussed tables, did dishes, stacked plates.”

When Ben came over to take Ethan’s order, he gratefully confirmed the man’s mysterious heroism. “‘Who’s that guy? Does he work here?’ ‘No.’ ‘Does he work at any Waffle House?’ ‘Nope.’” Apparently, this man, identified only by a blue shirt he was wearing at the time, so inspired a spirit of cooperation that others joined in to help—including a lady in a dress and high heels.

Pat Warner, a PR director for Waffle House confirmed that there had been a scheduling miscue at this store. He said it wasn’t the first time customers had been seen helping out in adverse circumstances, citing a similar situation during an ice storm in Atlanta. Warner said, “That’s the great thing we have with our customers, the sense of community.” Crispo agreed, “It was just one of the most wild instances of really, really cool people just coming together… humanity isn’t just good, it’s great.”

Possible Preaching Angle: We live out the call of Christ when we sacrificially give expecting nothing in return.