Did you attend worship this weekend? Kudos!

Our country is proud of its freedoms. As every elementary student learns, freedom of religion was the very reason the Pilgrims fled England and came to live on these shores.

Yet here we are over 300 years later, and as the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings clearly show, some of our citizens are targeted for their religion. How do we move forward? 

Our reaction might be to hide our faith under a rock, to worship our God in the privacy of our own homes, and to keep the outward symbols of our faith hidden from public view. 

That would give evil power over us. We can't let that happen. We won't. 

As the synagogue's rabbi said, we move forward in love. We respect one another. We hold true to who we are. 

If you wear symbols of your faith, speak your faith, or in any other way live out your faith in God, well done. 

If you attended a worship service this weekend, you demonstrated courage in the face of evil. Well done. 

Every day, millions of Americans and billions of people around the world give thanks to the higher power that connects us all. May it continue to be so.

  

Misdialed number sends Jimmy John's driver to pick up a vet and deliver him to the ER

Lisa Nagengast calls it 'divine intervention.'

She was on the phone with her brother, Navy vet Greg Holeman of Columbus, Nebraska. He was home recovering from back surgery and told her about post-op complications he was having. She wanted him to call an ambulance, but he was worried about the expense. Unable to help in person from her home in Florida, Lisa dialed Greg's social worker at the Department of Veteran's Affairs in Nebraska.

At least she thought she did.

She actually reached Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, and told the story to Lupe Rodriguez, the woman who answered at the shop. Lupe handed the phone to the night manager, Jason Voss, and Voss listened to the panicked woman on the other end of the phone.

Within minutes, Voss had talked the situation over with one of his drivers, Zach Hillmer. A vet himself, Hillmer volunteered to help. With Voss' blessing, Hillmer called Lisa back to get Greg's address.

Lisa was confused and wondered why the social workers didn't have access to her brother’s information. That's when she learned she'd called a sandwich shop.

With details in hand, Hillmer picked Greg up and delivered him to the Emergency Room. 

Because a number of people responded to Greg's need with empathy, he is now back home and doing well. "It was meant to be," Lisa says.

With the wedding called off, she donated the venue to another couple

A couple weeks before her wedding, Kolbie Sanders of Tyler, Texas called off the wedding. Unable to give a refund on short notice, the venue offered to apply her funds to a later date.

Kolbie had another idea. She told the venue she planned to give it away to another couple ready to be married. A couple she didn't know.
She put her idea out there on Facebook. The post was shared thousands of times, and responses poured in. Not all the responses were of the 'pick me!' type, many were offers of support. Within days, a photographer, a florist, a bakery, and a restaurant all offered to donate to the chosen couple's wedding.

Just days before the October 20th wedding, Kolbie literally reached into a hat and chose Halie Hipsher and her fiance Matt Jones. Their wedding was planned for 2019, but Halie's grandfather has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The quick wedding meant he could attend, which in turn, meant the world to Halie and Matt. 

The wedding went off without a hitch. Kolbie even dropped in for a quick photo with the happy couple.

Prepping The Path Divided

Sometime in the next few weeks, this blog will announce the release of my new title: The Path Divided. As the sequel (read: conclusion) to the story begun in Risking Exposure, I had my fair share of hurdles in the writing process. After all, the story must continue where the other story left off, all those familiar characters and settings, but it also must offer something different. I'm sure readers will tell me if I accomplished that.

My cover is currently under construction by the super-talented graphic artist Michael Rausch. A print proof was delivered today (sans cover) so I could check the physical layout of the pages. (Needs modification.) With any luck, the book will be ready for readers by early November. Stay tuned!

Combating loneliness with 'talking tables'

In recent weeks, signs appeared on some cafe tables in a British supermarket chain: "Reserved for customers in the mood for a chat."

Edward Collett works at the welcome desk as a London-area Sainsbury Supermarket. He notes that  customers come to him for company as much as for shopping questions, which has made him a keen observer of human behavior. A number of regular customers will wait on a longer line just to share a few words with a familiar check-out clerk. Some are elderly and living alone, and seem to use these small exchanges as a way of finding companionship. He sees the same trend in young mothers who spend their days caring for children's needs.

Collett is delighted Sainsbury is doing its part to support England's national Loneliness Initiative. He sees supermarkets and their cafes as the modern equivalent of the village green. He hopes customers take advantage of the opportunity to connect with others. After all, 'people fade away without human company.' 

Small pizzeria has given away over 140,000 slices to local homeless

Shortly after Mike and Jenny Stevens opened their Little Caesar's franchise in Fargo, North Dakota, they saw a homeless man sitting at a nearby gas station. Mike thought he looked hungry, so he brought him a pizza. A few days later, Mike saw someone rummaging through the restaurant's dumpster. He posted this sign in the window, and his mission was born. 

Over the next two years, the pizza giveaway grew. Mike started to deliver pizzas to local homeless shelters, three of which have adopted 'pizza night' as a regular part of their routine. When Mike died of leukemia last year, Jenny and her daughters continued his generous practice. 

 Local patrons wanted to help. Since a single slice costs the Stevens' 50 cents to make, Jenny has set up a box to accept 50 cent donations from customers. She also set up a GoFundMe account to offset the cost of continuing the program. 

With the help of volunteers, the Stevens' franchise has given away over $70,000 worth of pizza, 142,000 slices to date!  About the program, Jenny said, “It’s a small thing that we can do to bring a big difference in their day and it’s just kept going. You have to come together to help each other out. We just do it because it seems like the right thing to do.”

He's given away 1,000 motel nights to hurricane evacuees

While Hurricane Florence was bearing down on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jaret Huck put his mom's lessons into action. “Love thy neighbor, right? That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Hucks later told reporters. “My mama taught me that a long time ago.”

Hucks put out the word on Facebook: the motel he owns, Midtown Inn and Cottages, was open to hurricane evacuees. For free. Seriously. Not only that, he disregarded his own No Pets policy and allowed families to bring their dogs, cats, turtles, and even a pet squirrel. 

Local businesses and individuals got wind of Hucks' generosity. In the days after the storm, donations of food, ice, diapers, and toiletries rolled in, making Midtown an epicenter for relief efforts. To date, Hucks has given away over 1,000 free nights to the area's poorest and most vulnerable families. The local community has provided them three meals a day, plus shoes, clothes, and more.  

For his generosity, Hucks was given the national Jefferson Award. While honored by this, he insists his best reward is a more humble one: the crayon-scrawled thank you cards and pictures which now decorate his office.   

Customer complains about service given by employee with special needs. Owner says they 'hire ALL God's children'

A customer at the Pizza Inn in Greenville, South Carolina had a complaint - he asked an employee to refill a lettuce bowl and it wasn't done.  

The manager stepped in and privately explained to the customer that over half the kitchen staff have special needs. They are each trained to do a specific task. Refilling the lettuce bowl was not that particular employee's job. Dissatisfied with this explanation, the customer suggested potential diners be made aware of the circumstances. 

Owner Amanda Cartaigne responded by posting a sign on the door: "We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and hire ALL of God's children." Cartaigne later told reporters her employees "are like my kids. I wanted to do something that was not rude, but got my point across."

The employees and their family members appreciate Cartaigne's support and the opportunity the job provides. One employee's mother said, "He loved the fact that he has money in the bank and he can actually go buy his favorite video game." 

About her employees who have special needs, Cartaigne said, "If you have the patience to let them take their time and learn at their pace, when the light bulb comes on, they are unstoppable." 

This third-grader used his Make-A-Wish for a school pizza party

When the Make-A-Wish folks in South Dakota asked Javier Amos what he wanted, they might have expected the usual: a trip to Disney World, a meeting with a favorite celebrity. Instead, the 9-year-old gave a response they'd never gotten before. He wanted a gigantic pizza party for his school.

Javier is now in remission in his battle against leukemia, and he wanted to celebrate with all his friends. And did they ever celebrate!

Javier and his family arrived at the party in a police car, sirens wailing. With the entire student body chanting his name, Javier walked through a tunnel of friends and supporters who cheered and waved signs with congratulatory wishes. After the pizza, the kids partied for two hours with a bounce house, laser tag, an inflatable slide,
zoo animals, and games. 

Javier was definitely the teacher that day.