Tag: love wins

The faith I desire

I shared this on most of my social networks this morning – but it bears repeating here.

From Anita Smith, the wife of teacher Ronnie Smith, who was killed last month in Libya:

I hear people speaking with hate, anger and blame over Ronnie’s death, but that’s not what Ronnie would want. Ronnie would want his death to be an opportunity for us to show one another love and forgiveness, because that’s what God has shown us.

I want all of you – all of the people of Libya – to know I am praying for the peace and prosperity of Libya. May Ronnie’s blood, shed on Libyan soil, encourage peace and reconciliation between the Libyan people and God.

Despite what you may be seeing elsewhere in your social feeds today, this is the faith that I strive for.

This is the Christianity I hold to so dearly — loving neighbors and enemies alike.

I know I’ll never live it out 100% but please know that THIS is what I’m striving for.

See more:

The bonds of love

hands

In 1842 a 22-year-old Catholic woman of nobility married a colonel in the Dutch Cavalry.

Despite the bride’s nobility, the groom was not of nobility and was a Protestant as well.

Catholic nobility, marrying “peasant” Protestant – what a scandal it must have been.

Yet despite their differences, the two were married for nearly 40 years before the groom died.

Eight years later the bride followed him in death.

Rather than being buried in her families large tomb, she insisted that she be buried in the common cemetery.

However, the cemetery had strict guidelines on where bodies could be buried. Catholics were buried in the larger area of the cemetery and protestants and Jews were buried in smaller areas, essentially quarantined by a wall, separating them from the other areas.

Before her death, the bride ordered that her bodied should be laid to rest by her Protestant husband, with a monument signifying their eternal connection.

She lies on one side of the wall, he on the other, still holding hands.

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HT: David Bruce and Neatorama

Loving your neighborhood on Halloween

Great thoughts…

You may still hate Halloween and avoid it at all costs. That’s fair. It’s not for everybody. But hey, it’s over now so you’ve got a whole year to mull it over. Give Halloween a chance. Be a blessing. Love your neighbor. Even if you think the whole thing is just awful. Jesus didn’t come to redeem a day. He came to redeem lives and all we have to do to be part of that is to love our neighbors. Not preach at them. Not throw Bible verses in the Halloween bag instead of candy. Just love them. It’s so easy. It’s so worth it. And seriously, it’s so much fun.

What are your plans for Halloween?

Peace in the face of violence

At just 14 years old, a Talib fighter boarded a bus, pointed a pistol at Malala Yousafzai’s head and pulled the trigger. But she survived, made a full recovery in England, and has become and transformative figure in human rights.

She appeared on The Daily Show this week and when asked about being threatened by the Taliban, Yousafzai painted a powerful picture for peace:

I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’ Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’ And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you want.’

Continue reading Peace in the face of violence

Debt collector thrives with a simple strategy: kindness

LOVE THIS!

From CBS News:

Nurse Lori Factor from Tecumseh, Okla., could be any one of the 35 million Americans who owe money to a collection agency.
The only difference is that Lori loves her debt collector.

The story goes on to explain how Bill Bartmann’s debt collection agency, CFS-2 actually works to help it’s clients get out of debt vs. constantly brow beating them.

Bill says he does not hire debt collectors. Instead, he hires people with customer care experience. And rewards them — not for how much money they bring in — but for how many free services they provide.

The goal is to get debtors back on their feet — be it through government assistance, housing, even helping build resumes.

Bill says his company will even fill out the application and schedule the interview for their clients.

“Because if I can get you out of debt, you will have more money to pay me later,” said Bill.

According to the CFS-2 website, Bartmann has found himself in the shoes of many of his clients.

Bill and Kathy Bartmann, the founders of the company, were deeply in debt due to the failure of an oil-related business after the price of oil plummeted in the 1980s.

Because they personally had been hounded by predatory debt collectors, Bill and Kathy vowed they would find a better way.

Believing they could make a difference, Bill and Kathy started a small agency. True to their promise, Bill and Kathy never treated customers the same way they had been mis-treated. They treated customers with dignity and respect, and quickly discovered that most of those customers wanted to find a way to pay back their debts if only someone would work with them instead of hounding.

In the years since 1986, Bill, Kathy, and their team have successfully used debt discounting to help more than 4.5 million American families get rid of the debt that so often tears a family apart.

And according to Bartmann, his agency is collecting on 200% more debt than his competitors.

Surprise, surprise!

Maybe grace and love do win after all…