ODB: Fatherless No More
Guy Bryant, single and with no children of his own, worked in New York City’s child welfare department. Daily, he encountered the intense need for foster parents and decided to do something about it.
ODB: How Are You?
Charla was dying, and she knew it. While she was lying on her hospital room bed, her surgeon and a group of young interns poured into the room.
ODB: Planted in God
“The wind is tossing the lilacs.” With that opening line of her springtime poem “May,” poet Sara Teasdale captured a vision of lilac bushes waving in gusty breezes.
ODB: New DNA in Jesus
Chris had his blood retested four years after his lifesaving bone marrow transplant. The donor’s marrow had provided what was needed to cure him but had left a surprise: the DNA in Chris’ blood was that of his donor, not his own.
ODB: Investing in Others
When a corporation offered one thousand frequent-flier miles for every ten purchases of one of their foods, one man realized their cheapest product was individual cups of chocolate pudding. He bought more than twelve thousand.
ODB: Pride and Deception
Loving God, thank You for Your gentle, nudging correction. With my shoulders slumped, I murmured those difficult words.
ODB: Divine Tenderness
I once heard a businessman describe his years in college as a time when he often felt “helpless and hopeless” from bouts of depression. Sadly, he never talked to a doctor about these feelings, but instead started making more drastic plans
ODB: God’s Moves
I love a good game of Scrabble. After one particular game, my friends named a move after me—calling it a “Katara.”
ODB: Faith Conversations at Home
“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Those unforgettable lines spoken by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz reveal a story-telling device found in an overwhelming number of our most enduring stories from the likes of Star Wars to The Lion King.
ODB: Time Enough
When I saw the massive volume of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace on my friend’s bookshelf, I confessed, “I’ve never actually made it all the way through that.”
ODB: Rejecting Rationalization
An Atlanta police officer asked a driver if she knew why he’d stopped her. “No idea!” she said in bewilderment.
ODB: Generosity and Joy
Researchers tell us there’s a link between generosity and joy: those who give their money and time to others are happier than those who don’t.
ODB: Jesus Is Here
My elderly great aunt lay on her sickbed with a smile on her face. Her gray hair was pushed back from her face and wrinkles covered her cheeks.
ODB: The Kindness of Candor
“My dear friend, sometimes you sound holier than you really are.”
Those words were leveled with a direct gaze and gentle smile.