In the summer of 2020, the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami received a $126 million donation to expand cancer treatment and research activities. One might expect that, with such a large gift, that a building would be named after the donor. But that's not what happened at all. This real-life example of generosity reflects the heart of Jesus as he guides us to…

Beaten and bound in stocks Paul and Silas sat in a dark Philippian jail. About midnight, the two began singing and worshipping God while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the prison to its foundations. How they responded illustrates the kind of love that transforms and reveals who we truly are.

During World War II, Darlene Deibler Rose, an accomplished linguist and missionary to Papua New Guinea, was captured and imprisoned following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Considered a spy, Darlene was routinely beaten and provided only one cup of rice per day in the Kampili POW camp. How the young woman from Iowa responded to her captors is highlighted in her biography, “Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Faith in the Jungles of WWII”

A popular brand of motor oil filter a few years back used the phrase - “Pay me now, or pay me later” in their TV advertising. A trusted mechanic, sliding out from under a broken down car, held up the filter and said, “Pay me now…(because a filter is not expensive), or pay me later” (when you’ll need a lot more money to replace a worn-out engine).

Some gifts we receive in childhood aren’t fully appreciated until adulthood. Like the way Ray and Gola served as backup parents for my dad from the late 1940s onward. My sweet grandmother became a single parent when Dad was two years old and began working a factory job to provide support. That's when Ray and Gola graciously befriended my grandmother, loved my dad, and treated them like their own family. Years later, my brother, sister, and I became their grandchildren in love.

My first car was dark green with a wimpy stance and weak engine. That old Ford cost $600 in mowing money and carried me through high school and college. The three-speed manual shifter sat on the steering column between the steering wheel and dash. After one too many hard shifts, the handle broke off in my hand, leaving the vintage ride stuck in second gear, limping along, but moving forward!