Feel Good Friday

I'm starting a new thing. Each week on Friday, I am going to try to post a feel good news story. I hate watching the news right now. It's so dark and depressing. I know there are good things happening in our world. I'm amazed that news outlets and the public in general would rather focus on the negative instead of reporting on the positive. So...I am going to seek out the good news and share it with you. Here's the first installment:

Dan Stroup is an eighth grade teacher at Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis. What makes him unique is that he sends hand written birthday cards to each of his students every year. Not just the students he currently has in class, but every student he's ever had in the 30 years he's been teaching. He sends out approximately 2500 birthday cards a year. Each card is unique - no form letters and each one includes a Bible verse. This year's verse is from James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, but do what it says. Mr. Stroup is walking the walk. He says that he spends a portion of every evening writing out the cards. Some nights, he spends just a few minutes, but other nights he spends several hours. He jokes and says that November 4th is his day off - none of his students have birthdays on that day, yet. Many of his students have been profoundly touched by his small acts of kindness. They look forward to getting their card every year and many of them save each one. I would encourage you to read the original article on Mr. Stroup or watch the video below. I certainly didn't do his story justice here. But, the bottom line is that small acts of kindness can go a long way.