Category: Inspired

Kind Retired Prof Meets Young Homeless Man on Streets, Teaches Him for Over a Year to Get on His Feet

It wasn’t much of a classroom—but where there’s a will there’s a way. Under the awning of a bank in Spain, a devoted teacher imparts a lesson to a lone student on the sidewalk. It was this picture of an authentic, intimate street-classroom session that caught our attention after it was posted on social media…


8th Grader Spotted Shielding Classmate With Cerebral Palsy From Rain With His Umbrella

An eighth-grade student who took it upon himself to shield a classmate, who has cerebral palsy, from rain as he crossed the schoolyard was spotted by the middle school principal. Witnessing the heartwarming act, she snapped a photo and shared it on social media, touching the hearts of their community. Jerry, who has cerebral palsy…


America’s National Parks: Yosemite

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike. —John Muir Glimpsing a photograph of California’s iconic Yosemite Valley, it is easy to understand why millions of people from around the world make the pilgrimage to…


‘The Voyage of Life’

America’s first great landscape painter, Thomas Cole, was a pivotal figure in the development of a distinctly American artistic identity in the early 19th century. Cole’s masterful landscapes range from picturesque compositions of America’s pristine wilderness to imaginative historical and allegorical scenes. The revered artist’s devotion to seeking the presence of God in nature inspired…


Sioux Falls Groom’s Best Man Leaves Couple Hanging, so 74-Year-Old Grandpa Mans Up to Fill Role

Groom Jacob Akerson and his then soon-to-be-wife, Maria, had their wedding day all planned out when, out of the blue, the best man jumped ship at the last minute. One of Jacob’s closest friends, Andrew, in California had just gotten a new job after languishing unemployed during the pandemic, and he couldn’t take time off. “It…


Heart Surgeon Saved Life of Bakery Owner’s Dad 15 Years Ago; Now She Sends Him Cakes Every Year

Each year, she bakes a special cake for him, piping heart-shaped red icing with little black stitches for a decoration on top. Every year since 2006, she bakes a cake for her dad’s heart surgeon, Dr. James Fingleton, to say “thank you” for saving his life. Owner of Mad Hatter Bakery, Audra Lalli, 50, is…


Reflections from a Night on a Cliffside

Last year, my son Kyle and I were invited to join a climbing expedition with my good friend and client, Joe, and his son, Sam. Joe has been training Sam in hopes that he’ll become the youngest person to ever climb the famed El Capitan, a 3,000-foot vertical wall in Yosemite Valley that most consider…


Why Wildlife Is Returning to Eastern Kentucky

The past 20-plus years of mass media reporting on the environment has been dominated by predictions of cataclysmic catastrophe and mayhem, although during my life, I’ve seen a very different story. Growing up in Eastern Kentucky, deer were few, with no bear, coyotes, turkeys, mountain lions, bald eagles, and certainly no elk. Today, all of…


Ancient Tales of Wisdom: Heaven Honors the Man Who is Truly Concerned for the People

Ancient tales of wisdom remind us of the traditions and moral values that have been treasured all over the world. We hope the stories and messages in our Tales of Wisdom series help uplift the hearts and minds of our readers. This retold tale, “Heaven Honors the Man Who is Truly Concerned for the People,”…


Building Beautiful Friendships One Cup at a Time

Tea has always been a part of the Stowe family. What initially started as a traveling tearoom in 2011, bringing tea and baked goods to families all over Middle Tennessee and parts of Alabama, transformed into what is now a physical tea room on a sixty-eight-acre farm in Campbellsville, TN. Three Sisters Tearoom is run…