Do you remember going to school? Sitting in class through lunchtime breaks and Physical Education and all the different events through the year, perhaps talent shows too. Simply the idea of being on stage was intimidating! OK, so talent shows consist of either singing, dancing or playing an instrument and that pretty much covers it, but apart from showcasing talent the shows were a great way to show off to your schoolmates, the attention you got was pretty good too! I really do think that these 10 year old boys that come from New Braunfels Christian Academy really did just that, they entertained, they impressed all their schoolmates, they, all in all, put on a great show in their school’s annual talent show. These four boys had put a lot of time and effort too into their preparations for the amazing performance together and were really excited to see if their schoolmates would love it as much as they loved performing it. The performance starts mysteriously with just a very big black sheet, everybody in the audience it quiet! Then the sheet is pulled away, then there is nobody that is not laughing. The boys didn’t go for the traditional talent show kind of thing, by singing or having an instrument, they thought up an original and incredibly funny performance, as babies in onesies and bibs, looking a little like puppets! As soon as the music started it will crack you up, they are awesome! The way they perform, right to the props and the choreography is just great, you will remember it for sure! Have a look at their performances and you will see exactly, 1:50 will have you rolling on the floor!

As parents, we often take actions to prevent harm to our children, sometimes without thought to ourselves of the repercussions! This is just one of those times as this 56 year old mother jumped in with a knife in her hand to fend off three men gang raping her daughter. One of the men died and subsequently the woman was arrested, however, the courts have now decided that she will not receive any time for the murder! A South African woman was told by a friend of the terrible thing that was happening to her daughter, being gang-raped by three men, inside an empty house in part of a village called Qumbu. The woman, 56, whose daughter was suffering the attack searched the house frantically only to find the three men and her distressed daughter. Without a thought, she quickly grabbed a knife and stabbed the three men to get them away from her daughter, one of the rapists died after the incident. The mother was arrested and faced charges of murder and attempted murder for the part she played in the ordeal. In South Africa, the case received a lot of attention, as well as international media too! The brave mother was nicknamed “Lion Mama”. There were a lot of people who sympathized with the mother and there was a crowdfunding campaign set up to show their support and to pay her legal costs of around USD $ 10,000. The mother’s lawyer said: “She still needs to go for trauma counselling for her and her daughter. We have transferred the money that was paid to us to her for her wellbeing” The Magistrates Court, Lady Frere, made an announcement that the woman was not going to be charged with the murder of the rapist and the other two men were arrested and await prosecution. Talking publically to hundreds of her supporters outside the courthouse the mother said that she was completely touched by the public’s reaction and support. She said: “I felt like an old baboon that has no friends, but today you showed me I have people and that I was not alone. Thank you” You can certainly say that this mother needed to save her daughter from the violence and stepped in without a thought for herself. What would you do? Should she be locked up for the murder, share and support her!

Homeless people do have a way of drawing in those who want to genuinely help. Many of us only look at how they look outwardly but some of us make assumptions about them form how we think they ended up in the streets. Nevertheless, even considering how that homeless person might have ended up on the streets, we find the love in our heart to give to them selflessly. On this note, there was one Facebooker who realized how important it is to do this! A realtor in Jacksonville, North Carolina, called ShelbyLynn Henry Alexander went into detail about what exactly happened to her in January. She saw, while sat waiting at some traffic lights, a raggedy man standing with little clothes and it was only 30 degrees outside! He had handwritten in big letters on a cardboard sign:

“Need a little help. Will pay it forward.”

Alexander went over to the guy, he had a dog that he wrapped in a blanket and decided to give him some money. She wrapped three bills around her real estate business card, and then for the times to come, maybe he would be in a better position and need a home. Alexander drove off and as she did she said a prayer for him, she said about him:

“I never caught his name, but I remembered his face.”

Looking forward eight months and Alexander saw how much a simple prayer could change things, sure enough, she received a call one night from a client, at her office. When Alexander arrived at the meeting with the client she noticed a dog poking his head out of the client’s truck. As the guy opened the truck door she noticed that is was the same guy she gave the money to earlier on that year. This time around the guy was clean and dressed nicely, Alexander had a fearful thought that maybe it was a scam from the beginning, but then the guy, with tears in his eyes handed her back her card wrapped in three bills! She was left completely speechless, she learned that he was homeless following a bad divorce. Present day he has a new job as an engineer, his life was back on track! That day Alexander really learned to not judge anyone without knowing all about them and their circumstances, just pray and let God decide!

Do you remember the last time you left something important at home and had to turn back to get it? It’s completely maddening when this happens don’t you think? There are some people that believe in fate and that there are no such things as coincidences, then there are some that things happen for a reason, like a grand ordained plan. Earl Melchert, whatever he believed before the September the 5th he now won’t ever grumble about such a mistake again. Earl returned to his house in Barett, Minnesota at lunch to pick up diesel, in the distance he saw what looked like it could be a deer, but as he got closer he realized it was a person! That deer that was a person was really a scared 15 year old girl called Jasmine Block, soaking wet and very nervous to take refuge inside Earl’s truck. Earl recognised the girl straight away, he had seen her picture on the television news, flyers and all across the internet, missing from her home Alexandria, Minnesota since August 9th. Jasmine said that the father, who was 32 years old, came to her housemate at night looking for her help with his son. Jasmine got inside the truck he was driving and went with him to his house in Carlos, Minnesota. Jasmine was tied with zip ties one she got there! For a whole 29 days she was sexually assaulted by Baker and his two friends Michael Samuel Powers and Jason Lee Holby, 21 and 31 years old respectively. She was moved to many different locations regularly. Jasmine feared for her life all the time she was kept there and told investigators that Baker tried to Kill her three times, once in a bathtub, but he was not strong enough with his cerebral palsy. The 5th of September the two men transported Jasmine in a duffel bag in a pickup truck… Completely scared, Jasmine found her chance to make a run for it when the two men went inside a store, so when she was unsuccessful in getting help in nearby houses she swam across a lake to get to land near Earl’s home… Her captors were looking for her, desperately, and she knew it, she was desperate to get inside Earl’s Truck, she pointed the men out to Earl and he called 911, when the police came, ultimately leading to the arrest of the three captors. Powers came out and said that he had spent two weeks at baker’s house and been involved in sex with a child. Baker only admits to heavy alcohol and drug use but denies accusations of knowing Jasmine, and even denies picking her up or holding her against her will. For Earl, and his part in helping the girl and calling the police he received $7,000 from Alexandria Police Dept which he immediately gave to Jasmine’s family as an anonymous donor! Earl had retired the wekk beofre really surprised everyone when he just smiled and handed his cheque to Jasmine and gave her a huge heartfelt hug. He said: “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” “What a retirement present, to hand over some money to people that really need it.” If Earl had not left something at home and hadn’t had to return, then he would not have been able to save Jasmine’s life, The next time you double back just think, maybe it’s fate or part of a bigger picture!

Briana a soon to be a mother will have these four words, her mother in law said, imprinted in her thoughts forever “Austin had an accident”. Brianna took the two hour journey to the hospital by car, her emotions were running high as she drove, without a single clue what was wrong with her husband. The baby she was carrying inside her was due in a few short weeks, they had excitedly anticipated the birth and new baby. Squarely between life and death in an awkward balancing act, his brain had bled, the doctors were not sure why though at first. Many tests later the doctors had eliminated drugs as the cause but they were able to give Austin’s family the reason why his brain had started to bleed like it did. In order to push himself further and work more hours, especially with a daily commute, her husband had slipped into an energy drink addiction. Austin now faced a less than certain future, with many brain surgeries ahead of him, with the possibility of seizures and strokes. Brianna wrote:

“But while everyone was focused on the almost unrecognizable face hooked up to all sorts of machines and tubes, all I could see was his parents”

Brianna’s heart couldn’t emotionally stand up to the gravity of the situation watching the grief on her in-law’s faces as they realized what was in store for him. She went on to write:

“I saw the light leave his mother’s eyes as she saw her motionless son laying in that hospital bed”

“I saw his father break down crying as he held onto his wife.”

After two weeks her due date approached and he still had not woken up, she had to give birth without him there. When her newborn baby looked up at her she wept with a bittersweet feeling, on one hand, the joy of the birth, but then the sadness of her husband too. Brianna went on even more:

“But a beautiful miracle happened as I delivered our son, Austin woke up”

Months onward, eight to be more precise and Brianna finds herself caring for her baby and her husband, her husband is now a completely different man than she married, nevertheless, she falls more in love with him every day. Brianna shared her final thoughts:

“Love is knowing you would sacrifice things that you didn’t even know you could sacrifice”

“Love is selfless.”

SHARE AWAY FOLKS!