There Are Good People

I’m finding that it is very easy to get negative.  I have found myself becoming increasingly negative over the years.  As our society has gotten coarser and often meaner, it has been a painful transformation.

Then there are good people who remind me that there are some amazingly good people in our midst. 

Rankin Paynter was at the Kmart in Winchester, Kentucky purchasing some items for his business.  The Kmart was in the process of closing and everything was on special.  Paynter thought about the merchandise in the store, his own success, and the fact that there were many needy people in the region.  He talked to the manager and purchased all the merchandise in the store.  ALL the merchandise in the store.

As all the merchandise was marked very low he had an opportunity to resell the items for a tidy profit-----but that was not his motive.  He gave it all away.  He knew the needs of the area and the needs are plentiful and the resources are limited.  He gave it all away to charity.  Many people will have new clothing, new shoes, new boots, new underwear, new towels, new sheets, new pots and pans, and such because of the generosity of Mr. Paynter. 

This morning I bid farewell and prayed for bunch of people from St. Marks heading to eastern Kentucky.  These 15 people are bring an immense about of skill to do work in one of the poorest regions of the country.  There work will be hard.  Actually, there work will be very hard.  They are paying their own ways to work down there and many are giving up work time and pay in order to serve others.  Money that could have been earned or spent having fun is being utilized to help people they have never met before.

There are Rankin Paynter’s we never hear about and there are many churches that send mission teams to many places.  Our world is filled with so many good people doing good things for other folks in need.  I see it all the time as my own church feeds and clothes so many people on a regular basis.  We are just one church among many who do these kinds of things.

There are good people.  Sometimes we just need to open our eyes to see them, and our hearts to learn from them.