Joy Break: The Year in Happy
Here's a Year-End collection of these stories that we hope will brighten your day.
When we turn on our television or smart phones we are bombarded with news that brings us down. Where are all the good stories? Those stories are still there. Here’s a year-end collection of these stories — a year in happy — that we hope will brighten your day.
Father-Daughter Time
Raphael Langumier took his then four-year-old daughter Léa on her first aerobatic ride in a plane a few years ago. While the video is in French, there can be no denying her excitement when her dad performed barrel rolls. Léa giggles and cheers when she feels the plane roll. Holding onto handles, Léa tells her father, “Again, again!”
Belly Balancing Toddler Washes Dishes
Not every parent has a toddler who actually wants to do the dishes. Clint Callahan from New Jersey does. His tiny tot Miles washes dishes with style. He balances his belly on the counter while he works. “It’s never too early to teach your kids to clean up after themselves,” Clint said. “I don’t care his feet can’t touch the ground, it’s Sunday clean up boy.”
In the following video, Clint asks his son what he is doing. Miles replies, “wash bowl.”
Watch the video:
Singing Cop
It isn’t often that police officers are asked to sing while on a call. But that’s just what happened to Officer Kristian Johnson when he was sent to help an elderly woman with a problem microwave in Logan, Utah.
Shirley Hardman is blind. She had heated some food in her microwave, but the device wouldn’t stop beeping. Shirley had extra reason for concern. A month earlier there had been in fire in her home and she was worried she’d have another. So she called for help.
“It’s not uncommon to get a call — well, it’s the first microwave I’ve ever fixed — but it’s not uncommon for the elderly to need some help. There is just no one to help them and they don’t know who else to call,” Officer Johnson said in an interview with HJ News. “And if they call us, we go — that’s just what we do.”
When Officer Johnson was confident the microwave wasn’t a problem, he asked Hardman if she needed anything else. She asked him if he sang. He said he didn’t, insisting he wasn’t a good singer. “You could start now,” she suggested. “I realized right then and there that she expects a song, and I can’t say no to this lady,” Officer Johnson explained.
Her request? You are My Sunshine.
Watch:
Out of the Mouth of Babes
Eight-year-old Paige saw a group of officers eating at a restaurant recently in San Antonio, Texas. She approached their table and asked if she could pray that God would take care of them. They said yes, and Paige’s mother captured the moment on her camera. After the police officers were finished eating, one came over to Paige’s table to say “thank you.” Another went home and told his family Paige’s prayer really touched him.
“You should always pray for someone no matter what,” said Paige. “Like even — don’t be afraid to talk about Jesus because it might just brighten someone’s day and someone might do it to you, too.”
Police at Play
On July 4th, Asheville, North Carolina police officers were called to the scene of a … large slip-n-slide party. A neighbor had complained that the slip-n-slide was blocking the road. However, when they arrived they didn’t see a problem. So they joined the fun.
Storm to the Rescue
A fawn was in trouble in the Long Island Sound. When a dog named Storm saw the fawn struggling in the water, he jumped in to help. “Storm just plunged into the water and started swimming out to the fawn, grabbed the fawn by her neck, and started swimming in to the shore,” Storm’s owner Mark Freeley said.
After the initial rescue, the fawn was spooked and jumped back in the water. That’s when some good Samaritans stepped in to help. And it was all captured on video.
Watch:
Enduring Love
A pastor who took his kids for ice cream in the Tennessee heat snapped a heartwarming photo of an elderly man spoon feeding his wife ice cream. His Facebook post of the scene has now gone viral.
Pastor Brent Kelley took his kids to Sonic for ice cream one night in the blistering heat. When he backed out of his parking space, he noticed the man next to him. “…I realized that this elderly man beside me was sitting outside his car door, spoon feeding his wife ice cream who also looked in her late eighties,” he wrote on Facebook. “He draped a towel over her and slowly fed his bride in the 98 degree temperature. It was a beautiful display of love.”
Perhaps it is the living out of Ephesians 5:28-30 that really captures our attention:
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church — for we are members of his body.
Kelley’s post has captured almost 750,000 likes, almost 300,000 shares and 54,000 comments.
A Furry Friend’s Welcome Home
Oshie the golden retriever misses his human mama, a Marine, who has been away on duty. When she comes home he shows her how much he missed her.
Watch:
Gospel Singers Perform for Harvey Evacuees
Gospel singers performed for evacuees at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center in Conroe, Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Fox News reported.
Victoria White, an admissions counselor at Sam Houston State University, led the way. White and her able back-up singers sang “Spirit Break Out” and other gospel songs for victims of Harvey stranded at the convention center. The Facebook post has gone viral, with over 15 million views thus far.
Joni-Villemez-Comeaux posted the video, writing that White’s “beautiful, powerful voice” lifted spirits, “spreading joy and your love of Jesus.” She added, “You blow me away.”
Let’s watch the video and get our praise on:
‘Call Jesus!’
Seven-year-old Dani and six-year-old Dannah have some good advice when it comes to the world’s problems. “Call Jesus!”
Earlier this year on their YouTube channel “Dani and Dannah,” the two posted their thoughts on when to call on Jesus.
“There’s a lot of things going on in the world. Here’s some advice — call Jesus,” said Dani. “If something is not working out at your job, call Jesus. If something is not working out at school, call Jesus. Things not working out like anywhere, call Jesus. Everyone needs a little Jesus now and then in their heart.”
Dannah continues, “If your boyfriend breaks up with you, call Jesus. Don’t call Tyrone. Call Jesus.”
Watch:
