Inspiring Others

This series of messages focuses on how hope can be used to become a model for others to follow.

    • Songs that Unite Us

      It was 1908 and Jack Norworth was riding a subway train when he saw a sign that inspired a tune. Norworth was a songwriter as part of the Tin Pan Alley Music scene in the early 20th century. He teamed up with Albert Von Tilzer to set the lyrics to music. The original...

      Read More

    • A Life of Hope

      J.C. Hall was born in 1891 in Nebraska. He had a tough early start to life. His parents divorced and his father died when he was seven. When J.C. was eight, J.C. became a door-to-door salesman of perfumes for what would become Avon products. When J.C. was 14, he and...

      Read More

    • Hope from Life’s Struggles

      Louis Zamperini was born in New York in 1917. His parents were immigrants from Italy and neither he nor his parents spoke English. Louis was a subject of bullying and that led Louis to having a rebellious childhood. Louis’ older brother encouraged him to try out for...

      Read More

    • Hopes in Perspective

      Charley was unsure what he wanted to do with his engineering degree other than he wanted to make a difference. When he graduated, he started his career working as a design engineer for a socially responsible company. His work was highly praised, but Charley wasn’t...

      Read More

    • Hope and Finding Your Life’s Purpose

      George was an indifferent student. He had gone to college hoping to find a career, but he really wasn’t interested in any of his courses. When George returned home in the summer, he didn’t expect to return to college. But all that changed when the father of...

      Read More

    • An Inventive Mind

      Lonnie Johnson was born in Alabama in 1949. His father had not completed high school but was a skilled handyman who taught Lonnie and five siblings to create their own toys. This was the start of Lonnie’s lifetime of tinkering. Lonnie went to a segregated high school...

      Read More

    • Paying it Forward

      One of the most lasting stories of hope is one that we call paying it forward. The concept is that we return kindness given to us by paying it forward to another person. Paying it forward was brought to our conscious by a popular movie in 1999. But the concept of...

      Read More

    • It’s a Wonderful Life

      Frank Capra was the youngest of seven children born in Italy. When he was five, he emigrated to the U.S. with his family. He and his family settled in Los Angeles. Frank, against his family’s wishes, decided to go to college at Cal Tech. After college, Frank was...

      Read More

    • Overcoming Anger with Hope

      Wally was born in Tallahassee, Florida but moved to New York City to live with his aunt when his parents divorced. He had an interest in cooking at an early age and enrolled in a Foods Trade School instead of attending a regular high school. He dropped out of school...

      Read More

    • Designing Hope for Others

      Mike Schultz was born in Minnesota, and given his birthplace it’s not unusual that he would have an interest in snow sports. He was known as Monster Mike for his fearless competitive spirit. But that spirit was challenged when he was competing in a snowmobile race....

      Read More