ODJ: Insisting on Joy

In 2015, a country in the Middle East elected its first women to public office. In fact, in the first electoral cycle in which women appeared on the ballot, 17 were elected! I listened to an interview of a woman who had won a seat on her local council, and she exuded ecstatic joy. She acknowledged how difficult life can be for women in her country, but this didn’t diminish her celebration. M

ODJ: Hot Water

After yet another loss, the bewildered football coach for the Hull City Tigers said, “I don’t know if this is a mentality thing, but our accumulation of points against the lower-down teams is crazy. Whether it’s mentality or complacency, I don’t know.” The Tigers should have been winning games. Instead, they were losing to lower-ranked clubs, causing their coach to wo

ODB: A Fan for Life

Cade Pope, a 12-year-old boy from Oklahoma, mailed out 32 handwritten letters—one to each executive in charge of a National Football League (NFL) team in the US. Cade wrote, “My family and I love football. We play fantasy football and watch [the] games every weekend. . . . I am ready to pick an NFL team to cheer on for a lifetime!”Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers

ODJ: Remade

Vancouver, Canada, artist Wendy Tsao transformed some popular dolls into worthy role models for young girls. Straight out of the box, the dolls wore revealing clothes and heavy makeup. But Tsao removed the eye shadow and lipstick. She stitched new outfits to match the new identities she gave the dolls. Tsao recreated one doll to be Jane Goodall, a famous wildlife scientist. Another became Dr. Robe

ODB: Dying for Others

I love birds, which is why I bought six caged birds and carried them home to our daughter Alice, who began to care for them daily. Then one of the birds fell ill and died. We wondered if the birds would be more likely to thrive if they were not caged. So we freed the surviving five and observed them fly away in jubilation.Alice then pointed out, “Do you realize, Daddy, that it was the death

ODJ: God’s Renewing Presence

“I long for the cold embrace of death,” tweeted my friend’s teenage son—feigning mock despair. Apparently his second-hour high school orchestra class was dragging on too long. So he put into practice what he had learned in his first-hour class: creative writing.Elijah could have tweeted out a similar message—except he would have been deadly serious. A gutsy p

ODB: All Welcome!

The much-prayed-for film night at the church youth club had finally arrived. Posters had been displayed all around the village and pizzas were warming in the oven. Steve, the youth pastor, hoped that the film—about gang members in New York who were brought face-to-face with the claims of Jesus by a young pastor—would bring new recruits to the club.But he hadn’t realized that a ke

ODJ: Enduring Hope

Heather Kampf is an exceptional runner with impressive credentials. She once took first place in a 600-meter race after falling flat on her face! In the final 200 meters, just as she took the lead, Heather tripped and fell hard, leaving her at the back of the pack. She could easily have become discouraged and accepted what everyone was thinking—her race was over. But she didn’t stay d

ODB: Warning!

The following warnings have been found on consumer products:“Remove child before folding.” (baby stroller)“Does not supply oxygen.” (dust mask) “Never operate your speakerphone while driving.” (hands-free cell phone product called the “Drive ’n’ Talk”) “This product moves when used.” (scooter)An appropriate warn