Hello ,

On October 18, 2013 in Buffalo, New York, 37-year-old Darnell Barton was driving a bus filled with high school students over a bridge when he spotted a young woman perched on the wrong side of the guard rail. Sensing something wasn't right, Barton slowed to the side of the busy arterial and opened the bus door. From his seat behind the steering wheel, the driver called to the woman asking her if she was okay. When the young woman looked at Barton but didn't respond, he left the bus and approached her. 

Barton told the Buffalo News, "She turned back to look at me and then back at the traffic and that's when I kind of lunged and got my left arm around her body." Barton proceeded to talk her into climbing back over the guard rail as he guided her with his large arms. Together they sat on the pavement.

A surveillance camera shows a pedestrian and a bicyclist going by the distraught woman without stopping to help. But Barton, who acknowledges having grown up in church, said he could hear his mother's voice in his head prompting him to do the right thing. As a result he gave her some encouraging words. The two conversed until first responders showed up. Barton told a reporter "The Bible says we are to be ready in season or out of season. You've got to be ready. If you've got time to do anything you've got time to do the right thing."*

I really like that last sentence!  Doing what is right isn't always convenient, but it is always what God would have us to do through His grace and strength.

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."  1 John 3:18

I'm thankful for people like Darnell who put a face on what it means to really care about people.  During this holiday season, the world needs more people like him.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word