"The world is held together by the mass of honest folk who do their daily tasks, tend their own spot in the world, and have faith that at last the Right will come fully into its own."

From my book, JUSTIFY THIS, in the chapter about GOSNELL: "We were filming the movie in Oklahoma, and there was one role that we still had not cast. I just had not seen anyone that struck me as right for the role. On a Sunday after the second week of shooting, I went to a Waffle House (my favorite restaurant chain by the way) in Oklahoma City. The place was very busy, and the manager was going around apologizing to everybody for their meals being late. I kept looking at her. There was something about her. She was very attractive, and she had a tattoo on her neck. There was a certain toughness about her, and she way she carried herself was so poised and competent. There was a strength and a wisdom to her that I thought would really read on camera. I felt moved to go and talk to her. I waited until she had a free moment, and I said, “Look, I know this sounds like a crazy pickup line, but…um, have you ever done any acting?” Obviously having never been asked that question, she predictably responded, “Um, no.” I said, “Look, I know this might sound like a cliche pick-up line, but…I really am a director from Hollywood and I really am shooting a movie here in town, and there’s a part in it that you would be right for. Would you mind if I got the script and let you read it with me to see if it’s something you want to do?” “Um, okay.” I drove home and got the script and went back to the Waffle House and sat down with her in a booth to read the script together. I explained that the character only had three or four lines, but they were very important to the story. I said, “I think you could do this. Would you be willing?” She was understandably skeptical of this guy who suddenly showed up at her job claiming to be a Hollywood director and offering her a role in a movie. “I don’t know. How much would it pay?” she asked. I said, “Well, it’ll probably be at least two or three days of work—and it’ll pay about eight hundred and thirty dollars a day.” She said, “Okay.” Probably a little better than Waffle House. The first day she came to work, she practically brought her entire family with her to make sure I wasn’t some sort of crazy serial killer. We shot with her a couple of days, and she did very well. She was a natural. I kept telling her, “Tessya, don’t try to be interesting. You’re interesting enough. Just tell the truth. Let the words do the work for you.” And she was terrific. On the third day, one of the producers, Ann, came over to me and said, “You’re not going to believe this.” I replied, “Oh no. What now?” I was sure someone had quit, or some location had fallen out, or some other low-budget-movie disaster had occurred. She said, “The thing that happened to her character in the movie happened to her in real life.” I said, “What are you talking about?” “Tessya, in her real life, went to have an abortion, and when they let her listen to the heartbeat of the baby, she decided not to go through with the abortion. She had her baby, just like her character in the movie.” I was floored. I felt the hand of God was at play here. I believe God led me to that Waffle House to find her. That something inside me, telling me, when I first saw her, “She can do it! She can do it!”—was Him. She is now the proud mother of three boys, including her firstborn, whose heartbeat changed her life. @sagesteele @WaffleHouse

“There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.” — C.S. Lewis

Hey @TomSteyer, Look at HER. @xx_xyathletics

I’m tired of the Senate’s evergreen excuse for inaction: “We don’t have 60 votes.” There are ways around the 60-vote cloture standard. It’s time to start using them. And stop disingenuously characterizing any refusal to do so as virtuous or conservative. Share if you agree.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.” -Thomas Edison

I love this!

Fernando Mendoza stayed home with his mom to celebrate being selected first overall in the NFL Draft instead of attending the in-person celebration She has multiple sclerosis, causing her to be in a wheelchair. This is what matters. Not trophies—family.

🎯

People are so good. My son won a free frosty at Wendy's for reading 25 books last month. I took my boys last night. We walk in & he's hamming it up telling the manager how he read books & got this award. We chat a few minutes & order another frosty for my other son & a small fry. I go to pay & the manager says, "You know what man, I just love seeing a good dad with good kids.... no charge, enjoy it on us!" We ate & afterwards I took my sons up & handed the manager $20 & said I appreciate your kindness & want to pay it forward. Someone will walk in tonight or tomorrow & you'll JUST KNOW they could use some kindness so tell them a stranger paid for their meal. He gave us a bro hug & fist bump & assured me he would. I love that my sons are exposed to this. There's so much gloom & doom ONLINE, but in real life 99% of people are GOOD! BE THE CHANGE. ❤️🙏

30 years ago I was the starting QB at Utah State University. My senior year I got benched. For the next 15 years I walked around feeling like a certified loser. Then I read this quote from Pat Summitt: 'Winning is fun… Sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point. Never letting up is the point. Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point.' It snapped me out of it. If you’re still carrying a sports setback, a benching, a missed opportunity, or any “I’m not enough” story… this is your permission slip to drop it. The game isn’t over. Your story is not yet written. You are still a work in progress. The point is you keep wanting it. You keep getting up. And you listen to that quiet voice that says, "I will try again tomorrow."

Curt Cignetti on his program's philosophy on how not to be average: 🎭 Average is a decision disguised as a default. Make standards visible, measurable, and non-negotiable. Because what you tolerate becomes your identity.

This is how it should be

There’s an old Chinese saying that I love: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

May be the best quote by a coach I have ever read: Dustin May told the parents of one of his first visiting recruits at Michigan about the quality of people he believed he’s always had in his program. “Assholes don’t like us,” he said. “So we usually don’t get them.”

“When Christ died, he died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only person in the world.” - C.S. Lewis

I’m starting to see that the gospel isn’t about forcing yourself to stop sinning, but about loving God so deeply that sin loses its appeal.