Real Positive Vibes

We're Highlighting Goodness in the World

Merry Christmas!

We are so happy to present to you the first issue of Real Positive Vibes. This idea has been more than a year in the making and I am so pleased we are able to offer this service.

Unlike other news sources, Real Positive Vibes is on a quest to find gamechanging goodness in the world. Our mission to highlight everyone who has made their world a better place, which ultimately makes the world a better place for all of us. We offer hope and levity in the midst of a world that can be overwhelmingly dark and intense.

Have a story to share? Send us an email to info.realpositivevibes@gmail.com

About Us

Hope Alive

Local Goodness

Around the Nation

Entertainment

Satisfy Your Inner Philanthropist

By the time we get home from work, lament about the chores, and actually do the chores, we’re usually too tired to think about making a difference. In these moments, we just want to relax; we want to shop, hang out, and eat good food. This list of shooting star businesses combine your inner philanthropist with your outer self, by showing new and exciting places around Grand Rapids to shop, hang out, and eat, all while supporting a good cause!

Give A Hug, Get A H.U.G.

Local radio host, Meochia Nochi Thompson, is a hugger. And make no mistake about it, her mission is Help Uplift Goodness (H.U.G.) and she does this by giving everyone she can a H.U.G. On her show, LifeChats, which is broadcast on Magic 104.9 every Sunday from 11 AM until 1 PM, She challenges her audience of nearly 50,000 listeners to H.U.G., too, by giving a H.U.G Challenge. In 2018, she took her H.U.G. to the stage competing in Art Prize and finished in the top 100.

A Young Woman Gets Renewed Faith

Every day, Church Builders Bible Training Center works with people of all generations and all walks of life helping them heal from past brokenness to find joy, purpose, and fulfillment in life with a passion to follow God and love people. This church is a ministry that focuses on discipleship classes and small group meetings, even one-on-one discipleship.

Read what one of the students had this to say about one of the small groups:

"The Leaving Religion, Finding God group has given me a sense of peace and fellowship that I haven't had in years. I'm no longer afraid of studying the Bible in my spare time, and I've also learned a lot from this group about being both truthful and forgiving. I've learned how to see my wrongdoers through empathetic eyes while also acknowledging the pain they've caused me. Additionally, each week with this group has made me think about what it means to follow Jesus and build bridges in a world obsessed with building barriers and commercializing faith. Leaving Religion, Finding God is a safe place for asking hard questions about faith, God, and systemic issues within church communities. "--Leah (Pseudonym)

Since this writing, Leah has experienced positive effects with self-confidence and work performance because of her renewed hope. She is making positive strides in personal relationships and the marketplace. This is what Church Builders Bible Training Center is all about.

Every day we reach out into our community to help people just like Leah. We are being an oasis for the lost and broken and helping them find healing, purpose, and belonging.

Encouragement Found on Facebook

During life's most discouraging moments, feelings of loneliness, depression and even despair creep unawares. When it does, life is hard and getting out of the trial is even harder. Where do you go and what do you do?

One found her answer where she least expected it. She found encouraging words on Facebook in the group, Refresh and Renew, facilitated by Minister Treena Edwards.

Here is what Tanya had to say:

Refresh and Renew, the ministry of Treena Edwards, has made a big impact on my life. I was going through hard times when I saw Treena talking about God on her Facebook page. The main reason she caught my attention is that her message did not put me to sleep! So I joined the Facebook group, Refresh and Renew, to hear Treena's messages every day and it’s been awesome.

Treena's ministry, Refresh and Renew, has helped me in many ways. I believe God sent Treena into my life to give me hope and inspiration. I was battling depression due to many untimely deaths in my family and challenges with my children. God encouraged me through Treena's testimony hearing how God has done wonderful things in her life. I said in my heart if God did it for Treena He will do it for me. I am so glad that God has brought her in my life. Now I see hope in a dark world. Treena has told me that my life story can help someone else just like her story helped me.

Treena is full of life and always smiling. She’s loving and genuinely cares for my well-being. I hear hope listening to her minister the Word of God. She has inspired me to grow in the Word of God, becoming a studier and not just a reader. I love how she pushes us to be more in tune with the Bible and breaks it down for us to make it easier to understand. She takes the time to meet one on one and have a bible study. She encourages us to stand on a Bible verse every week. Most importantly, she teaches us how to stay with God and encouraged in Him.

I have known Treena for many years and to be brought back together with her is a blessing.

To find out more information about Treena Edward's Ministry go to her website

All the Laughs Are Back

Tickets available now! The 10th annual 2020 LaughFest roster has been announced! Bring your family along for clean comedy, or friends for a more adult theme. LaughFest has a type of comedy for everyone involved, including those who don’t want to pay, or those who want to support a good cause! All proceeds for Laugh Fest support the Gilda's Club in Grand Rapids, which gives back to the community in various ways. Starting from March 5th, 2020 to the 15th. Laugh for the health of it!

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Do you believe in miracles? Well, a Delaware court does. In the reenactment of the trial scene of the movie Miracle on 34th Street, over a thousand children cheered at the ruling. With the trial being on December 13, 2019, the judge saved Christmas!

Hope Is Alive!

Have you ever felt like the thing you are hoping for will never happen? Are you longing to see your hope in reality? You are not alone.

Everyone has experienced discouragement and a loss of hope. When hope is lost, it steals joy, determination, and focus. Lost of hope can kill motivation and drive. It destroys perseverance, too. To lose hope is to lose all sense of destiny and to become weary. It can be grim.

Don't lose heart because of delays. Hold on to your joy, your drive, and your focus. Hang on to your dream. We are the closest to our breakthrough when we feel the weakest. You are closer than you think and you are stronger than you know.

You can believe in hope against all hope just like Jonah. This 12-year old young man is keeping the faith to be adopted by a family that is the best suited for him. Through all he has been though; abuse from his biological parents, leaving his home to be put in foster care, and continuing to wait years to be adopted, Jonah has found hope and thankfulness. Jonah says "[God's] brought me through many, many things. As far as abuse before I came into CPS. He's brought me through a lot. Just a lot overall...[God woke] me up this morning... I'm in my right mind. I know who I am and I'm proud of [to be] the person I am."

Jonah refuses to quit. He refuses to lose hope. He remains steadfast in his faith. You can, too!

The strength and confidence of this young man are contagious. Receive strength and renewal for your hope through this amazing story. In times of discouragement, you can keep going. You can hold on to your dreams. You can continue to hope.

Choose to Heal the Nation

We’ve all seen or heard this rhetoric a lot in the last four years; America is divided. This common idea is, ironically, divided on the potential outcome. There are those who believe this will destroy us. Destroy the US. Civil war, cold war, riots, or whatever the media will call it, it will be catastrophic. There is another, ideal outcome to this mess. Many have been calling for a sort of healing of this political divide, without a clear outline as to how. Until now. I bid you to read the above article and take its advice to heart. There will be no instant change in America. No rolling wave of understanding and hope. Yet, if enough of us can put aside the hurtful words, the bitter attitudes then there is hope for us all.