A man from Michigan made headlines for his remarkable acts of honesty and integrity.
Howard Kirby of Ovid, Mich. reportedly bought an old couch for $70 from a Habitat for Humanity Restore in Owosso. It did not take long for the family to notice the peculiar firmness of the cushion. Soon, the family agreed to cut the couch open. To their surprise, they found lots of money amounting to $43,170.
Kirby asked for counsel from an attorney and was told that it's his legal right to keep the money. Since 2020 had not been kind to Kirby, his son, and his daughter-in-law, the money could have well been considered a heaven-sent. But honesty and conscientiousness are in Kirby's DNA.
"The Holy Spirit just came over me and said, 'No, that's really not yours,'" he told MLive.com.
"Being a born-again Christian, Christ in me is the one that actually gave the money back," Kirby said at the time. "Remember the bracelets, WWJD? Well, that's what Jesus would do."
Even though he had pressing needs at that time, Kirby decided to give the money back. He went back to the store, arranged a meeting with the family who donated the couch, then returned the money in full. The family was also shocked at the discovery. They soon found out that it's all their dead grandfather's doing.
The family invited Kirby for dinner, profusely thanked him, and would want to reward him, as well.
"I have had so much peace, so much joy because I did do it, that $43,000 never could buy that much joy or peace or happiness," Kirby added in his interview with MLive.
The media immediately picked Kirby's story and soon, more people learned of his impressive deed.
In response to this humble man's selfless act, people gave donations for the labor and materials of Kirby's floors and roof.
Also, a man from Canada had a GoFundMe account for Kirby and it raised $15,000. Supportive messages also poured in for Kirby, mostly voicing how they're inspired by what he's done and to carry on.
Overwhelmed but delighted, Kirby said that these initiatives on his behalf has restored his faith on mankind.
"The world, there's so many good people out there, whatever they believe in. There's a lot of bad people, and the evil in the world shows up and we remember the evil a lot more than [when] anything that's good happens, but I'm happy that [what] I done did encouraged so many people," Kirby said.
"It makes me feel good because I was able to put out there, how I believe in Christ, and that's what Jesus would do," he continued.
When asked how his year had been during a pandemic, Kirby said it's a "great year."
Despite losing a kidney from a surgery, the man has more reasons to rejoice; the birth of his 11th grandchild and the newly bought house of his son and daughters-in-law.
"I've been blessed," Kirby told MLive.com in a follow up interview. "There's been a lot of things that happened that I wish never did, but then, that's a part of life. I don't get discouraged, and when I do, I look back at what happened at that time. I never expected any of this to happen... It's been a difficult and a wonderful year."
