When Randy Smalls found out his daughter was participating in the bullying of another girl at her middle school, he took swift action. But rather than simply disciplining his daughter with a typical punitive action, he took a different approach.

Ryan Reese, the target of the bullying, had been struggling with the loss of several family members. When Smalls’ wife, who was friends with Ryan’s mother, found out about Ryan’s struggles at school, they devised a plan.

Using the money that he initially intended to spend on his daughter, Smalls took Ryan out on a shopping spree, and had his daughter come along to help pick out her clothes. Then after dropping his daughter off at church, Smalls took Ryan to a beauty salon for a makeover. He even convinced several other salons to donate their services so that Ryan could be styled twice-a-month for several months.

Ryan’s mother, Richaun, was grateful to see a smile on her daughter’s face. “This is the first time I’ve seen a parent take such a stance on bullying.” Smalls took such drastic action because he remembers being bullied himself as a youth. “I say, ‘When you laugh along, you’re co-signing the bullying.’”

Potential Preaching Angles: God has a heart for the outcast and rejected, and has judgment in store for those who marginalize others instead of loving the marginalized.