Devotional

HOPE

I was reflecting that this week has two sad significant landmarks in the history of America. On September, 11, 2001, now 25 years ago, many of us watched in horror as terrorists attempted to destroy the soul of America. Just a year ago, on September 10, 2025, evil rose up to assassinate a powerful voice for freedom and faith in the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.

I was reminded that our call to action as Christ followers still rings through as shared in last year's devotion. We are to Pray, Speak Up and Take Action. Please read the Unashamed devotion as a reminder.

So why the title of this week’s devotion on HOPE?

As Christ followers we possess the greatest Hope for America and humanity through our faith in Jesus Christ, which is so needed today. 

How often do you find yourself in a conversation of despair? Whether it’s about ongoing wars, earthquakes and flashfloods, trade disputes or economic challenges, they all leave a conversation feeling empty and void of Hope. Yet, this is exactly why you are in that conversation. You have an opportunity to turn despair into hope. Not because you have it all together or have all the answers. No, it's because you know the source of your hope is in Christ. You get to change the atmosphere of that conversation by pointing to your source, the ‘God of Hope’ who is able to fill us with ‘all joy and peace’. Notice this verse from Romans 15:13 says ‘all’, not ‘some’ or a ‘little bit’, but all that God has for you. Which is also “infinitely more than we might ask or think”(Ephesians 3:20). What’s also reassuring is we don’t need to muster up hope by our self will, it is provided by the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ as we yield to Him.

God is calling us to be the compass of Hope to those around us. Don't dwell in despair as Satan would love you to. Rise up with the eternal hope you have in Christ and boldly proclaim the gospel truth as apostle Paul, Charlie Kirk and others have before us.

Health Nuggets

Flu Season Around the Corner

Flu season is upon us and now is the time to get ahead of it by building our immune system. A healthy body is naturally capable of defending itself when given the right tools. The best approach is to focus on foundational health habits that strengthen your internal defenses.

Here’s how you can support your immune health naturally:

1. Optimize Your Nutrition: Your immune system is a biological machine that runs on fuel. If you put garbage in, you get a weak defense. Focus on nutrient density. Aim for a variety of fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, berries, citrus) to get essential vitamins and minerals.

2. Zinc is also crucial for immune cell function. You can find it in red meat, seafood, pumpkin seeds, and beans.

3. Vitamin D: Most people are deficient in Vitamin D, especially during colder months when sunlight is scarce. Fatty fish, eggs, and spending time outdoors are great, but many find that supplementing with Vitamin D3, often paired with K2) is essential during the winter.

4. Probiotics: A large portion of your immune system resides in your gut. Incorporate fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, and yogurt to keep your microbiome healthy.

Prioritize Rest and Recovery

Sleep isn’t a luxury; it’s when your body repairs itself and manufactures the white blood cells necessary to fight off pathogens. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep. Maintain a consistent schedule to regulate your circadian rhythm.

Manage Stress (this one is very important)

Chronic stress releases cortisol, which effectively suppresses immune function over time. Engage in physical activity, meditation, or even just getting away from screens and spending time in nature. Keep a positive mindset. Don’t underestimate the power of a stoic, disciplined mind. High stress levels make you biologically vulnerable.

Natural Supports

While nothing replaces a healthy lifestyle, certain traditional remedies have long- standing reputations for helping the body resist illness. Incorporate garlic and ginger in your teas or meals. These are potent antivirals and anti-inflammatories. Water is the delivery system for your immune cells. Drink enough to stay hydrated - plain water is always your best option.

Hygiene Basics

You don’t need to live in a bubble, but basic common sense goes a long way. Wash your hands, keep your living space clean, and avoid touching our face when you’ve been out in the high-traffic public areas.

Ultimately, building a resilient immune system is about consistency. It isn’t a “magic pill” approach; it’s about treating your body like an asset that you maintain every single day. Focus on these fundamentals, and your body will be much better equipped to handle whatever seasonal bugs come your way. 

Note: Health Nuggets are opinions and not medical advice.

Tech Update

Data Center Water Usage

There is a lot of online alarm about AI data center water usage lately and admittedly I discounted it as hype. My wife challenged me to investigate and I was shocked at the findings, which I’ll summarize here.

Firstly, water is required both directly and indirectly by data centers. Directly, evaporative cooling towers and chillers evaporate water to cool the facilities which house AI hardware including GPUs and TPUs to prevent them from overheating. Indirectly, power plants generating the massive amounts of electricity used by AI data centers consume water for steam generation and thermoelectric cooling.

Now for the numbers…

According to United Nations research data, global data center water consumption recently surpassed 4.5 trillion liters (approx. 1.2 trillion gallons) annually. Google self-reported their annual data center water consumption reached over 23 billion liters (6.1 billion gallons) globally alone. To put that into a relative perspective, 4.5 trillion liters is enough water to fill approximately 1.8 million Olympic-sized swimming pools every year. From a city usage perspective, Cary, NC, with a population of about 200,000, consumes 32 billion liters annually. So, global data centers consume about as much as 140 cities the size of Cary, or 3.5 New York Cities!

When a new data center gets built in the suburbs or rural area this becomes a significant impact for that area. The Dalles, a rural agricultural town of about 15,000 residents in Wasco County, Oregon, is a case in point. A nearby Google data center built in 2006 consumed more than 25% of the total water pumped by the entire municipality. That consumption nearly tripled within five years as facilities expanded to support heavier computing workloads. Even though the company paid for the water usage, it became a strain on underground aquifers that supplied residential drinking water and agricultural irrigation. This was especially noted during summer heatwaves when municipal wells began dropping to historically low levels.

So, my lesson learned, and perhaps one for you to look into when data center plans emerge in your neck of the woods. I found this online map that allows you to navigate and find data centers currently built and planned globally: www.datacentermap.com

Financial Update

The Hidden Economy of Trash

Every week, millions of households and businesses roll their trash to the curb and rarely think about what happens next. But behind that routine is a massive industry built around something remarkably predictable: tomorrow, America will create more waste.

Waste management may lack the excitement of technology or finance, but its economics can be surprisingly attractive. Homes, restaurants, hospitals, factories, construction sites, and businesses all continuously generate waste. Regardless of whether the economy is booming or slowing, much of that waste still has to be collected, transported, processed, and disposed of.

WM, formerly Waste Management, generated $25.2 billion in revenue in 2025, up 14.2% from the previous year. Of that, more than $15 billion came from collection services, while its landfill operations generated billions more.

But collecting trash is only part of the story.

One of the industry's most valuable assets may actually be the landfill. Opening a new landfill can require suitable land, extensive permitting, environmental reviews, significant capital, and community approval. Existing landfill networks can therefore be difficult for new competitors to replicate. Large waste companies can also control multiple stages of the process, collecting waste, moving it through transfer stations, and ultimately disposing of it in their own landfills.

That combination can create pricing power. Republic Services reported that its core pricing increased 7.1% in 2025, while volumes actually declined 0.7%. Yet the company still generated approximately $5.3 billion in adjusted EBITDA, representing a 32% margin. In other words, growth doesn't necessarily require Americans to suddenly produce dramatically more trash.

There is also an increasingly valuable second life for waste. Landfills naturally produce methane as organic material decomposes. Rather than simply releasing or burning that gas, companies can capture it and convert it into electricity or renewable natural gas. Republic Services had 77 landfill gas-to-energy projects operating at the end of 2025, with more than 30 additional projects under development.

Recycling, hazardous-waste services, medical waste, and acquisitions provide additional avenues for growth.

Takeaway

Investors looking for direct exposure can research Waste Management (WM), Republic Services (RSG), and Waste Connections (WCN). Waste Connections alone generated $9.47 billion in 2025 revenue while serving approximately nine million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across the United States and Canada. Clean Harbors (CLH) provides another angle through hazardous waste, industrial services, and environmental cleanup.

Waste management provides a useful investing lesson: some of the strongest businesses don't necessarily sell products people want, they provide services people cannot easily avoid.

America will continue building, manufacturing, consuming, and throwing things away. And every time the garbage truck arrives, it is participating in one of the economy's most overlooked recurring-revenue businesses.

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