One
day,
when I was a freshman in high school, I
saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name
was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I
thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on
a Friday? He must really be a nerd.' I had quite a weekend
planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow
afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was
walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at
him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so
he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them
land in the grass about ten feet from him... He looked up and I
saw this terrible sadness in his eyes My heart went out to him.
So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his
glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his
glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.' They really should get
lives. ' He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!' There was a big
smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real
gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he
lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I
had never seen him before.. He said he had gone to private school
before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid
before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his
books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he
wanted to play a little football with my friends He said yes. We
hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I
liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning
came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I
stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some
serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! ' He just
laughed and handed me half the books... Over the next four years,
Kyle and I became best friends.. When we were seniors we began to
think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going
to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles
would never be a problem.. He was going to be a doctor and I was
going for business on a football scholarship.. Kyle was
valedictorian of our class. < I teased him all the time about
being a nerd.. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was
so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak Graduation
day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that
really found himself during high school. He filled out and
actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and
all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was
one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his
speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, 'Hey, big guy,
you'll be great!' He looked at me with one of those looks (the
really grateful one) and smiled. ' Thanks,' he said. As he
started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began 'Graduation
is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those
tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a
coach...but mostly your friends.... I am here to tell all of you
that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give
them. I am going to tell you a story.' I just looked at my friend
with disbelief as he told the first day we met. He had planned to
kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned
out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was
carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a
little smile. 'Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from
doing the unspeakable..' I heard the gasp go through the crowd as
this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same
grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.. With one small
gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for
worse.... God puts us all in each others lives to impact one
another in some way. Look for God in others.
///////////////////////
y