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 and 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.
That year, Kyle was valedictorian of
our class. I continued to tease 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 always had more dates than I did,
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.
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. Today I
am going to share with you a story."
I just looked at my friend with
disbelief as he told the story of
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 other's
lives to impact one another in some
way.
Always look for God in others.
There is no beginning or end.
Yesterday is history.
Today is a gift from God.
What will you do with it?.
Will you....be
a friend to someone?
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