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 going
to 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.
Therefore,
look for God's work in others and pass this on
to your friends.
