What
is a friend?
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
hands 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.
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
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.
Look for God in others.
You now have two choices, you can:
1) Pass this on to your friends or
2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
As you can see, I took choice number 1. "Friends are
angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble remembering how to fly."
There is no beginning or end..
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.