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.
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.
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.
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.
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