ENCOURAGEMENT >>
A GOOD LESSON
A Good
Lesson
Author:
Unknown
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 friend 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
his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I
asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday
with me and my friends. He said yes.
We hung 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, "Damn
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 me 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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