FRIENDS

[TheMinister]

FRIENDS

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 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, "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 andall 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."

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