This is a story my sister found and told me:
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 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 others lives to impact one
another in some way. Look for God in others.