Looking for God

in Others

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 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 rough 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 t

old 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

"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.

Author Unknown

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