You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.
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% D, V7 {, Y1 F+ h6 d) a: VIt looked like he was carrying all of his
( ]' u+ H6 E5 M9 f/ c/ f( nBooks.
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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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.

$ b+ w1 u1 ?& J, g, s; ~% x% G, Y* MAs 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.

# B5 V( g7 O$ A7 E' l; M9 nHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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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.
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- e  U% H# X: E" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

( |' J$ j6 f7 B& Q0 CThere was a big smile on his face.
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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: N/ Q# e1 S+ @8 Z# c( r8 lI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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: R, {; d4 W. g1 j/ m$ gAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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. \" V  M+ @; ]" SHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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8 ^7 z& \( ]; |3 Z& v" z6 oI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

) C0 Y. I  j& w5 EWe 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.

; a! J2 D( |' ]( cHe said yes.
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9 R. F2 |$ D4 q7 U9 K8 AWe 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.
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! t' Y- |4 _" c! v' aI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
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/ }+ _0 V/ o) Y0 |. z! m9 n9 _" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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4 @$ M' k. t. }3 [! LWhen we were seniors, we began to think
4 i( u7 H. R& n  Z1 dAbout college.

, L2 g% L; n' H; n2 Y" J' C9 zKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.
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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.
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0 F# R+ y9 _) Z0 Q" j2 `Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

- X0 _1 g/ o; o. LI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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3 E- c* {1 s. H( C, E  Z# y0 oI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

$ b/ l5 N0 p$ w5 U, MGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.

) z2 i, y7 i% j0 f! t/ r: S3 {He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

" j6 q' u; n3 J7 i3 J" x/ VToday was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

' o4 d' {  O& R/ }8 wSo, 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.
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"Thanks," he said.

' B( n/ x8 \* F' v" n' J+ f& AAs 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.
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

I am here to tell all of you that being a
: g7 t1 ]+ v5 R% l$ u; F7 uFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

) P. }* t; M- N$ K7 N; pI 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.
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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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.
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) Q' y, y& `& t# D6 @2 UHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

7 H0 g0 m  m% B5 W9 z5 V"Thankfully, I was saved.

2 y* |  S6 `% e+ ^, |3 wMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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+ a. ?& F+ |/ h( RI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
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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.
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For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:
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8 i7 B3 x8 _, L6 r1) Pass this on to your friends or

+ w1 ^: h8 Q3 E6 U2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1.
$ O. Z  L) D7 a: a# S  N"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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Tomorrow is mystery.

; v, R1 v5 f4 O8 ^7 E3 Z7 ZToday is a gift.

/ T! C; V5 A: e5 VIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.
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1 C& j  V3 y/ X+ P3 O7 p9 R) U, I/ eTomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.