You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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. T% ^1 e7 V% \3 v" KI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

- c+ B6 S6 d; WHis name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his
1 M/ @8 ^6 l0 z" ?3 h9 Y- cBooks.

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."
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2 T, f, T; f# d7 O% u* U8 o3 `I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
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1 t4 G( Q$ L7 P) a' m3 @As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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6 g2 l- [; ]/ G. x* m+ rThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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His 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
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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.
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They really should get lives.
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9 Q8 o9 }1 k- Q9 N5 A% T3 k" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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- ], o% ^4 m# ?3 Z+ LThere was a big smile on his face.
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1 ]3 B4 V. [: G- D3 u4 ~: _It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

( z9 F8 v- m. s7 K# i  l6 b" ^) uAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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3 D; P* f9 v1 ]* f% |# B$ \/ RHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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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.
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He said yes.

* @0 x8 ^* W8 y+ P* {" DWe 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.
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' ^! B0 ], ~( M* g* d4 }/ V, XMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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6 \7 K! F- M" w- J) sI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

) z, z4 v0 B# F. k" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
- w* O" J! ^3 {( {. X" T4 Z4 MAbout college.
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. r) S$ l# C) i' h6 W/ ]1 @Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
2 [* j0 W2 ~/ k1 E# i9 m5 ?Was going to Duke.
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0 z7 Q2 F/ q0 m  n3 R5 q3 Q$ UI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

& b& X* C# V" g9 [9 [He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

% b, A: S/ i; u& D5 O7 u, n, Q2 XKyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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" F# c: G; C5 O- _; R- H0 dI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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1 V$ k( q2 i: t/ q9 R9 k; l  sGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

9 u) \" B; i: f+ o  B( ?! _; ]3 Q# ^He looked great.

5 i! B2 A. ]: X* A- XHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

" I2 ^" w* ~3 b; m1 P- z" _He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

" z2 Z* v/ U4 R* {: o/ h2 `Today was one of those days.

5 I5 b  e" b2 q4 cI could see that he was nervous about his speech.

" x3 a8 Y9 [2 a( O' O7 NSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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- }- R7 C0 x$ Z# L) TYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

$ @( A, b2 T- D2 oI 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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/ I4 E8 h* n" ^: q: qHe 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.

. o! A( B# c! m" C9 kHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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"Thankfully, I was saved.
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* i1 k/ S; O5 ?% E+ QMy 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.
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" E0 j2 |9 d6 l  sWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

4 }3 [0 I) a- gFor better or for worse.
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; ^. }* `$ e0 [; u/ y  k; y) QGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

# H& x8 ]! @6 K+ h( e6 sYou now have two choices, you can:

+ X' y" M9 e9 W+ p4 A0 g+ f1) 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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" I+ F2 w* n& F1 vThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

0 q: ^* W' y2 [" lTomorrow is mystery.

8 i4 @1 q! d0 h/ HToday is a gift.

; x1 \) i, |+ Y" U! ?% LIt'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.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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/ U! g0 `$ n- a/ h" r/ Y# @) h0 cToday is a gift.