My Reputation

I received the following from someone I work with...Thanks Colleen.
It is very touching and the 90 seconds it takes to read this will be time well spent.
It really moved me, and I think it will have the same affect on you, or at least, I hope it does.

One day when I was a freshman in High School, I saw a kid from my class who 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 of 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 of his books out of his arms and hitting him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them lying 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 should really 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 never hang 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 ended up hanging 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 going to build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!’ He just laughed and handed me half of 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 University 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 of 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 of 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 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 everyone about the first day we met. It turns out that 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 all of his stuff home after school.



He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. ‘Thankfully, I was saved,’ he said. ‘My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.’



I heard a 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 its 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 put us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way. Look for Him in others.



WOW......how many opportunities have we blown over they years? A little kindness can sure go a long ways.

There goes my rugged reputation!

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"