"A man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Make an Impact!

One thing I am learning here in the hospital, is that we impact all those around us. We have a choice as to how we impact them...Please read this in it's entirety. And pray for the young man's family who's obituary is attached at the bottom.
Here is a little story I recieved in an e-mail:

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class 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, and 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 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 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 greatful ones) 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 about the first day we met.


HE HAD PLANNED TO KILL HIMSELF OVER THE WEEKEND.



He talded of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying all 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 him 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 of for worse...

God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.
Hunter M. Strait




Died Monday at his home in Hays at 14 years of age.
Death was caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Hunter was one of my mom's hip hop students...visit her website and see how she met Hunter and what she is doing in remembrance of him.
Are you willing to impact others?

3 comments:

Too Many Kids In The Bathtub said...

That is really sad! What you say is SOOO true! I saw a movie called "To save a life" and it was just about this exact thing! When I look back at high school, I am so thankful that I was "the nice kid" to those who were not liked! Praying for his familY!

Cheryl said...

Oh, Rossie, I am crying as I write this. What an amazing story that will truly impact others. I had a dear friend commit suicide my Senior year of HS. We knew he was struggling with his parents' divorce and saw the signs and were actually in the process of getting a group together to love on him and talk with him about it the weekend he killed himself. It was too late.

I look at children and how painful they can be to other kids and how courageous it is for someone to reach out to those that don't fit in to their ideas of what a "cool" person is. And MS age is killer for a lot of kids...even in a Christian school.

Thank you for sharing this...I really want to make it available on my blog as well...if that's ok with you?

Peace be with you and your little lovely boy there in the hospital...and thank YOU for making an impact on so many!

Cheryl

Rossie said...

Yes...it is so very sad.
Cheryl you are more than welcome to make this story available on your blog. I think it does so much to remind us and keep us aware of those around us!