Never underestimate the power of your actions.

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 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 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 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 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 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 and was carrying 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 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. "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

All For Good

I got this from a friend and fell like sharing it with you all:

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, " This Too is for Good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This Too is for Good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And, so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "This Too is for Good!"

"What do you mean, ‘This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

This is asking you to try this approach to life. It changes your entire perspective on things.

Do u know the relationship between your two eyes? They blink together, move together, cry together, see things together & sleep together. Even though they never see each other. Friendship should be just like that! Life is like 'hell' without FRIENDS. Who is your best friend? Hope I am one of them.
Sometimes people are nothing, you make them something and when they become something, they feel that you are nothing.
Even at that, remember, ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD FOR THEM THAT LOVE THE LORD………….

In order to be free, we must learn how to LET GO . Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life.

What is it you would let go of today?


Akintola, O.A