The Power of Friendship

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Always keep your eyes open for opportunities to be a friend and never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

A Story about Friendship

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? What a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend the following 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, I saw a tear in his eye. I handed him his glasses and said, "Those guys are jerks. 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 walked him home.

I would have never hung out with a kid like him before. We talked all the way home. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think about college. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class and he had to prepare a speech for graduation.

Graduation day arrived - I saw Kyle and 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. Anyway, I could see that he was nervous about his speech. 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 stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. To my surprise, he went on to explain that he had planned to kill himself that weekend I had helped him our Freshman year. 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 smile. “My friend saved my life.”

~ Chris Guibert's Small Group