Author Unknown

Two friends were walking through the desert. In a specific point of
the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other
one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but…without
saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to
take a
bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other
friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a
stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him “Why,
after I hurt you, did you write in the sand, and now you write on a
stone?”

The other friend, smiling, replied, “When a friend hurts us, we should
write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness get in
charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should
engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can
erase it.”

Learn to write in the sand.

1. A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself and doesn’t feel even the least bit weird shutting your ‘beer/Pepsi drawer’ with her/his foot!

2. A simple friend has never seen you cry. A real friend shoulder is soggy from your tears…

3. A simple friend doesn’t know your parents’ first names… A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

4. A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party… A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

5. A simple friend hates it when you call after they’ve gone to bed.
A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.

6. A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems.
A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.

7. A simple friend wonders about your romantic history.
A real friend could blackmail you with it!

8. A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when
you have an argument.

A real friend calls you after you had a fight.

9. A simple friend expects you to always be there for them.
A real friend expects to always be there for you!

10. A simple friend reads this e-mail and deletes it.

A real friend passes it on and sends it back to you!

Pass this on to anyone you care about… if you get it back you have no beginning, no end. It keeps us together, like our Circle of Friends. Today I pass this on to you. Pass it on to someone who is a friend to you..

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.

Look for God in others.