Bob
HELP! I need a friend!
Growing up I had many friends and even though time has put distance between our friendships there are a few that I still keep in contact with. As a kid I would always say hi to the jocks and the less fortunate/underdogs at the school I attended. We may not have talked a lot or hung out together but there was still a connection.......except for one kid in our grade. He was the kid who people made fun of because of his gangly body and butterfly ears. I won't use his real name but lets call him Del, but more about him in a bit. There was a group of us guys in high school that were slightly rebellious trouble makers and we hung out together regualry. We would do things that nobody else had the guts to do or they were just smart or maybe mature enough to know better, probably the latter two. Though we were somewhat rebellious in our youth I look back and think, even back then God had given me a heart for the Underdogs because in my mind, who will stick up for them. To this day I can remember in high school one of the biggest guys in my grade would turn his class ring on his finger so the stone was on the palm side and he would whack people on top of the head. Well, he did it one too many times. One day he turned his ring and thumped someone on the head. I saw the pain in their squinted eyes, their shoulders raised as they held onto their fresh wound. I became very angry, really, more enraged that he would continue to inflict pain on people. As I passed the Class Ring Thumper I turned around, ran up behind him and jumped on his back and with both hands I grabbed his hair and hung on for dear life. He tried to shake me off but I held on tightly. He cried out for me to stop but before I did I said "If you ever do that to any of my friends again I will tear you up". I think that was the day when most everyone in my high school thought I was just enough crazy that it would be best to just leave me alone. So, now that I've shared that bit of information about myself, back to the gangly kid with the butterfly ears. Kids continued teasing and picking on Del and it really moved my heart to the point where something different happened inside of me. Rather then wiggen out on someone, I began talking to Del. The next thing you know my friends and I befriended him. Suddenly, everyone stopped picking on him. The gangly kid with the butterfly ears had friends or maybe better put "Protectors". After high school we all kinda went our separate ways. A couple of my friends worked the family business, I went on to do my thing and Del, he went into the Marines. This gangly kid was now a protector himself. We don't know what kind of an impact we can have on someone until we decide in our hearts that someone may need a friend. In Del's case, he needed a friend. I know someone who wants to be our ultimate BFF and protector.......God. Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. Thanks for visiting, Bob