We were out to change the
world. This was our time, our senior year. My best friend Beth and I had big
dreams... big hopes for our last year in high school. We had prayed and we were
ready for the miracle we knew we would see. With great anticipation we started
the year as I remembered my senior quote: "But God and I have big dreams and
with big dreams you can't give up, you have to keep pressing on."
I would like to say that I was the first to notice her, but in my world of "big
dreams" this one small quiet freshman did not appear on my radar. My sensitive
best friend Beth was the first to notice her.
Kristi did you see the girl standing by us in the lunch line--she looks so lost,
so out of place." We had heard of a family that had just moved to our town from
the country of Cambodia. We knew there was supposed to be a new girl at our
school from that family, but we had yet to meet her... until now.
Leourn was a small dark haired beauty. She was thrust into a new country where
she struggled with the little English she knew and that made it very hard for
her to get to know people in our small town. She was starting her freshman year
and was trying her best to blend in without attracting any attention.
We watched in the lunch room from our "Senior Table." This table was reserved
for our "senior sport jock friends," and no one else. Leourn would get her lunch
tray with the rest of the students but she always kept her head down with her
eyes focused on the floor. She would then head to the only table of girls she
recognized... unfortunately it was the table for the most popular girls in the
freshman class. Every single day Leourn would sit at the very edge of her seat
and eat as fast as she could. She kept her eyes fixed on her food and we never,
ever saw her look up. We would watch in dismay at the interaction of the other
girls at her table. They would make gestures to one another and laugh at Leourn
while she ate.
As we paid attention over the next week we never heard anyone so much as say
"Hi" to Leourn.
We watched as Leourn walked, with her head always down, through the halls of a
high school where most didn't even acknowledge her existence. She was a girl
invisible...
Beth and I prayed and talked -- what could we do to help Leourn? With love and
faith we decided to try our hardest to let one lonely girl know that there were
people who knew she existed and more importantly, that there was a God who knew
and loved her.
As the weeks and months passed, Beth and I made an effort to let Leourn know
that we cared. We sat with Leourn at the freshman girls table. The other
freshman girls tried to let us in on the joke that "nobody talks to Leourn."
Their lofty glances and laughs were met with death stares from two
upperclassmen.
We sought out Leourn in the halls and said “Hi” and tried to continue to engage
her in conversation. I would like to say at this point that Leourn responded to
us with smiles and small talk. But Leourn still kept her head down and responded
very little. That was okay with us for we knew that just spending time with
Leourn was what God wanted us to do, regardless of her response to us.
When February rolled around our school would sell carnation flowers that we
could send to one another for Valentine’s Day. I immediately thought of Leourn
and decided I would send her a flower for the holiday. When I thought about what
to write, it occurred to me that keeping it simple would be the best for someone
just learning our language and customs. So I just simply wrote, "Happy
Valentines Day, Leourn-- I want you to know how much God loves you. Your friend
Kristi."
I will never forget that Valentine’s Day.
For the first time, Leourn was the one who sought me out. She found me in the
hall with the carnation clutched tightly in her hands. Then she did something
amazing. She looked up…
She actually took her eyes off the floor, looked up at me with beautiful beaming
eyes and in a low choked whisper said two words: "Thank You."
It was a life-changing moment for me.
You see, Beth and I were out to change the world, but instead God was changing
me. I learned that I may never be president, be famous, or have a million
dollars to my name. But I learned that what Christ wanted from me was for me to
love Him with all my heart and all my soul so that I could spread that love to
everyone around me -- one flower at a time.
It’s like walking out to a pond and throwing in one tiny pebble. Though that
pebble is incredibly small compared to the pond, it still creates ripples that
affect the water around it. As I learned my senior year, so does every word that
comes out of our mouths and every action we do for good -- or for bad. It
affects each of the people around us, whether we realize it or not.
We ended our senior year not really knowing how many people's lives we touched.
However, Beth and I knew that our two lives were changed. Leourn went on to
graduate from our small high school three years after us and I went back for her
graduation. As Leourn walked out of the gymnasium after the ceremony, I gave her
a big hug and told her congratulations. As she looked up at me the tears
streamed down her face. I asked her if the tears were happy ones or sad ones
about her graduation. She said they were both. I gave her another hug and then
she walked off among the crowd.
As I look back, I hope in my own small way that we helped to make her first year
in a new country easier and that we brought a little light into her world.
As I write this, I am on the other side of the country. Michael and I are in
Alaska to minister to native Eskimo children and teens. I am here to spread the
love of Christ to each one of them. Earlier today, I was walking hand in hand
with a little native girl named Angela who asked me about God's love for her. I
spoke with her about Christ and she gave her life to Him as she heard His
knocking on the door of her heart. As we walked slowly back to her cabin it was
then that it hit me. God had me come all the way to the utmost corner of Alaska,
along the Bering Sea, to tell this little one next to me about God's love for
her. It was up to me to listen again to God's call in my life… to change the
world, one flower at a time.
Kristi Powers NoodlesP29@aol.com
Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul and 7 other inspirational books. Check out her book co-authored with her husband Michael: Heart Touchers "Life Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter" by visiting: http://www.HeartTouchers.com
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