Recently, while out and about with a homeboy of mine, I met a kid named Adrian. Usually I don’t have patience with street kids – while some of them are going through a hard time, many are on the streets for the wrong reasons – but this kid felt different.
I asked him about his story, and he told me that he has a home, but that he has to beg on the streets to provide for his mother (so his father won’t beat him). He showed me all his scars and bruises and for some reason, everything this kid was going through became real to me.
You could see in his face that he wasn’t lying – he really was just desperate for money so he didn’t have to get beaten… which was going to happen anyway, by the sound of it.
For some reason, I didn’t just let the moment pass. I stopped for a second and started encouraging him. I told him that his dad on earth may hate him and treat him badly, but that there’s a Father that loves him no matter what; no matter the mistakes he makes; regardless of how much money he brings home; no matter what he was done.
Immediately I saw something on his face that I think hasn’t happened in a long time: he began to smile. You could clearly see how much he actually needed someone to just encourage him – to simply reach out and acknowledge his pain.
It blew me away to realise what a big difference a few simple words could make. Even though I couldn’t snap my fingers and change his situation, I could offer encouragement and something that he hasn’t felt in a long time: hope.
Let’s never forget how much weight our words to others can carry. You never know whose life you might change with what you say. Never be too busy to reach out, even if you do so fleetingly. After all, we have a responsibility to share the hope within us.
Godspeed.