Have you made a difference for someone lately? Theresa Peterson tells a wonderful story of how relationships do make a difference. Abbie Knight was a very lonely depressed ninth grader. She missed her old eighth grade days. The high school was so big and intimidating. All Abbie wanted was a real friend. Not the ones who act like they are your friends so they can cheat off of you. She was tired of being used. The problem was Abbie had trouble making friends. She was very shy and didn’t know what to do.

Abbie’s parents were very concerned about their little girl. Something that just added to the flame of Abbie’s depression was that her parents were divorced. Her parents tried everything they could think of to help Abbie. They bought her the current fads to help her fit in but nothing seemed to help. Abbie just seemed to keep drifting farther and farther away from them and the world.

Abbie began thinking of suicide. She was so lonely. She felt that it didn’t matter if she lived or died. Who would care? Who would notice? These types of questions plagued her mind.

That next year, Abbie joined a Christian youth group at a local church in hopes of making friends. On the surface, the group adopted Abbie with open arms but under the skin they really weren’t interested in outsiders becoming part of their group. So much for love.

Abbie decided that she would do it; she was going to end her life. Her parents were going to be at a party on Christmas Eve. She would be alone. That was going to be the night she would end it all.

Abbie had it all planned. She left the house. In her mind, she had the image of a bridge. The bridge she would jump off of that night. Before walking to the bridge, Abbie stopped by the mailbox. She thought it would be proper to leave a note for her parents. When she opened the mailbox, she saw a bunch of Christmas mail. She began to thumb through them. There was some from neighbors, one from her Grandparents, but then, something got her attention. There was one addressed to…her.

Abbie ripped open the letter as fast as she could. It was from Wesley Hill from the youth group at church. Wesley apologized for not talking to her sooner. He explained that his parents were in the process of a divorce. He said he hoped she would be able to answer some of his questions. This next part really got Abbie’s attention. Wesley wrote, “I think we could become friends and help each other. See you at Youth Group on Sunday!” Friends. Somebody wanted to be her friend. Abbie ran into the house and immediately called her new friend.

The Ancient Writer said, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” Relationships do make a difference in our lives. Love is the key. Love is the motivation. Love is the answer.

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I would now like to invite you to receive a Free Preview of my inspirational book “Power Nuggets”. You can receive it and sign up for our Free The Empower Newsletter at [http://www.markbowser.com]Corporate Training. From Mark Bowser of http://www.MarkBowser.com Thanks for reading today.

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The first relationship we want to discuss today is one between Adult Children – Parent Relationship. You have probably heard it said to “Honor our mothers and fathers.” and for children to “Obey their mothers and fathers.” This is where some people get confused. Honoring and obeying are not the same thing. When we are adults, we don’t have to obey our parents, we have to honor them. Honor does not mean doing everything our parents’ want. Honor means supporting them. Honor means listening to them. Honor means not forgetting them. Honor means respecting them. Honor means sharing our lives with them. Honor means taking care of them if they need help. Honor means being a friend to them. Honor means…LOVING THEM!

The second relationship we want to talk about today is Brother to Brother or Sister to Sister. Now, I am not talking about siblings. All of us need friends of the same sex. We need those nights playing basketball with the guys or those chats with the girls. There are times that it is more comfortable sharing and discussing certain topics with someone of the same sex. Many times they will understand more clearly where you are coming from then someone of the opposite sex.

Relationships: The power to focus our lives. Let me leave you today with a story. One day, a lady (let’s call her Sally), her husband, and their youngest son walked into a McDonald’s restaurant. The couple was looking forward to spending some quality time alone with their son. As they were waiting in line for their food, all of a sudden all the people around them began to back away. Even Sally’s husband backed away. Turning to see what all the commotion was about, Sally saw something she was not expecting. A sickening smell enveloped her. Directly behind her were two homeless men. The poor men probably had not bathed in days. One of the homeless men was smiling. He said, “Good day.” He was counting the few coins he had in his possession. Sally noticed that his companion was mentally handicapped. Sally realized that this kind man had taken his companion under his wing.

When the two men got to the counter, they ordered only a coffee. It was all they could afford. All they wanted was to come in out of the cold. In order to sit in the restaurant they had to order something. The two men got their coffee and found a place to sit.

Compassion filled Sally’s heart. She ordered two more breakfasts and walked up to the two men. Sally set down the tray and laid her hand on the first man’s hand. He looked up with tears in his eyes and said, “Thank you.” Sally looked at the man and with a heart full of love said, “I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.” Let us all give more hope today in all our relationships.

I would now like to invite you to receive a Free Preview of my inspirational book “Power Nuggets”. You can receive it and sign up for our Free The Empower Newsletter at [http://www.markbowser.com]Corporate Training

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From Mark Bowser of http://www.MarkBowser.com Thanks for reading today.

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