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{Heart4Teens.com} *ANDY* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teens.com readers around the world by visiting: http://www.hundred-acre-woods.com/magic-list/Heart4Teens Visit our inspirational web site to read all the past articles in our archives and view the tons of resources we have there for teens! http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Teen_Stories _________________________________________ Good morning Heart4Teens.com readers! It is with great pleasure that I get to share a story today from my favorite writer: my wife Kristi! Emotionally, this was one of the hardest stories she has ever written. She was able to share this story with the kids at our Kidz Camp a few weeks ago and now I wanted to share it with all of you. If you are touched in any way by reading it, take a few moments to share your thoughts with Kristi by emailing her at the address that is provided at the end of the story. Kristi, thank you for sharing such a personal part of your heart with us today... From my family to yours, Michael _________________________________________ ANDY by Kristi Powers I sit down on the cold, hard pew. It is at that moment that reality hits me. The memories and sadness rush over me like the rapids on a river. I bite my lip; I am about to lose control. The sobs begin to creep up my lungs, and I want to scream. It is the saddest day of my life... Andy came into my life when we were four years old and my Mom baby-sat him for two years. When I look back on my life I cannot remember the day I met Andy. It just seems like he was always a part of my life. We played together well from the start with the occasional spats like a brother and sister relationship. I remember sitting on our stairs and Andy asking me, "If I write on the stairs will you tell on me?" "Of course not" was my retort. Andy proceeded to write on the stairs and I did what any good "sister" would. I promptly told on him. When we were five Andy and I trudged off to our first day of kindergarten. Andy loved the bus and it fascinated him to no end. When we were at school that first day our teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. We all followed with the typical answers: police officer, fireman, nurse, or teacher. Not Andy. Andy wanted to be a school bus when he got older. Not a bus driver, but the school bus itself! All the kids laughed and I did too. At recess he would often run around pretending to be a school bus and occasionally he would be a typewriter. All the kids thought he was weird. I just thought he was Andy, and Andy was my friend. Later that year, I became very sick with a cold and a very high fever and my parents thought I might even have to be hospitalized. I spent days in my room with a warm vaporizer on, clouding up my room with its warm puffs of smoke. No one but my Mom was allowed in my room and everyone else was warned to stay out. Andy came though. My friend sat next to me and asked me how I was doing. He stayed with me until my Mom found him and he got in huge trouble. When I think back on my childhood one thing is very clear to me. Andy was always there beside me, behind me. somehow, always near. There was never a joy, or a tear that he wasn't there for. You see, Andy loved me, unconditionally. I was his friend, as close to a sister as he ever had. As the years went by, it became clear that Andy acted different than other kids. He liked being himself and didn't conform to whatever everybody else said or wanted him to be. Unfortunately, that made Andy a target. Throughout our school days it was if Andy had a huge bulls-eye on his chest for other kids to vent their frustration on. He was teased, hit, and laughed at. There was no reason for this cruelty; there never really is, is there? And he never fought back. He would stand there with a far away look on his face as if he went to another world when he was teased. I imagine he did that to survive. I am not sure exactly how or when it happened, but as we got older our relationship changed. I became Andy's defender. If you were going to pick on Andy, you had to come through me first. Those who were the worst towards Andy would look for the moment I was not around to pick on him. As soon as I would walk in the classroom there would be silence. I could tell by Andy's face that he once again had been the butt of someone else's joke. Maybe no one realized what they were doing to Andy. But I did. As each day went by the torment was slowly etched on his face and his tortured soul receded farther and farther into a corner. I wish I could say that at home Andy received the acceptance and love that he needed to help him face those long days at school. Andy would call me on the telephone whenever he got a chance and from the dark corners of his room he would whisper to me of the horrors in his house. I now stand away from everyone else. They are standing at Andy's grave. I can't make myself go any further. I was not there when Andy died. No one was. He died alone. So utterly alone. My mind keeps replaying something over and over again: Andy's favorite verse. Although Andy was never to recover from all the wounds that scarred his being, at one point in his life he did reach out and find the one who ultimately would heal his wounds in heaven. Andy loved Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. plans to give you hope and a future." He would write that on his letters to me and next to his senior picture in our yearbook. In my heart I keep fighting with God. THIS is your hope and plan for his life, Lord?? Dying alone in a hospital room. No one to hold his hand. No one to stroke his hair and sing him songs as he went from this world to the next? The answer came whispering into my soul. God does have plans for our lives. Plans to give us hope and a future. But we have to give total control of our lives over to Him and cling to the promises He has given us. We have to allow God to start the healing process in our life. Somewhere along the way in his adult life, Andy stopped clinging to those promises and He began living his life the way he thought it should be lived. But hope is eternal. Sometimes God's plan for our lives can only be fulfilled when we have left this earth. It was at this moment that I knew what I had to do. I made my vow to Andy. As long as there was breath in me, I would tell his story. I would never stop telling kids, teens and adults all I know about a little boy named Andy who was picked on and bullied until his very being was battered and torn. And I would never stop letting people know the devastation that bullying leaves on souls. I write this today for all of you who have been picked on and beaten down until you are not sure of anything anymore. I want you to know that God has plans for your life. Hang tight to him. Never, ever let go. He loves you. He really does. When you feel like your innermost parts are being cut by a knife and there is no one to clean your wounds, remember the One in heaven who heals all. You need but ask Him. He will take that pain and sorrow and make it His own. He will heal you if you let Him. Hang tight. Hang tight. It has been two years since the funeral and I still think about Andy a lot. I am thankful for having known him. Andy changed me. I will never be the same. He was my friend, my brother. But most of all, he was Andy. Kristi Powers, Copyright © 2005 NoodlesP29@aol.com Write Kristi and let her know your thoughts on her story! Kristi Powers is a full time human development specialist (in other words a mommy!) She resides in Wisconsin with her husband, Michael, and their three young sons, Caleb, Connor, and Chase. Kristi has been writing stories about her life since she was a little girl and loves to share from her heart about her relationship with God. Her stories appear in six inspirational books including their newest book: Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter." To read more or to join the thousands of world-wide readers on their free inspirational e-mail list visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com. She can be reached via e-mail at: NoodlesP29@aol.Com _________________________________________ Let's Go Surfing Dude! ~ The Grandparent Connection Cool, teen-written newspaper designed to keep grandkids and grandparents connected: http://www.meridianskydesign.com/grandparentconnection.html _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "No generalizatin is wholly true. Not even this one." Verse for the Day: "My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness." Proverbs 8:7 Teen's Thought For The Day: "Sometimes you have to take the test before you've finished studying, in school and in life." Parent's Thought For The Day: "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." Coach's Thought For The Day: "Think big, believe big, act big, and the results will be big." Deep Thought For The Day: "I'm not afraid of insects taking over the world, and you know why? It would take about a million ants just to aim a gun at me, let alone fire it. And you know what I'm doing while they're aiming it at me? I just sort of slip off to the side, and then suddenly run up and kick the gun out of their hands." __________________________________________ Author MICHAEL T. POWERS www.Heart4Teens.com Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 21 other inspirational books. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 _________________________________________ ALL-STAR Ministry --The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.) Currently we have students from Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager. This Week Sunday August 28 -- The World That Perished Upcoming Topics: September 4 -- Outreach Fun Night (Bowling at Blackbridge Bowl) We will provide one free game of bowling, but be sure to bring $5-$7 to pay for shoe rental and a second or third game of bowling if you like! Join us these next six weeks as we start the 40 Days of Purpose! September 11 -- What on earth am I here for? September 16-18 Annual Fall Retreat at Phantom Ranch! "You Were Planned For God's Pleasure!" September 25 -- You Were Formed For God's Family October 2 -- You Were Created To Become Like Christ October 9 -- You Were Shaped For Serving God October 16 -- You Were Made For a Mission Upcoming Events September 16-18: Annual Fall Retreat! _______________________________________________ Teen Community Groups 6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights (September though May) Wednesday night community groups for teens. The groups are limited to no more than ten teens and are split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Extreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community. _______________________________________________________ The Extreme Teens "Extreme Teens" meet Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM (All Year Round) This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them. Join us this summer as we develop a Christian World View! |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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