Making a difference

People always say how mean kids can be,
never how nice they can be.

This story will either make you cry, give you cold chills or just
leave you cold, but it puts life into perspective!
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves
learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's
students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by
all that attended.

After extolling the school and  its dedicated staff, he offered a
question. "Everything God does is done with  perfection. Yet,
my son Shay cannot learn things as other children do. He
cannot understand things as other children do.

"Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was
stilled by the query. The father continued. "I  believe," the
father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into
the  world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents
itself and it comes in the way people treat that child."

Then, he told the following  story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys
Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think
they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that the boys would
not want him on their team. But the father understood that if
his son were allowed to play it would give him much-needed
sense of belonging.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and
asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance
from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his
own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the
game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team
and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team  scored a few
runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth
inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield.
Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic
just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father
waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential
winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the
next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this
juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that
a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know
how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the
ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher
moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could
at least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung  clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to  toss the ball
softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at
the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.The pitcher
picked up  the soft grounder and could easily have thrown
the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out
and that would have ended the  game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high
arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first, run to first."
Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base.
He scampered down the  baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "run to second, run to second!"

By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder
had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second
baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what
the  pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball
high and far over the third baseman's head.Shay ran
towards second base as the runners ahead of him
deliriously circled the bases towards  home.

As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran
to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and
shouted, "run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys  from both teams were
screaming, "Shay Run home!" Shay ran home,  stepped on
home plate and was cheered asthe hero for hitting
a "grand  slam" and winning the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly  with tears now rolling
down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a
piece of the Divine Plan into this world."


We can all make a difference. We all have dozens of
opportunities a  day to help realize God's plan. So many
seemingly trivial interactions between  people present us
with a choice; do we pass along a spark of the Divine-love
that God gives to us every day? Or do we pass up that
opportunity and leave the world a bit colder in the process?


Good Friends are like stars, you don't always see them
but you know they are always  there.....

[I got this story in an email so I'm not sure who wrote it,
but I know it touched my heart so I thought I'd share it
with you!]