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.


Copyright © 2007 by Kristi Powers

Kristi Powers
NoodlesP29@aol.com

Write Kristi and share your thoughts on her story!

Kristi is happily married to Michael and they have three boys. Her writing
appears in seven inspirational books, including many in the Chicken
Soup series, and their own book entitled: Heart Touchers.

Kristi and Beth are still allowing God to work through them to try and
change the world one flower at a time.  This past summer Beth spent
time ministering in the Chech Republic where she met a 16 year-old girl
named Cecil and told her about God's love for her, while Kristi spent time
in Alaska ministering to native Eskimo children and youth.

To read more of Kristi's writing visit: http://www.hearttouchers.com/

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