I’m sharing this with everyone because I need your help… please bear with me.
Earlier this evening I was given the opportunity to speak to a young man who I see often come into the gym and work out. very nice young gentleman.
He had shared with me a couple weeks earlier that he was interested in a young lady who attends his school and needed advice, as we spoke about that I got to see a little bit more of who he was…in talking with him he shared with me that he was tempted to start a fight in front of this young lady when he overheard another guy call him the N word while he walked down the school hallways and instead of throwing a fist in front of her he was just going to punch someone in the face.
Then he shared with me that he had almost got arrested for smoking and smelling like pot before school and got smart with the police officers when they questioned him. Please keep in mind this is a young 14 year old African American male and me as an African American female I offered him the best advice I could by deep inside praying that my grandfather and the Lord would provide me the words of wisdom.
I let him know that not only would his temper get him in trouble and allow people to bring him down to their level and jeopardize his dreams for himself but that he also had to watch out for the crowd he hangs around because they would either lift him up or bring him down. Acting out and jeopardizing himself was not worth it.
In the world we live in right now and what we see on the news especially for a young African American male poppin off at the mouth and always full of anger I knew this young man was reaching out to me and I could tell he was listening intently to what I was telling him.
What got me at heart and the best advice that I could give him was to extend my invitation to church with me. He immediately responded and in a very low voice that I could not understand, so when I asked him if he could repeat he spoke up and said I’ve never been to church and I have sinned too much. I looked him straight in the eyes and asked him if he thought I ever sinned? I told him perfect people do not go to church, those who are broken and need guidance go. yes there are some people who got their life together yet still go to church to be watered but others are going to get that seed planted within them to get their lives on track. I gave him no pressure and told him when he felt ready to let me know and I would be there for him.
I say ALL of this to say, we as adults need to make sure that we aren’t ignoring the so-called “bad” people and always praising the good. if we continue that path we will continue to have a corrupt world. there are so many people especially young who are crying out for help yet we look the other way.
I am so grateful that I actually got this time to sit down with him and to be truthfully honest at the end of our conversation he was very thankful and I know he respected the conversation. Older men these are the precious moments to connect with these young boys they may act up but they can hear. They need to know that we care.
Go, Grow, Give (Faith Family)