Check ____ (YES) for "Yes"

In the Seed is the Potential for a Tree if Properly Nurtured

Luke 10:27 NIV

"He answered:  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

I could barely spell in First grade, let alone understand why, when I looked at Allen, I blushed and looked away from him. I was a shy girl. I couldn't just go up to him, at age six, to declare my adoration. I had to be more subtle.

So I wrote him a note. I don't exactly remember what it said, but based on the experience of motherhood, it couldn't have been more sophisticated than this:

"Dear Allen, Will you be my friend? Check ___(YES) for yes and ___ (NO) for no."

I was in the process of folding the note and passing it to him when my eagle-eyed teacher caught me committing the crime of "Public Display of Affection" in the classroom.

She confiscated the note and asked the guilty perpetrator (me) to stand for public humiliation as she read it out loud to my classmates, who of course included, Allen.

I don't believe I shed a tear as I heard my words read to the class, but I recall looking at Allen's red face, which probably matched my own. At age six, it's possible to embarrass boys and girls who actually have a crush on someone. 

I don't know how Allen felt toward me in First grade, but this incident caused me to lose a friend for twelve years.

After we graduated from high school, our paths crossed again at work, and we struck up a friendship. We even went together to a wedding of one of our classmates. As it turned out, Allen was as nice a guy as I had thought he was in First grade.

I don't know that my little note would have made us friends, but I do know the unkind teacher who publicly humiliated me kept our friendship from having a chance to develop as children. 

I never asked Allen if he remembered the note in elementary school. I hoped he had forgotten it. Our paths didn't cross later mostly because we had different interests in high school. He had his circle of friends; I had another. Yet I can't help but wonder at times what could have been if kindness had been displayed to me instead of meanness in that classroom.

Love thy neighbor as thyself is one of the most powerful commandments in the New Testament. There is no age limit to this admonishment, yet often adults do not offer love toward children.

Allen and I drifted apart after spending a summer together, but for that brief time, we both checked YES on the box labeled: "will you be my friend?"

We had a great time together and talked at length each night after work. 

Sometimes God gives us a second chance in life with people. When the opportunity comes along, we should appreciate it for what it is.

This is my story: Allen and I grew up in the same small town, met in First grade, and became friends twelve years later at work after we graduated. We went out once and then parted ways. I'll always remember him fondly.

I wish my former friend well, wherever he is today.
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Lord, thank you for the opportunity to love others as ourselves and to occasionally have second chances in life to get to know others better.