Teen Essay Winner: Witness to caring

Pope John Paul II asked teens to be "convincing witnesses of the love of God." Many people might say it would be difficult to find a real-life example to demonstrate a teenager doing just that. However, for me, I had a hard time choosing which incident to tell about. I chose the following because I feel it shows how even a small action can be a true "witness" of the love of God.

When I was in kindergarten, I rode a bus to and from school every day. It was usually just with the kids from my school; however, on half days, we picked up a lot of extra kids. This incident occurred on one of those half-days. There was one friend of mine in the sixth grade that watched out for me. She was one of the first kids off the bus, and I was one of the last stops. When she got off the bus, I was sitting with a very tall kid. He was talking very loudly. I was quite scared. I just wanted to get home to see my mom and baby sisters. I started to cry because I was missing them and because I was feeling very frightened. One might think I would have been teased, but that is not what happened at all.

One of the teens on the bus asked me if I was okay and I said, "yes." The boy sitting next to me got off the bus, and the teen sitting behind me moved up and started to tell me some jokes. Then two of his friends came over and taught me some hand games. By the time I got home, I was laughing instead of crying.

When I got home, my mom was surprised to see how happy I was. I told her I had met some new friends. She said, "That's good, sweetheart. Who are they?" I told her about the big kids on the bus and how they made my laugh.

As I think about this incident, even today as a teen myself, I am very appreciative of those teens' ability to witness the love of God. Up until this point, I was very frightened of "big kids," but these loving teens made me realize that even "big kids" are usually very nice and God's love is within all of us.

Although, over the years, I have not remained close friends with those teens, I still feel close to them in my heart. I run into them occasionally around town, and we are always happy to see each other.

Their kind words and actions towards me as a young child have been an inspiration to me. Many time, when I find myself with the opportunity to influence a young child in a positive way, I remember how great these teens made me feel. It makes me proud to know that my witness to the love of God has surely brought that same feeling to other small children.

(11-05-98) [[In-content Ad]]