By Jim Weber
Reprinted from the Touchstone Support Team Letter, July 2006.
Phillip changed his mind – not unusual for a teenager. For a long time Phil’s mind was made up. School was not for him. The only thing he did well at school was get in trouble. Nothing else he did there seemed to make a difference. The only reason he agreed to go on the service project trip to Mississippi was to have fun, to get out of town.
Then something happened. When Phil saw the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, he wanted to do something about it. He realized that he was really there to be a part of the rebuilding. Phil met Cecile, a lady whose home had been gutted by the hurricane and who had then been abandoned by her husband. Then with a crowbar and a hammer, Phil and his buddies set about working for Cecile and her community. It was hard, hot work, but before he knew it, Phil had made a difference . . .
Something changed. Phil’s mother began to notice a difference in his attitude and behavior. Like a lot of teens, Phil had done his share complaining and grumbling. But his mom said that since the trip, her son was positive and grateful. Just as importantly, Phil had begun to care about school again.
Several days after the trip I was driving with a van full of students who had gone on the service project. Phil was in the back seat. As we drove through Phil’s neighborhood, we passed a student we both knew from the school playing basketball in the street. I stopped the car to chat with him and asked how his grades had turned out. He replied that he was going to have to take some classes over again next year, but that he didn’t care because he hated school. Phil climbed all the way from the back seat of my van to say, “That’s how I used to be! But you don’t have to leave it that way. You can go to summer school and do credit recovery. That’s what I’m gonna do. You and me are just alike. Man, we can do something about this!”
Phil’s mother was right. He was different. Phil had seen that he could change something for someone else. And doing that, changed him. The difference Phil made had made a difference in Phil.