Page 22 of In This Moment
In case anyone ever wanted to know.
He opened the front cover and pored over the table of contents. AnnaMae had done a thorough job. Her categories went beyond what Wendell had requested. She covered criminal activity, and broke the statistics into felonies and misdemeanors.
Next was the mental health part of the report. She researched everything from suicides to suicide attempts, drug abuse, reports of depression and even student absences. From there she included student scores on standardized tests and assignments, as well as papers, and tests in each subject.
The report couldn’t have been more thorough.
Wendell could barely breathe as he made his way from one page to the next. Arrests for violent crimes were down by seventy-five percent and misdemeanors were cut in half. Wendell let his eyes settle on the numbers. Tears gathered.God, You are so faithful. This is beyond what I had hoped.
And suddenly a slight gust of wind came through the open window behind him.My son, I am able to do more than you can ask or imagine. Trust Me.
The words blew across the surface of his soul, and Wendell held his breath. He was on holy ground here. But of course, God could do more than they could ever ask or imagine. His word promised that in Ephesians 3:20. And the report was absolute proof.
Wendell turned the page. Category after category, the results were beyond dramatic. Not a single suicide. Attendance was up and reports of depression were down.
Looking at the results, it was clear only God could have done this for Hamilton High School. And to think the Raise the Bar program had been kept a secret from the media all this time.
“All You, Lord.... Only You.” He whispered the words, his eyes still on the report.
But while things had turned around at Hamilton High, Wendell’s personal life was still only about his children. Some days he missed Alicia with every heartbeat.
The two of them had liked having dinner at quiet cafés and catching a movie every now and then. He missed the happy, lighthearted approach she had with his boys, and the kind way she related to his girls. Times when anxiety seemed the furthest thing from her. No question, Wendell’s heart was still hooked.
But there was no point thinking about her. Alicia had moved on. He hadn’t heard from her since last fall. Whatever her life these days, she clearly wasn’t looking back.
And she apparently had no idea of how her absence had hurt him. How it had left a gaping hole in his life.
Wendell made it through AnnaMae’s entire report, and then he saw the one beneath it. The one put together by senior Cami Nelson. Wendell smiled as he picked it up. Cami had been attending the Raise the Bar meetings since the first week. In that time she had come to believe in the Lord and love Him.
She was a changed person, and she was just one of so many. A few weeks ago it had occurred to Wendell that statistics were only part of the story.
The results—no matter how stunning—would never take the place of personal testimonies. Cami Nelson was a journalism student. She loved writing the way some people loved singing. The way his own son Jordy loved running the football into the end zone. Writing was something Cami Nelson was born to do.
So Wendell gave her an assignment.
Starting with herself, she was to capture the stories of students who regularly attended the Raise the Bar club. Ask them what life was like before, and how it was different now. Then write a one-page narrative on each of them. Place them together in a single folder and get them on his desk by this Monday morning.
Wendell would see that she got extra credit for her work.
And sure enough, there beneath AnnaMae’s report was Cami Nelson’s. The presentation wasn’t as professional, but Wendell was certain the information it contained would be powerful. Numbers and percentages were proof that Hamilton High was improving. But the students’ stories were proof that lives were actually being changed. Not only changed, but saved. Wendell opened the cover of Cami’s report and saw that the first story was her own. Hers and every account that followed appeared to be written in first person.
As if Cami had merely let the students tell their stories, and she had done her best to capture them. The one after Cami’s was titled: “Dwayne Brown, Hamilton High Junior.”
Wendell was gripped from the opening sentence.
It wasn’t whether I was going to kill myself before I started attending the Raise the Bar program. It was when and how.The story went on to tell about Dwayne’s life of drug abuse and meaninglessness.Football had become my whole life. Other than that, I had no hope, no future, no direction. No one who cared whether I lived or died. Then I learned about God through the Raise the Bar program and everything changed.
More tears blurred Wendell’s eyes. He brushed at them with the palms of his hands and kept reading. Over the next hour he read through every story. The Raise the Bar kids had a whole new perspective on life.
They lived the Gospel.
Students in the club had developed initiatives to do peer counseling and tutoring, and they were responsible for so many positive changes. They volunteered as study partners with the elementary kids down the block, and they picked up trash and painted over graffiti at Hamilton. The ripple effect was obvious. They had made Hamilton High a better community.
Both reports proved it.
By then he’d gone through several tissues. If he cared for his students before, Wendell loved them even more now.
“I guess this proves You right, Father. You told me to start this program, and I obeyed.” Wendell spoke softly. “Now look at the results...”
