Just when you think...

you have people figured out, they surprise you.

My brother did that today. I love all my brothers, but they are all very different people... and for a long time I had a tough time connecting with Cory. His straight-forward, no-frills, serious approach to life contrasted with my over-the-top rainbows and gumdrops view of the world. But over the last year or more that's been changing. I've come to see what an incredible person he really is. What a fine man he is growing into. We've really become friends. And still the conversation I had with him today, the one that left me both speechless and in tears, surprised me.

He wants to bless someone. He wants to say "here, you can have this" and make someone's day. He wants to reach out to the kid that everyone else makes fun of. The kid that has nothing. And he wants to make that kid feel appreciated. Respected. Noticed. And he wants to do so for the right reason. For a reason I never considered.

He wants to do so because the kid deserves it.

When I naively suggested that he wanted to give this kid a blessing because "he doesn't have anything", Cory pointed out that it's true, "the kid has nothing... but I want to give this to him because he deserves it." Wow. I've thought a lot about giving lately. No-strings-attached kind of giving. Love-of-Christ kind of giving. But today I talked to a young man not thinking about it... I talked to a one recognizing that "everything points that this is the obvious thing to do".

Isn't that truth? Doesn't Christ tell us that what we do for the least of these we do for Him. Don't they deserve it? (have you ever thought about it that way?) I'm not surprised that Cory wants to do something nice. He's a nice kid. What amazed me was the depth of his conviction. See, when Cory got home and told my other brother his plan... he freaked out and refused to let Cory follow through with giving away something that is rightfully shared between them. I've never seen Cory so upset. As I talked to him on the phone I could hear the compassion in his voice for this kid that deserved something in his life.

He brought me to tears. And regardless of what happens with Tyson, Cory is going to see to it that this kid he knows gets the blessing he deserves. Today I found an example of unconditional love, the kind of love that every human on this earth deserves to know... in my 15 year old brother. Just when you think you have someone figured out...