Stacey Philpot is a blogger and a mother who decided she had it enough of the social media she honestly believed was quite toxic. She wanted to stay away from all those social networking sites and the virtual world, and actually try to experience the real one.
But it turned our her idea to ditch the Internet wasn’t going as planned because just as she reached that decision, she got a message from a friend about something posted on Facebook that she had to see. Breaking up with the digital world wasn’t going to happen that day, because she was way too curious and had to log into her account.
Once she saw the news she simply couldn’t believe her eyes. A random person had caught one boy doing something all of the other students refused to do. Stacey felt overwhelmed when she realized it was a photo of her son, and his picture along with his story were spreading on Facebook like a wildfire.
Stacey realized that everyone was talking about her son’s act, and she couldn’t be more proud. Complete strangers were praising her son’s behavior and she knew she did just the right thing when she taught him the true values of life. His action was considered courageous by most of the people who read the story behind the photo of Hayden.
Stacey said how her son
“… captured the attention of our community by standing alone, by doing everything we’d ever taught him, everything we’d ever hoped he would do. I was completely undone.”
Hayden was spotted standing next to the Lake Minneola High School’s flagpole during the annual See You At The Pole day. That’s an event that encourages young students to gather around the flagpole and pray for the well-being of those they love, their church, and the whole community.
“My son says at first, he thought he would simply pray until someone else came along. Eventually, he realized no one else was coming. Then, the cry of his heart changed. He asked that God would do something with his standing alone.”
He didn’t care if he was standing alone, as long as he did what he truly believed in.
Stacey was eager for Hayden to learn that he was a real sensation among the people from his community, as well as the whole country, so she sent him a message while he was still at school, saying:
“You should know that people in our community are going crazy about a young man who stood at a flag pole alone and prayed this morning. They are talking about what an amazing young man he must be and how proud his parent’s should be. And I want you to know that your parents are so proud of you. You are an amazing young man. I love you so much.”
This mother and son spent that night reading all those positive comments that meant the world to a young boy like Hayden. Stacey added:
“So to you, wherever it is in your life you stand alone, be it a flag pole or a marriage, a place of work or a seemingly impossible situation, I believe my son would like to remind you God can do big things with your standing alone. Perhaps, for now, you are praying until someone else shows up or takes notice. God sees, he knows, and he can do big things.”
It turns out Internet and the social media are not that toxic after all and could be used for good words to be spread.