On Friday morning, after Janna and I dropped the big kids off at school, we headed to town to get some more plants for our garden. At the first place we stopped we bought a few things and then headed out to our vehicle. I let Janna climb in through the back after taking this picture of her in her new flower pot.
While I finished loading our supplies, Janna hid in the back seat and wanted to play hide and seek. When I was ready to get her strapped into her seat she still wanted to hide.
At this time I noticed a woman in the vehicle beside me who kept staring at me. I couldn’t figure out why she was looking at me in what appeared to be a judgmental way.
I finally convinced Janna to get into her seat and strapped her in. The woman started to drive away but instead of leaving she pulled over to my side, rolled down her window and said, “Ma’am”.
I turned to her and this woman said, “You should not leave your child in a vehicle by herself. It is too hot outside.”
Dumbfounded, I said, “I would never do that.” I wasn’t sure the woman was convinced but she did drive away after saying something about people being idiots.
I felt so caught off guard that someone would be so accusing without even knowing the whole situation. As we drove to another garden center I tried to shrug it off.
As I was loading the vehicle with the plants we had purchased at the second store Janna again went through the back to get to her seat. A woman who had checked out at the same time as we did came over to our vehicle.
I couldn’t help but wonder what I had done to offend this woman. However, instead of being accusatory about something that wasn’t true like the first woman I encountered that morning, this woman had a completely different demeanor.
This dear lady told me that I had such a sweet princess of a little girl and that she must be such a blessing.
I told her thank you and we struck up a conversation. This sweet woman told me that she was 75 years old and that the doctors had told her several years ago that she wouldn’t live but a few months. Over 10 years later she was still going and she said she knew the Lord had given her a gift.
She told me that she would pray that my family would be blessed and that my children would grow into fine adults.
I couldn’t help but smile while talking to this woman. Her enthusiasm and joy for the Lord were evident and she seemed to glow with His light.
As I drove home I kept thinking about the contrast between the two women I had encountered that morning. Both were of a similar age, but their personalities were completely different.
One was judgmental and accusatory without even knowing me or the whole situation. The other was complimentary and offered to pray for me and my family even though she didn’t know me either.
While I never in my wildest dreams thought I would encounter two women in one morning who had such contrasting personalities, I am very thankful for the lessons I learned from both of them.
You see, every day we are given a choice as to how we will treat people, whether in person or online. Will we stand in judgment, or will we share the love of Christ?
Being judgmental is easy. I know I have done my fair share of judging others in my life. However, just because something is easy, it doesn’t mean that it is right.
What is right is to remember that we’re all in this together.
We all face trials. We all have doubts. We all fall short. We all need to be forgiven. We all need mercy.
When I “grow up” I want to be like the sweet lady who chose to go out of her way to share her love of Christ with me and offer to pray for my family.
Lord, help me remember that we’re all in this together. Thank you, God, for loving us so much that you sent Your son to save us ALL. Amen
Galatians 3:26-29 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
