Judging Others................In the past, I have been the queen of it- I've summed up another's situation and sized it to 'what I determined it is' and then judged- I might not have always spoken what was on my mind but never the less I was still thinking it. What sticks out in my mind the most is my pride- If I did not understand what another person was going through, or if they were not handling their situation the way I would or in a way that was relatable, I would judge them- I am not talking about the blatant wrong things in life- the things that are morally unacceptable that need to be judged and then action needs to be taken- I'm talking about simple life situations...........
Over the past two and a half years the Lord has called our family out of almost every comfort zone we have ever known- along with calling us out of our comfort zone, a lot of our life has been lived 'out loud'- meaning we allowed other's to experience our transitions with us- While living in Hawaii we had over 200 visitors in the span of 26 months- These precious people (thank you so much to each and every person that took the time to come visit) were able to see an up close and personal view of what our family was all about- no facade, no pretense, no frills- Just us living life the best we knew how- definitely not perfect.........but definitely with passion and love for each other-
Along with all of the above we were given an INCREDIBLE opportunity to pursue adopting our Ellie- we have been asked to 'live out loud' for the State of Georgia, the State of Oregon, and the State of Hawaii- several AMAZING social workers, five attorney's (I know I have said this before but 4 GREAT attorneys and 1 not so great), our birth mom Heather, a wonderful hospital staff, a delivery doctor, all of our friends and family, people that have no clue who we are but have heard about our adoption story, church family, and the list could go on-
Again, this has all been an INCREDIBLE, AMAZING, GOD BREATHED opportunity......but it has also been humbling- humbling because our life has been out there for inspection- the feeling of vulnerability has been huge- I would be lying if I did not say there has also been hard ship, stress, and strain.
My heart goes out to the people who have or are in Matt and my shoes right now- who are doing the best they can with the situations they have been given- The people who just need cheer leaders cheering them on and not judges- The people who feel so vulnerable...........
Going back to my first sentence of this post........Judging Others- I have been given yet another amazing opportunity to learn........
Like I wrote a couple of weeks ago
about our Adoption Finalization- we have had some detours- detours that seem to just keep on coming our way.........In our case, and I believe a lot of other's situations (not necessarily adoption related just life situations)- a detour just gives God more room to work- It give's HIM more room to show His control in a situation and His creativity- It also gives the people like Matt and I more room to trust and have faith in God's sovereign control!
I speak for myself when I acknowledge that I definitely will be more sensitive to other's situations-I personally have had so many people come along side and encourage, cheer on, pray, etc... I have also experienced people, that I know have good intentions but no compassion, who have judged- people that are quick to point out what they believe we are doing wrong (the few people that have done this have never experienced any of our life situations- but seem to have all the answers.........I can think of SEVERAL situations where I have done just what they have done- oh believe you me there is nothin' like getting a bit of your own medicine to give you a wake up call :). Thank goodness it has been only a few- just enough to wake me up to my own judgments I have passed on people and just enough to make me want to blog about where I personally am with judging!
'Heavenly Father I ask that you help me to be a woman who loves before I judge, a woman who shows sensitivity and compassion to situations I might not understand and who shows humility before pride.......I love you Lord Jesus and thank you for this opportunity to grow.'
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I love you Eli Ben!! (Was dressed to go hunting with Eli- My little
brother ended up taking him.....kind of fun wearing camo and army boots for a bit) |
