God humbled my heart today. I wen to the QT up the road to get a coffee. As I was getting it, I noticed...couldnt help but notice...a very tall, African American woman dressed in tight jeans, extremely high heals that were black with gold embellishment, a black shirt that rode up to reveal a her large portion of her crack and black scarf. Her hair was cut close to the scalp and she wore a embellished ball cap. She had tattoos on her neck and dripping in cheap gold jewelry. I admit, I at first glance, I was like, Woah!! and judged her a little for her choice of clothing. Then, she ended up in front of me in line. She had purchased a doughnut and coffee. Her first card was declined, so she handed them a second one. It, too, was declined and as she dug in her wallet trying to figure out what to do, boy did God get a hold of my heart!! I felt compassion for this woman I had just judged, knowing how hard life can be and what its like to not be able to afford a cup of coffee. I realized that these were probably her best clothes and she may have even been on her way to church in the best she had. I felt humbled and asked her to let me cover her purchase due to Gods nudging (not by anything good in me!) and she was grateful. And, I managed to do so in a way that only she, the clerk and I knew what had happened so that she wasnt embarrassed. I got out and got in my car and saw she was in a large SUV parked next to me and it was in terrible shape. There were three kids in the car and she was dividing the doughnut out between the three....yep, humbled even further. She turned and looked at me and mouthed thank you so much and I just smiled and nodded. My heart broke and I was ashamed of myself. She drove off and I sat there and prayed God would forgive my judgmental heart and that Hed bless this woman and her family with abundant provision. I dont share this to boast about a good deed. I share this as a reminder that we need to love the unlovely and I hesitate to use that word because she actually was a beautiful woman and it seemed so both inside and out. We need to see each other as people...just people,and check our assumptions and judgmental attitudes at the door. If we just treated everyone as good as or better than ourselves, how much different would the world be?
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 17:02:47 +0000