Seeing People As A Story (Throwback Thursday, Oct. 2008)

(Originally blogged October 2008)

So I have been reading “The Relationship Principles of Jesus” by Tom Holladay, a pastor from Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest CA.

I have been learning about how to love like Jesus and value relationships as they shoud be, the way Jesus did.

Confession…one of the more recent chapters I have read is about judging others. It teaches that we are not to be the judge of others, God is the only true and just judge. Well, let me tell ya…sometimes I feel like I am 24/7 in the world of like American Idol where anyone who steps in my path is just asking for it! And sometimes you think by the way people dress or act that maybe they are!

I can be cold in my thoughts toward a stranger on the street by automatically judging them in anyway…clothing, language, presentation…oh i am good..or bad really! So, today I was at the gym and I am not sure how or why this happened but I saw a woman running and instead of a quick “innocent” judgement, I thought to myself…hmmm…she has a story.

It was really a great way to help me from making an unfair, unkind judgement to take a second and see her as a story. So now, if I see someone who is rude or angry…something made them that way…they have a story….and maybe I can take a second and have compassion for them rather than just write them off.

I think if we remember to see everyone as a story it will help us be less critical and quick to judge!

Hopefully I can remove my head from my rear end long enough to make this a habit! Otherwise…just don’t wear or do anything stupid around me…youre just asking for it! Just kidding…kinda.

Throwback Thursday! (I Heart This One!)

This is a blog entry from about 4 years ago, immediately following an awful divorce and moving in with my parents. Children were barely 1 and 3...


What True Love Looks Like...

"So at first glance all you seem to be looking at is a random office desk, some files and a microwave…right? Not to me. You see…look at the left hand side of the photo and you will see a unopened water bottle gently placed atop a randomly placed microwave…amongst office supplies…strange…? Not to me. …let me go back a step…follow me here…
For those of you who do not know…I have recently moved in with my children to my mother and fathers home due to a recent divorce. Life has been tough but we are loved and extremely grateful to have the unconditional support we receive in this home. So…my 2 children and I share one bedroom and on nights when I need extra good sleep…which is pretty much every night…my dad allows me to crash on the bed in his office to escape the nighttime grunts and moans of the children….
keep followin me here…
Oftentimes my dad will hear me make my nightly trips (or super early trips) down to the fridge…making a bottle like a zombie…sticking it in the microwave and trying to rush back up the stairs without injuring myself in my sleepy stuper to get the bottle in the mouth before one child wakes the other…exhausting.
So…today I come up to my little office getaway (which is usually less than relaxing with papers flying from one end to the next)…to find everything at peace, organized, and restful…so I thinking “wow, dad was ambitious today!”…and then I look over and my heart melted. He had done this for me.
Strategically placed between the desk and the filing cabinet is a lovingly placed microwave…for heating the midnight bottle… along with an unopened bottle of water…to keep me from having to run the gauntlet. He never says a word, just wants to show love.
Some people want diamonds or elaborate vacations…this is true love."