My Latest Lesson Learned

I'm going to start today by asking you a personal question.  I already know your answer and if you answer differently, then I know you're lying. How can I be so sure of your answer you ask? I know because it's something everyone has done at least once, and something most people probably do every day. Even if you're not aware that you do it.

What could I be talking about?  It's quite simple.  Have you ever judged someone?  Have you ever formed an opinion about someone before you ever spoke a word to them?  You looked at their clothes or what kind of car they drive and decide what kind of person they must be.  

Or maybe you have done what I did, maybe you saw a house that wasn't kept up, the yard was cluttered with stuff and the car in the driveway was old and starting to fall apart. So you formed an opinion that the people that lived there were dirty or they were the kind of people that were scary, kind of shady.

That happened to me this weekend.  I judged the people that were having a yard sale.  I'm emberassed that I even have this story to share with you, but I do and maybe you can learn the same lesson I did without having to do the judging.

We pulled up to the house and it was very rundown.  There was mold growing on the siding and rubbermaid containers outside full of water.  All kinds of stuff all over the yard and an almost broken down car in the driveway. I made a comment to my husband about being nervous going to the backyard for the sale (I won't repeat my actual comment because I would rather try and forget what it was).  As we turned the corner of the house I saw her.

Immediately my heart sank and guilt rose up inside of me.  The woman that stood before me was someone I have recently come to know better and I have a tremondous amount of respect for.  At once I realized why everything looked like it did. I knew why the yard was cluttered and why the car was almost broken down.

She is a single mom with two kids.  Both of her kids have special needs and one is severly autistic.  She is a single mom who stays at home and homeschools her son because when he was in school a teacher and an aide drug him across a field by his arms instead of following his IEP.  She lives off of the small amount of social security and child support she receives so she can be sure her kids are safe.  She is their advocate in everything.  

She does withou so many things because every extra dollar she gets goes towards biomeds for her kids.  Because medicare (or any other insurance company for that matter) won't pay for these proven treatments that are the only hope most parents of autistic children have.  That's why she was having a garsge sale with things donated by friends, to raise more money for biomeds.

She doesn't have the time or the energy to care for her house and yard.  She's too busy taking care of her precious children the only way she can.

That's the lesson God taught me this weekend. I hope this is a lesson that I never forget. I'm just ashamed that it's a lesson I had to learn at all.  Especially as a Christian that God has given a heart for the poor.  But like I said yesterday, I am a just a human afterall.