It's Valentines Day. I remember what it was like being a single mom with three little ones on Valentines day :( It was NOT a very happy time in my life, and all the attention to flowers and romance only made it painfully worse! So today I paid a visit to a young single mom whom I met through my church. Single mom's are notorious for not lavishing themselves with luxuries, they 're too busy struggling to afford basics, like gasoline, toilet paper and diapers! So a surprise delivery of decadent treats seemed in order!
She has two little ones and a third one on the way! Her life is uncertain and she is fearful for their future because her husband left her during this latest pregnancy. It would be easy to say-WHAT A HORRIBLE THING, leaving a wife and three darling children! How can any man do such a terrible thing? But there is more to the story. This strong young man has been serving his country in a war zone. If that wasn't stressful enough, recently he suffered a horrible tragedy- his leg was blown off. Suddenly we see WHY his whole world may be crumbling. The trauma, the shock and unbelievable pain, his future, his ability to provide for his family, and his identity as a man, were all blown to pieces at that moment. Of course he's confused and not thinking clearly.... and then suddenly, we are filled with compassion for him.
I must always be on guard NOT to make quick judgements about people, not even quietly, in the private recesses of my own thinking! We really have no idea what people have been through. God please help me remember this lesson. I long to be "moved by compassion" as JESUS was..... instead of being moved to cynicism and criticism.
| |||
