Judgments.

                             Does it really matter what others think of us? No, but that isn't the reality. Society has come to the point of everyone on the TV, telling us who looks good in what, and how much weight they have lost/gained, what he/she wore, and so on. To me that is so sad. What has this world come to now days? Can we all just love each other for who they are & not throw around so much hate and judgement?

                                         When you hear the word judge, what do you think? 
Do you think of a judge in the court of law?
Do you think of a judge on a TV show or do you think of the harsh reality of the true definition?

The definition of judge is to form an opinion about someone or something.

Now we know that everyone says oh well I don't judge, or I'm not judging but......
There is ALWAYS a but at the end of that sentence, and I'm not going to lie, I have said that and I am guilty of judging people but I am trying to become a better in that department. In fact when I think about it, how many verses in the Bible does it mention to us not to judge? Don't know? Well there are a lot let me tell you. Matthew 7:1 says " Do not judge, or you to will be judged", when I read that verse it really hits home to me.

                                        For 25 years, my entire life. I have been judged. 

Growing up my family made sure that I felt like the most normal little girl in the world, and they did one heck of a job. As a child I can honestly say I never knew something was wrong with me. I just kept playing and going along with life as I knew it.  I'm also very extremely blessed with the fact that I have about 7 friends that have been my friends from birth, they have NEVER once judged me. When we would play outside and I would get tired quicker than my friends, they would say lets go play inside or watch a movie. They were young but still made sure I felt normal. They did that without hesitation. Yes there were times that I felt judged for instance they wouldn't invite me to do things because I couldn't go here since they smoked, or I couldn't go to Six Flags in the summer because I couldn't last all day, I would be exhausted. Those were mainly my preteen to teenage years. I remember numerous of times I wanted to go to a party, but they wouldn't invite me, wouldn't even mention it, then I would see things posted on MySpace about how much fun they had. Yes I would go in my room, do my breathing treatments & cry myself to sleep asking why am I not good enough? Do they not love me? What is so wrong with me? After I questioned everything all night about myself, I would ALWAYS wake up the next day and forget about it. It's a new day & I'm ready to go!

I'm very happy to say that when I got so sick right before my transplant, those 7 close friends were by my side. They weren't judging, they wanted to be with me, nowhere else just be there for me. If you would've asked me years ago would these same people still be my best friends in 10 years, I would have said you are crazy there is NO way but here I am 25 and they are all still here. After my surgery I had never felt so loved in my life. People coming out of the wood works, from all over the USA to actually all over the world. Praying for me, not knowing me, and most of all not judging me. Now who can say you had people all over the world praying for you? ha yeah this girl right here. :-)

These days I have to wear a mask every now & then at random places and during flu season. That's when the judgment begins.....staring, pointing, whispering, cranking their neck around to look at me. The same things that happened when I had a wheelchair pre-transplant. Now you would think a mask wouldn't be a big deal right? uh WRONG.
The thing that has surprised me the most is when I do wear the mask, it's not the children that judge me, it's the grown adults. The little kids don't know any better they just ask why, and I politely say oh I had a transplant, and I have to wear this to look cool and not get sick. Once I say that they are content, walk away and think nothing of it. As far as the adults, it's very disappointing in my eyes. They stare so hard I feel like the eyes will get stuck like that. haha. I've had quite the questions containing the mask that makes me laugh so hard.

Here is a few:

"Oh are you sick?" I say no I had a transplant then they freak out and apologize forever. I say no no it's a good thing!

"Are you a doctor?" hahaha yeah because I just got out of surgery, changed to jeans & a t-shirt but left my mask on.

"Oh sweetie, did you have oral surgery?" now what in the heck would I be doing wearing a mask after oral surgery? I just had my wisdom teeth out & I didn't need a mask. LOL

"Thank you so much for what you do!" I said i'm sorry? They said your a nurse. haha no ma'am no I'm not but I do know a bunch of them.


After reading those how can you not laugh? The point to that is proven in
            James 1:19 "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry".

So before you go off throwing judgments out on people you don't even know, think about it before you say something. Until you walked a mile in their shoes, you don't have much room to talk.

I had a handicap sign prior to transplant because I couldn't walk far & half the time I just used a wheelchair. When people would see me stepping out of my car looking all "normal" they would shake their head in disgust that I parked there and I'm not "handicap". Little did they know I couldn't BREATHE. So when you see someone looking perfectly healthy parking in a handicap, think about it. Maybe they look perfect on the outside, but on the inside their body is failing.
When you see someone on the side of the street asking for money, your mind automatically goes to they just want money for beer, drugs, or other stuff. What if they don't? What if they have nothing, they lost their house, lost their job, has PTSD, and just needs some kind of help that day. Maybe YOU will change their life but giving them change or $1 or $5?

Does it really matter what everyone else thinks? It says in Galatians 1:10 "Am I now trying to win approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I was still trying to please people I would not be a servant of Christ." In the end the only one to has the authority to judge is the Lord, yet he doesn't judge. He only wants us to do what is right. What's so hard about that?

Everyone has the ability to judge, but how about instead of judging we change that to the power of changing someones life. Making them realize there are good people in this world, and not everyone will judge you. Instead of saying oh my gosh look at them, how about you say oh Bless their Heart, I need to pray for them.

Trust me, it does work.


Today I want to send out a challenge, can you go all day (24 hours) without thinking a judgmental thought?

faith.hope.love

Courtney

courtlee7@yahoo.com