Walking a mile...

There's this family who is very close to us, and they're struggling. Times are really hard financially, they have small children, and it's just very painful to watch. Things seem ok on the outside, I mean, others know times are tough for them, but I don't think anyone really knows HOW tough. And no one will ever really know how tough it is for them.

The mom said something to me that really got me thinking. She said, "I know now why some people sell drugs."

It seemed like sort of an off- the- wall comment, but she went on to explain that when times are this desperate, folks will do almost anything to provide for their families.

How would you see the world differently
if you had to wear someone else's shoes
for awhile?

Hearing a Christian woman talk like this was an eye-opener for me.

One of my many faults is that I can be super judgy. I say things like, "I don't know how anyone could do THAT." or "If only they did THIS, they wouldn't have to do THAT."

I have considered drug dealers pretty scummy. And while the act of selling drugs is deplorable, I stopped to wonder, "what would happen to make someone start doing that?" It's sometimes hard to see through the act to see the person.

It usually bothers me to no end to see families on food stamps with a cart full of chips, sodas, snack/junk foods. But that "food" costs a whole lot less than the healthy stuff and sometimes you'll do what you have to do to make the hunger pains go away. (I can get a whole lot of chips for the price of organic carrots. Just sayin'.)

It comes down to not judging a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Would you see the world, and the folks living in it, a little differently if you had to live their experience? Walk their walk?

Yeah, me too.