I have been convicted just recently of being very judgmental about 2 things in particular that I never even realized I was doing. As all good lessons happen, it was through some of my own experiences...
Firstly, I got pulled over on the interstate in a construction zone by a state trooper! As soon as I passed the police car I tapped my brakes and noticed him immediately pull out behind me. I made sure I was doing the right thing throughout the whole construction zone and thought that maybe he would forgive me since I was being such a good driver. HOWEVER...as soon as we left the construction zone (and thus another lane opened up to pull over into) he put on his lights. I started sweating and shaking and pulled right over and as a side note everyone will be shocked to know that I didn't cry! Another side note...Henry was in the back seat sound asleep. When he asked my how fast I thought I was going I replied 71 (which my cruise had been set at) and he said, "actually I clocked you at 69"! (The brake tap!) He asked me if I realized that the speed limit was 55 in the construction zone. I said I definitely did but I honestly (and this is true) didn't realize the zone had started yet. Then he asked for the standard license and insurance. This is when I felt like I was in a Safe Auto commercial. I could not produce a current insurance card. The first one I finally dug out of the car (after flipping through my Sam's, Blockbuster, museum, and frequent coffee cards) had expired in 2006. Then I gave him the next one I found...expired in 2005. He asked me if we still had the same insurance and I told him yes, then he told me to keep looking and see if I could find it and he went back to his car to do whatever they do. This is when Henry woke up. I still had my window down and it was noisy with the traffic on the interstate when all of a sudden I hear "vrrooom, vrooom" noises coming from the backseat! Henry had woken up and was imitating all of the cars going by. He was thrilled when I told him that there was a police car behind us and that there would be a police man coming over to our car to talk to us. He couldn't wait to see him. When the officer came back he told me that because I had been honest with him and my record looked good he was going to give me a warning, but to please drive safely and find that card whenever I got home. Henry waved to him and blew him a kiss...all of which the officer ignored...although I'm totally convinced that having a sleeping baby in the backseat definitely helped with the warning versus a ticket. I later found out that the minimum fine for speeding in a construction zone is $375. I definitely felt that he showed me a lot of grace and I am so thankful for that!
The lesson I learned here is that usually when I see people pulled over I always try to look and I wonder, Hmmm, I wonder what they did wrong and I get all interested in making judgements. I realized that sometimes it's just our turn to get caught. Obviously no one is a perfect driver. And I will say that this man put some serious speeding fear into me. Now whenever I see a police car when I'm driving I break into a sweat and wonder what I might have done wrong in the last 5 miles. When they pass me I feel such relief!
The second lesson won't be as long. Henry and I usually go grocery shopping on Wednesday mornings. We had an especially busy morning and ended up going a little later..still in the morning but later than usual. By the time we were halfway through the store his little head started to bob and I knew it was only a matter of time before he fell asleep. I took off my coat and lay it across the cart bar and he lay his little head on there and fell asleep in Wal-Mart for the rest of the time we were shopping and checking out. I felt horrible that my little baby had to sleep on a cart bar in Wal-Mart, and I realized that when I've seen babies sleeping in places like that before I've thought things like, "take that poor baby home for his nap-time" or "can't you run your errands after his nap". The obvious thing I learned is that babies will be babies and sometimes they do just fall asleep...even when it's NOT their nap time!
God is good at showing us the places in our hearts that need work. I'm thankful for these lessons and thankful for the grace that was shown to me.
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