lesson learned on a snow day

I learned a powerful lesson today. Sometimes I can be a little dense, and it takes a while for me to catch on to whatever God is trying to teach me. Today, though, it was impossible to miss.

While cleaning my bedroom, I decided to open the curtains and blinds to let the sunshine in. I should mention that I rarely open the curtains as I'm basically only in the bedroom to sleep. Soon, I noticed one of my neighbors digging out his car. Then I noticed that he was scooping the snow from behind his car and dumping it behind mine! At first, I just stared in disbelief. Then, I got annoyed. I would never have confronted him over it, but I definitely was thinking some not-so-nice thoughts about him. After about 20 minutes, he got in his car and pulled away.

I continued cleaning, and my thoughts often centered on how long it would take me to shovel the snow surrounding my car. Then, I saw my neighbor pull into the parking lot. With him was a man on a Bobcat. While the man with the Bobcat moved the large amounts of snow, my neighbor went from car to car, clearing a path to the road for each one. He also shoveled a path around each car. He worked for well over an hour.

As I watched him, I felt ashamed. Ashamed of the way I reacted when I saw him moving snow behind my car. Ashamed of my grouchy thoughts as I anticipated digging out my car. But most of all, I was ashamed that I chose to jump to conclusions rather than give my neighbor the benefit of the doubt.

While I don't know my neighbor well, he's never been anything but friendly to me--yet I rarely entertain positive thoughts about him, due to one incident that occurred nearly three years ago. I was more than ready to condemn him for his actions while he scooped the snow around his car because those actions seemed to confirm what I already thought about him.

Today, God clearly showed me how judgmental I can be, and He also showed me that I should not assume to know someone's motives ... because what I think is happening may not be what is really happening at all.