Cinco de Noviembre: Get ready, I'm on a soapbox.

I'm thankful today for a good, hearty raising. I'm thankful that I've been taught not to judge others. I'm thankful to have also been taught that if I do judge others, the polite (and socially acceptable) thing to do is to do so within my own thoughts. I'm thankful to have been humbled by others judging me so that I may know how it feels to be wrongfully and hurtfully judged. Praise God for those experiences, that I might think before I judge.

 This post is stemmed by something that I witnessed today and it sincerely took me by surprise. I won't broadcast what it is that I witnessed, but I will say this ... if you wouldn't judge someone for having cancer, then don't you dare judge someone for having a mental condition. Moreover, if you do judge someone for having a mental condition (I'll be praying for you) and you choose not to befriend said individual because of their condition, don't you dare broadcast their condition aloud in a public place to someone that you don't know. This post could get lengthy so I'll keep it short and sweet. I don't know what's going on in YOUR life just as you don't know what is going on in mine and neither of us have a right to judge. Maybe I'm preaching to myself a bit about my being judgmental, but I was very hurt today when a precious friend of mine was publicly degraded by someone who barely knew her. This person has children, a husband, family, and a loving and gracious savior who LOVE her unconditionally and the words that were said today would cause so much pain to those who love her. What if this happened to you? What if you were a victim of a condition that you've been trying to conquer for quite some time and some rando-shmando dogged you out to another rando-shmando? Try on the shoes before you try to walk in them, friends. This isn't something to play around about.

My friend Jana and I had a code word for gossip when we were younger. We would say it when either of us caught us gossiping to keep us accountable. We came up with it after one of the hundreds of VBS's that we went to summer after summer around town. "GS." If ever I was gossiping and Jana caught me she would yell, "GS, Ryn!" and point her finger in my face. I wanted SO BADLY to do this to this person today. Thanks, Jana, for always keeping me accountable.

Let me be clear, these aren't meant to be hurtful words towards the gossiper but instead to bring to light the hurtful nature of the conversation. You were a joy to talk to but you ruined the conversation when you began a hurtful rant toward one of the sweetest hearts that I have ever met. I do pray that in the future you think before you speak. I pray that I do the same and that if I in any way offended you, please forgive me. Let's all make sure to take the stick's out of our eyes before we start casting stones.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." - Philippians 4:8

"You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord." -Leviticus 19:16