From the Heart
“I would never do that.” “My kids would never do that.” But I did and they did.
Thank goodness my kids were teenagers and young adults before the age of social media.
Thank goodness my mistakes were never broadcast via social media.
I remember leaving Kenley’s Grocery and putting groceries in my car and finding a head of lettuce in the cart, hidden behind my big, honking purse. My heart raced as I hurried back into the store. What if someone saw what happened and thought I had stolen a head of lettuce?
In this day and age of security cameras and cell phones, I could have been caught and found guilty of theft or shoplifting. All because I wasn’t paying attention to everything that was in my cart because of my purse being so large and being in a hurry, trying to wrestle two kids and a cart full of groceries.
I have driven up State Road 37, after a 12-hour day at work and upon hearing a text, glanced into my purse to find my phone. Yes, I took my eyes off the road for a split second. What if I had hit something? I could have been found negligent.
Who of us has not made mistakes? Who of us has not had our children do something stupid? I don’t think I am in the minority.
Judge not, lest ye be judged. Yikes, that is a hard one.
Why have we become a people who are so ready to be the judge as well as the jury and the executioner?
Why do we read “stuff” on social media and become so quick to broadcast our opinion.
I have been guilty of being so quick to judge and to express my thoughts.
Honestly, I have quit reading the ugly opinions on Facebook. I’m just tired of all the judgmental verbal lynchings and prosecutions before all the facts are in.
Good people make mistakes. Good people screw up.
Excuses are not always acceptable defenses.
I hope that I have become less judgmental in my opinions. I pray that I realize that “there but for the grace of God go I.”
We live in a sad, harsh, critical world. Mob mentality is alive and well on social media. I’ve backed away from the mob.
Imagine being found guilty of a charge when you were innocent. What if you make a terrible mistake that you have to live with for the rest of your life?
Sometimes good people have to suffer the consequences of their not-so-innocent actions.
As my husband has taught me, just because I read it on Facebook does not make it true. And just because I have an opinion does not mean I have to express it on social media. What if I hurt someone or their reputation?
Do I really need to add salt to the wound?
I want mercy and grace for myself and my kids, yet, I withhold it from others. I’m learning to remember that there before the grace of God go I. I have a ways to go before I find more mercy and more grace but I’m going the right direction.