Judge Not....Not Judge Julie

A funny thing about the picture I posted on Tuesday: When Luke saw it, he was surprised to see Lily's hand on his bag. "I didn't know she was holding me like that," he said with a grin. I think it made him feel good to see it. What things go on behind our backs that we never know about?

I kind of think that Luke kind of thinks that Lily likes Lars better than she likes him. And I think he's wrong, but it'll have to be something he figures out on his own. Nothing I say would really be able to convince him. We haven't actually talked about it; that's the kind of conversation that would just make him squirm. I'm so glad he got to see the picture and that he noticed what he didn't see or feel that morning. She loves him, and she cherishes being with him, she leans on him.

It's only natural for Lily to have a different kind of relationship with her two brothers, because they all have different personalities and respond to competition differently, because Luke and Lily have spent more time together than Lily and Lars, because of their age differences, and on and on. But we all do this, we make judgements about how others feel about us, or what they think about us.

I have a tendency to take it even farther and think I can figure out other people's motives. That's dangerous territory. Because if I don't have it quite right, I might start operating in my own little universe founded on incorrect assumptions. For one of our small group studies at church, we took an assessment of our skills and interests. My number one "skill/interest" was "figuring people out." I'm starting to think this is a great big red flag from God to me. The Bible is pretty clear about who is supposed to be doing the judging....I haven't found a verse yet that says, "Thou shalt Let Julie be the judge of that, she's good at figuring people out."

People's hearts are not where we can see them, we can't know what's going on in there. Sheeesh, sometimes we don't even know what's going on in our own hearts. And, it happens sometimes, that people hold onto us when we aren't looking, people love us in ways that we don't always see.