No Doubt About It

Today I finished my 5th book of the year, and my 2nd nonfiction book--No Doubt About It by Sheri Dew. Wow! This was an amazing book. Over and over I kept thinking there was a reason this sat on my shelf for so long--I really needed to read it now. Over and over again, I kept thinking, "This is great! I really need to apply this." I wanted to blog quickly on some stuff she said in the last chapter:

"How often have all of us made judgments that are...unfair? Why can't we resist the urge to second-guess and evaluate each other? Why do we judge everything from the way we keep house to how many children we do or do not have? Sometimes I wonder if the final judgment will be a breeze compared with what we've put each other through here on earth!

"...When we fail to champion one another, we in essence betray each other.

"...What if we were to each decide that from this time forward we would make just one assumption about each other--that we are doing the best we can? And what if we were to try a little harder to help each other?" (pg 225-228, emphasis added)

This is a new challenge for me. I'm pretty good about not judging people in a lot of areas. If anything, I'm harsher on myself than I think I am on others, except when it comes to certain categories. I don't want to list them just because I don't want anyone to worry that I've been judging them. Clearly, it's my problem, not theirs. But, I'm posting about this because I want the help of my friends and family members. If you hear me saying things like, "Why is she doing...?" (in a judging way and not as a means of gathering more information) or "I can't believe someone in her shoes would actually..." then I want you to smack me. Meanwhile, I'll try to keep all negative thoughts out of my head, including all the ones that sound like, "I wish I had her hair" or "Why is her son better behaved than mine?" or "Why can't I make my house as cute as her house?" I'll also try to be a little nicer, a little more concerned about others, and a little less (rather, a lot less) envious of the wonderful people that surround me.