Never Judge a Book

By it's Cover

Meet Penny. Known for her lovely hats, her bling and her effervescent personality. Before hearing her speak at a luncheon today, I thought I knew a bit about Penny. I might have told you she has had an easy life (had to, no one smiles that sincerely if life has been challenging) and that she was always in a great mood. In fact, I'd have argued if you had told me that she has had some really hard times and even some miserable times.

All of us have, haven't we. How quickly we judge someone who smiles a lot, sometimes. We call it a "fake" smile if we see it too often. But what if it's the smile of gratitude. A smile of hope on the face of someone who had no hope. Someone who experienced loss, but found great gain when someone told her that God wanted to have a personal relationship with her, and, as crazy as that sounds, she discovered it was true...and it just made life totally different for her.

She told us the story of how it effected her when someone asked her if she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would go to heaven if she died today. She thought she had already resolved that question and was "doing all the right things" to get to heaven, but discovered she didn't "know" the One who would unlock that door for her. She told us the tale of how she met Jesus on a personal level and it changed her whole life.

I thought I knew Penny, but I never knew she had ever had a difficult day in her whole life. If you'd asked, I would have guessed she was just one of the those people who grew up going to church and following the crowd...just because it looks so natural on her to be at peace and to be filled with joy.

Today, I met Penny again...for the first time. Later, the weather was wild and erratic, and the sun made a stairway to heaven through the clouds. I smiled, it was time to pause and to think of how good God really is. How thorough, how creative, how amazing. I'm glad He parted the clouds. I'm glad He made Penny.