I am not a SNOB! ;

Praise!  I'm going back to work on the helicopter tomorrow! 

So today I had coffee with a great new friend.  She decided to share with me what she thought about me when she first met me.  She said she thought I was a SNOB!  I could NOT believe it.  Anyone who truly knows me, knows that this is not me.  I LOVE to talk and get to know people but I do have a problem...I don't feel comfortable talking to people I don't really know.  I am that person who loves to talk and share once I know I am welcomed into the conversation.  I am often so afraid of offending someone and making the first move into introductions.  This is a weakness, I know, but I never quite realized that it could be offensive or give off a first impression of snobbishness!  We laughed and of course I was not offended.  I am intrigued to know how I come across even when it's a shocking revelation.  I will certainly work on that although I have to say I am also working on "not caring" what other's think of me as this has also been a stronghold (that can be in another post).

I have attended Hebron since I was 10 years old.  That's a LONG time!  I have sang in the choir ever since I can remember.  I grew up at Hebron and sang my first solo when I was 14 or 15 years old.  I was terrified.  I have battled stage fright most of my life.  I have forgotten words more times than I can remember and if there is one thing on stage I am worried about...it's usually that.  Each time I sing I focus on why I am there.  It's not about me.  Simple as that.  Although of course I would like for it to be perfect and I always work to do my best.  It's really OK if I do mess up (and I do mess up quite a bit...shhhhh...don't tell anybody!).  I bring up singing because my dear friend mentioned that "because you sing on stage at church" as one of the things that made her think of me as a snob.  I have often worried about the impression I give at church after singing.  A lot of people see me and think they know me.  Perhaps that is why I seemed snobby.  I never want to seem unapproachable...and I promise...I'm not!  I'm just plain Jane simple Sherri.



In our conversation today, I shared that I have started doing something when I prematurely judge (as if I should do it at all) someone based on my first impression.  We never know what that person is really like.  They may have acted in a way that doesn't settle well with us, or maybe they were distracted and didn't notice us in the way we felt we should have been noticed.  I have certainly been distracted over one or more things in  my lifetime.  I have practiced this more in traffic.  In order to survive Atlanta traffic I have tried to imagine what the life of that person who "ticked me off" is like. Maybe their spouse just left them, maybe they are headed to the hospital to see a loved one who is dying, maybe they are late for a job interview after being jobless for months, maybe they are suffering from depression, maybe they just lost a child, maybe they have been abused or hurt in another unimaginable way.  I could go on and on.  

So just a suggestion and a challenge to whomever reads this...try it.  You won't believe how quickly your first impression can change.  I will work on my awareness of people around me, especially in groups of people I'm often around and really should reach out to.  I am hoping this is something you will try too.  I am so far from perfect and I have no right to judge others...and it doesn't feel good to be judged either.  

John 7:24New International Version (NIV)

 "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

Matthew 7 New International Version (NIV)

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.