Today I saw...

While at Starbucks during my lunch break today, I ended up in line behind a beautiful woman! She was probably about my age, though could have been younger, dressed casually with straight brown hair, nicely made up face. She had a very cute 2-3 year old little boy on her hip and a little girl about a year or two older, in a wheelchair. The little girl obviously had some type of physical and/or mental disability.

I couldn't tell if the woman was the mother or care taker. Honestly, I was surprised to see such a beautiful woman with a disabled child. I'm not sure why.

Sitting across the room, I watched, trying to gage the level of interaction this woman had with the kids to possibly determine her relationship with them and/or her feelings towards the disabled girl.

Throughout the 30 or so minutes I sat there, the young woman never seemed to smile. She engaged very well with the little boy, but not as much with the girl. She fed her a Starbucks pastry of some kind and wiped her mouth at one point while talking sweetly to her, but most of her attention seemed to be on the little boy. At one point, I heard one of the children making a loud noise and I looked up to see the woman hugging the little boy in her lap with the little girl yelling for what, I assumed, was a desire for similar attention. In fact, it seemed almost obvious that this little girl wanted the same type of attention.

I struggled to try not to judge the beautiful woman, thinking she was mostly turning her attention towards the cute little boy and not enough of her attention towards the disabled girl. After all, the girl deserved just as much love and attention as the little boy. Just because she couldn't communicate or function like a "normal" child her age, didn't mean she wasn't aware of the attention being shown else where.

And then the thought occurred to me. What would I do if I was the care taker of these two little kids? In all honesty, I would have had trouble taking the job to begin with. I might have felt self-conscious when interacting with the girl in public (wondering if people like me were watching and judging). It would have been awkward for a while as I developed a relationship with the girl, which I might have done timidly. I might have felt like I was "scoring" more points because I was taking care of someone who needed special care.

I'm not sure there was a point to this story other than how I was struck by my own quickness to judge others. Whether that woman was the care taker or the parent, she was really trying and who am I to think I could do better in a similar situation? I probably wouldn't, which is why God didn't place me in that position. I'm left feeling like I should pray and should have looked for a way to encourage this woman, no matter how much I may have been a little intimidated by her beauty. She was really making a great effort and that is certainly more than I have ever done!!