Back from Vacation!

I don't know about you ... but I am not a huge "game" person. That can cause some moments of conflict in our house when my wife (who IS a huge game "game" person) says, "Let's play a game!" So ... I have decided to try and be more "game-ready!" To help me do that, I invite you to play a game right now. Can you name the place this photo was taken last week on our vacation? And if you have already seen this on Facebook, then hopefully you know the answer!

At first glance, most of you would guess that it was taken down at the beach. Ocean City? Rehoboth or Cape May? Virginia Beach? If you guessed beach .... you are right. But if you guessed a beach anywhere along the mid-Atlantic coast you would be wrong. This pic was taken on Beach #11 in Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. That's right -that's not salt water in the background! And really ... if this were one of the beaches most people around here frequent ... the background would be littered with umbrellas and people!

All of us have a tendency to "jump to conclusions." We make snap judgments about situations and people that miss the mark. Jesus warns us about this in the opening verses of Matthew chapter seven (Matthew 7:1-6). I encourage you to be slow to judge others (in the critical, jump to conclusions sort of way) . . . instead, exercise what is often called "the judgment of charity." By this he means ... GIVE OTHERS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT! (BTW - we are so quick to give OURSELVES the benefit of the doubt ... but so reluctant to do so with others!).

SOOO ... today ... as you work through your day's agenda and encounter people ... practice this "judgment of charity." You (and others) will be better for doing so!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

PS -- for an excellent article on this topic of judging charitably .... click here!