No Strings Attached

My favorite alone time with God is during my walks in my neighborhood. I take along my Ipod and listen to some great praise music and totally get lost in my surroundings. During one of my walks, I was praying and asking God to really help me not be such a judgmental person. Then I saw a lady smoking on the front porch of the house I was passing and she had a toddler in a stroller. ‘What a bad mother!’ I thought to myself and then immediately I felt God yelling at me – “HELLO!!! Didn’t you just ask for help with this, and then in the next breath there you go - already passing judgment!”.
For the next mile it was all I could think about.

Why do I feel it is my responsibility to judge?

Where does that come from?

I don’t like when others judge me…why can’t I stop doing it?

Then something in my path caught my eye – an orange string. I picked it up and tied it around my wrist – the orange was bright so maybe this would help me remember! Also someone might ask me why I wear it and then I have an opportunity to share it with them. You know the whole red string for Kabbalah totally took off – why not my orange string for no judgment?

In theory this sounded great but wouldn’t you know…I lost the bracelet immediately. I went to bed with it on and when I woke up it was gone. I didn’t really look hard for it because I knew it was probably just under the bed, but it was an accountability I still wasn’t ready for.

A few weeks passed and I couldn’t get the orange string out of my mind. Then on a walk with family in a totally different part of my neighborhood, I came across another strand of the same orange string! What are the odds? It was almost as if someone had once again dropped it right in my path! Duh!?! When God wants to get your attention, He gets it.

I still don’t wear the string…I’m just not ready. I can’t explain this – it seems a little strange when I type it – but I just can’t bring myself to face this sin. I keep it on a table in my bedroom and see it every time I walk in the room. It makes me mindful but I’m not committing yet.



I guess I’m still a work in progress!