You never know when someone may be driving by and make an assumption about you, without having all the facts. This incident took place years ago, and I still laugh at how assumptions can lead us astray.
This particular morning a friend and I were going out to a conference. Arrangements were made that she would drive over to pick me up at a certain time. This particular function called for wearing something a little dressy. The mirror in the bathroom of our home seems to always tell the truth. So I was making the necessary adjustments to the features of my body, working carefully and craftily for a presentation for a public appearance. I even decided to adorn my feet with heels.
I was ready some 15 minutes ahead of my friend’s arrival so I wondered what little task I could busy myself with while waiting for her arrival. As I stepped outside our front door, I noticed that the front garden needed some weed abatement. I went to the garage and pulled out the spade, and off I went to the weed-infested area. Gosh those weeds can go down deep, so I used the spade to cut down to the roots. My normal attire for gardening is loose clothing and tennis shoes; but this morning I found my task a bit more challenging as I was using the spade in high heels.
I would look up every now and then just in the event my friend arrived early. Time passed, and by now, I was making real progress, even in heels. I was practically finished, when my friend pulled into the driveway. She looked at me in an odd sort of way as I was approaching her car. We both broke out in laughter when she told me she’d never seen anyone garden in heels. Was I ever happy that I could explain myself and why I had the heels on in the first place. I was just trying to make the most of the time while waiting for her to arrive.
Days had passed now, and it was Sunday morning. The worship service was over and several of us were gathered in the foyer talking. A woman approached me with an odd look on her face. She asked me if I garden with heels on. My response was no and I just laughed. Another odd expression came over her face as she started to explain that she just happened to be driving past our home that week and she saw me digging in my garden.
I burst out laughing, desperately trying to re-align her assumptions about my gardening technique. After I shared “why” I was wearing heels, she broke into laughter.
Her first comment to herself was that she assumed that she and I could never be friends because she thought I was odd and assuming I always gardened in heels.
We both have had many a laugh about her incorrect assumption as she didn’t have all the facts. I asked her if I could use that illustration while teaching in Bible Studies to bring alive that we can so easily misjudge a person when we don’t have all the details of the situation. She agreed and I have used that story with others, and it continues to be a reminder to me to not make a rash judgment call on anyone, especially if they’re wearing heels.
No, I’ve never worn heels in the garden since!
Published by Dianne Horne
I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others.
I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is!
I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived.
God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others.
The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life.
In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty.
My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives.
Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life?
I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace.
My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ?
The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.
View more posts
Cups of Cold Water 