Smile for the Joy of Others

Smile for the Joy of Others

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

You Judge. I Judge. We All Judge

How have we gotten to the point that we are more worried about the judgment of others than the judgment of God? We read, we say or we hear all too often,

"Only God can judge me"....
"Who are you to judge me?"...
"Stop judging me!".......
"I don't appreciate you judging me."
and similar sentiments.


We see the most abused and misused verse from the Bible "Do not judge" cited in most arguments regarding morals and convictions.

Truth is that we humans judge. We judge the actions of others all.the.time. We judge the actions and intentions of our children, our churches, our government, our politicians, our physicians, our friends, our coaches, our teachers, and any and all things that effect our daily life. Judging is how we determine what is right and wrong according to either our convictions or standards. Judging is how we determine our next plan of action. Judging is how we determine who will be our friends and who we allow our children to be around and who we allow to influence our children. Judging is how we determine where we live and what church we attend. We judge TV shows, movies and books to determine if we allow our children or ourselves to watch or read them. We judge websites for the same reasons. Judging is the ultimate measure of whether someone is who they claim to be. 

We are all humanly judged and we all judge other humans. But it's not the judgment of others that should be our concern. Sure there are times our intent, our actions and our convictions may be wrongly judged from others, but that, too, is the least of our concerns compared to God's judgment.

You see, even though God is a merciful and gracious God who has provided us a way through Christ from the final judgment of hell we all deserve, He is still very much a God of fierce and just judgment.

The judgment of others shouldn't be our concern. The judgment of others that we fight so hard against and feel entitled to be exempt from is but a grain of sand compared to the judgment of God.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

"Bath Salts"

This was posted on FB by a Madison County Justice Court Judge.

If you have children old enough to understand what drugs are, please take time to read this and make other parents aware.  And please talk to your teens about it. 

"So, I don't often post things about what happens in court, but yesterday, I had a guy from out of state who was arrested because he allegedly was in possession ...with intent to distribute "bath salts."
My only interaction with him was...and will ever be....to set his bond. But before I was finished I said to him, "I don't know if you are guilty or innocent of this charge. I am not here to decide that...I can only set a bond on the charge in front of me. But if you were, in fact, in possession of "bath salts" with the intent to sell it... go back to your home state and do it there because we don't want it in Madison County."
 

Y'all, this stuff is killing our children. I've seen kids in my court so messed up on the stuff that they almost seem brain damaged. If you dare to Google a video of someone on it, it will give you nightmares.

As a Justice Court Judge, I can't do much more than set a bond on a drug dealer---or any felon. But as a mother, I beg you.....the first time you even suspect your child may be doing it, near it, thinking about doing it...be proactive.

And if you know anyone selling it, let our sheriff know. We are all in the business of keeping our children safe, and this is one drug on the street we don't want them "experimenting with."
And here is a message to anyone who may think they will make a buck off of dealing it: Not here. Not our children. Not in Madison County. Not on my watch."

Monday, July 20, 2015

You May be a Nerd if...

Listening to Alanis Morisette on the radio.

Christian: "Momma, that song is mean. Why are we even listening to it. It's so mean. Can I change the station?"

Me: "How is it mean? I haven't heard anything mean in it."
...
Christian: "It's calling people nerds. Listen...you see right there...
you live, you nerd
you love, you nerd
you cry, you nerd
you lose, you nerd
I mean, people can't help if they lose and then cry about it and it's mean to call them nerds."

Me: "Son, she's not calling them nerds. She is saying 'you learn'

you live, you learn
you love, you learn
you cry, you learn
you lose, you learn."

Christian: "What's the name of this song, anyway?"

Me: "Jagged Little Pill."

Christian: "What? What does that mean?"

Me: "fine, just change the station."