You Want to Judge Me?

I was in the grocery store this morning with my 1 and 2 year old children, and I was TOTALLY judged by another woman. I am not going to tell you the details as they are not really pertinent to the act of the  judgement itself. Honestly, my first emotions were of embarrassment, hurt, and then arrow piercing fury. I immediately left the store without saying anything to the woman (which was a good thing at that point) and when I was putting my children back in their car seats Mary, mother of Jesus, popped in my mind. Pretty random huh? No, I think God was reminding me I am not the only woman, or mother, who has been or will be unjustifiably judged. I wonder if word got out in Mary's community that she had Divinely conceived the Savior of the world. Can you imagine what her neighbors would have thought and said about her, the crazy looks she may have got? I wonder if that would have bothered her, or if she was able to hold fast to the promises God gave her, not thinking twice on the opinion of someone else. Mary had a distinct God given purpose and she knew it. God has given you & I the same. Of the million and one things that purpose could be, they are all just as important when deemed by Him. He created all of us with and in purpose and no silly judgmental woman (or anyone else) can ever take that from us. I am the first one to say that unjust thoughts of others have crept into my head; I wish that were not the case. The point is, who I am and who are you to judge anyone? Thankfully, God is the judge and He knows our hearts better than we do ourselves. I wish I could have smiled at that woman today, thanked her for her unwanted words and asked her for a tissue to wipe the snot trailing from my son's nose towards his top lip. I am not ashamed to be a sometimes exhausted mother of two beautiful toddlers with food smeared on their faces and loud vocal cords. I am purposed and so are they.