I saw her in the park a few months ago. She had moved back in with her parents. They were already taking care of her older son. Now she had another baby boy, with no father in the picture.

When I saw her in the park, I caught the look that crossed her face. It was just there for a fleeting moment. A look of despair and shame, as if I was judging her. I crossed the playground, and with each step, her face changed from a look of condemnation to one of joy.

I made small talk with her and asked her about her baby boy that was snuggled next to her chest. She lit up as we talked about her precious bundle of boy joy. I made sure I caught his name because I intended to bless him with some sleepers.

As I considered what I wanted to buy, I had a few thoughts from the devil wandering in my mind. “You know she hardly talks with you at all and her mother rarely even acknowledges you.  You don’t have enough money for yourself, what are you doing spending your money on a someone you barely know? She is probably a slut. I mean really… she is living with her parents and has two children. ”

All of these thoughts went through my mind but I didn’t listen to them. Instead I kept shopping for the little tyke. He was one of three baby boys I was planning to bless. Sometimes you just got to listen to who is in your heart and Jesus is in my heart. He does a pretty good job of having me ignore thoughts put in my mind by the devil.

I got all three boys some awesome sleepers at Target and gave this single mother her package.  She was very thankful and sent me the sweetest thank you note.

Yesterday my neighborhood had a garage sale. I walked over to talk with her and her mother during the sale. It was nice to chat with them. I sold a few things and then as I was loading things up to take them to Goodwill a thought occurred to me. Why not give all of my clothes to this single mother instead of Goodwill?

So I walked across the street and asked her if she would like my cast offs? She said, “Sure she would love to have them.”

She came over to my garage and we began to talk.  As she told me her story, she opened my heart to love, not condemnation. The reason why her older son was living with her parents was because the baby’s Dad was abusive. It eventually got so bad that she had to move in with her parents for the safety of herself and her baby. She is not in any way a slut, she is a mother who was smart enough to realize that abuse was not her fault.

When I think back to all of the horrible things the devil was trying to get me to believe about this young woman I am so thankful that God had another plan. I gave her the majority of my clothes that I didn’t sell.  It is such a wonderful feeling to help someone who is walking the same path you have walked.

I wonder if I had not walked the path of a single mother in my own life would I be as quick to love her?

This just highlights the amazing love that God has given us through the gift of His Son. Jesus was without sin, yet did not judge us for ours, instead He sacrificed His very life so that we could be forgiven.

I realize that I haven’t a clue how to love someone like that.