Judging… As told by Ray Reggie

I learned a valuable lesson one day at JTRA, the food bank that is near and dear to my heart.  I witnessed a lady drive up in a very expensive/luxury Sport Utility vehicle.  I asked the Executive Director of the food bank, “Why is that lady that is driving a vehicle like that coming to get a basket of free food??”
Debra South Jones, the hard working, loving director of JTRA said, Ray, don’t judge the book by the cover.  Why don’t you go talk to the lady.
So I made my way over and began speaking with the woman driving the vehicle.  What I came to find out made me hang my head in shame for quite some time.  I found out that the “luxury SUV” she was driving had 150,000 miles on it and that it was not only the only transportation that the lady and her two young children had, it had been their only home since Katrina.  I couldn’t help but cry when she showed me where the little girl slept and where the little boy sleeps on small mattress air mattresses. Then, she showed me how she heated food up on a hot plate connected to the cigarette lighter.
I was in shocked, embarrassed and stunned that this lady had to come to JTRA to get a free basket of food for her family in their house on wheels.  Everything, and I mean everything, they owned was in that vehicle.  To say that I learned a valuable lesson that day is an understatement and it has made me remember to be thankful to God every single day for the blessings in my life.

–Ray Reggie–