by Yvonne Ortega
Oh, no, I need a nickel for my four pennies. I can’t leave the kiosk with one gallon of water in the two-gallon jug. The kiosk won’t take pennies.
I looked for well-groomed men and women, who walked in or out of the grocery store by the kiosk. I tried to get their attention. Why did they turn away from me? That morning, I took a shower, shampooed my hair, and wore clean clothes that matched. With the words, ma’am, or sir, I addressed each adult with respect to no avail. Maybe someone put a sign on my jacket that read, “Please pay for my water.”
A man with sandals, long hair and a beard came along. I had never seen him before. He won’t look my way much less help me. My eyebrows rose to my hairline when he said, “Are you short of money, ma’am?” I explained my penny shortage, and he pulled out a nickel. Then he said, “You have two one-gallon jugs in your shopping cart. Here’s a dollar.”
I thanked him and explained that the two jugs were already full of water. I had judged that man by his appearance — the very thing I resented when people judged me as a divorced woman.
I hurried home to continue my work on a chapter dealing with anger because of the treatment of divorced women. I hated to hear ministry leaders say, “You’re divorced? You can only work in the kitchen or the nursery.” My face flushed. I had done the same thing to a stranger who dressed like Jesus. I confessed and repented from my own judgmental attitude. Now I could tackle the chapter on divorce with compassion and fresh understanding.
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Yvonne Ortega speaks with honesty and humor as she shares her struggles to help women find freedom, joy and peace in life’s challenges. She’s multi-interviewed for her Moving from Broken to Beautiful® Book Series. Yvonne celebrates life at the beach where she walks, blows bubbles, builds sandcastles, and dances.