What are Your First Impressions?
Are you Guilty of Snap Judgments?
How often do we look at someone and make a snap judgment about them?
This happened to me.
She was a petite woman in her 80s, shopping at a local grocery store. I saw her just standing with her grocery cart as if waiting for something or someone. Her hair was just the right shade of gray curls. Her makeup was applied just right on her wrinkled, scowling face.
Down a nearby aisle limped a very elderly man. He was in his shirtsleeves and suspenders with his pants pulled up to his chest. Certainly THAT must be her husband. His sour face seemed to match hers — given that couples begin to look alike as they grow older.
I watched and waited, curious to see their interaction.
There was NONE. He walked right past her.
I certainly hoped that was NOT her husband!
First impressions can certainly be deceiving, can’t they?
If I could have looked beyond their exteriors, maybe the woman was a mystery writer, scowling deeply as she developed a plot twist. Or she was the kindest of grandmothers who excelled in baking delicious cookies, who could play the piano and sing like an angel or…
If I could look beyond, maybe that man had been a war hero, loved woodworking and presented those he loved with gifts of bookcases, tables and birdhouses. He was in constant pain but glad to be alive.
Since I saw them, I’ve tried to be more careful in forming first impressions because God’s Word says:
For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7
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Dawn Ulmer, a retired Registered Nurse, has enjoyed writing since the age of 19 when she wrote ‘My Philosophy of Nursing’. Presently, she is enjoying writing on Medium, her favorite platform.
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