Our newest volunteer is Toby who spent 16 years of his life in prison and many other years in gangs, getting shot the first time at age 11 by rival gang members. As Toby shared his story on CNN several years ago, he used the phrase "don't judge the book by it's first chapter" and I was struck with the depth of it.
It is so true, how often do we look at people and have already made up our minds before they ever open their mouths? How many times do we dismiss people because of small things.
How often do we believe that people with a history, a past, a record, a bad 'first chapter', have no chance in learning, growing, developing? How often do we dismiss them?
Toby reminded me again that we all have many more chapters to write in the book of our lives and that maybe the last chapter is the one that pulls it all together.
For this season, I pray to be more open to read beyond the cover and the first chapter!