Judgment day

So, last Sunday's Relief Society and Priesthood lessons were on the topic of repentance and its parts (remorse, confession, restitution, etc.) Well, I must say that I need to repent of all the judgments I render on people as I drive around town. You just never know when it will come back to haunt you...

The other day I had my first back-to-work meeting and, trying to go above and beyond, had brought my binder of all the important contracts and documents for starting work as well as notes on all the projects I'll be involved in and tons of ideas I'd come up with during maternity leave. The meeting ran late, however, so I quickly put the baby in the car and raced off to pick up X from preschool (they charge a dollar a minute for being late!).

As I drove more leisurely home, I saw pages and pages of paper all over one major road and wondered who in the world would throw papers everywhere and not pick them up. In my own head I chided the person for his or her environmental irresponsibility and rudeness among other things. Since it was by a college apartment complex, I figured it was a student who had failed a test or paper and threw it everywhere in a fit (where do I come up with these scenarios anyway? People watching, probably. Does anyone else do that?)

I didn't stop to pick up any of the papers (I had hungry kids in the car, etc., etc.) and, in fact, ran over a few papers and simply wondered who was going to pick up the mess...the police? After I got home and got the kids settled I checked my email. My face flushed in embarrassment as I read the following note from a Bro. Carter in my ward:

"Hello, I rescued a notebook that had been strewn across canyon road. I think I got it all, though it is a mess. (Hope you don't mind tire marks!) I thought you should know where it is."

I realized immediately that in my haste, I'd put my all-important binder on the back of the trunk while putting the baby in the car (at least she made it in, right?! I think I get at least one parenting point for that!). Somehow the folder didn't fly off for several blocks but, unlike me, my humble neighbor and his high school aged son picked up the papers, looked through them to figure out whose folder it was, drove around to make sure they had gotten all of them, contacted Joe and me, and then brought them over to us. They are a truly inspiring family to me and I have learned my lesson.