"I feel your pain,* Really?

Dear Mark, Christina, Melissa, Robbie, Keith and Tiffany -

Every so often I hear someone say, "I feel your pain." My immediate thought is, "No you don't." You don't know that my mother told me, "You are ugly." And my father was convinced that I had fewer mechanical skills than anyone he knew. You don't know that the person who introduced me to the Paper Science program at NC State once advised me to leave the University because I would be a failure and an embarrassment to him. I know that my parents unconditionally loved me and Roy thought the world of me, but their words impacted me for a long time. You don't know that I am so shy that I flew to Raleigh twice around 1998 for meetings and pretended to be sick so that I would not have to meet new people and then flew home the next day. [In 1998, a round trip ticket from Houston to Raleigh cost about $900 so my shyness was dumb and expensive on my part.]

There is no way that I can understand what it's like to be Mark Randolph Ashcraft, Melissa Ann Courtney, or David Keith Ashcraft. And they have my DNA.
Sometimes, I am not even sure that I understand myself. 

It's even more difficult for me to understand what it's like to be Christina Ashcraft, Robbie Courtney, or Tiffany Ashcraft. If I do not understand those who have my DNA, how can I hope to understand others?

But God......
Because God created everything and knows everything, God fully understands who, what, where, when, why and how about each of the 110 billion people who have lived on this Earth. Read that statement again and let it sink in. 
And, God understands who, what, where, when, why and how about all of those who are yet to be born.  

I never thought about what it means for God to be all knowing until last night. I know that Jesus lived on earth and experienced life as a human, but I never thought about God fully knowing me and everybody who ever lived and anybody who will ever live. 

There really is somebody, God, who unconditionally loves me and totally knows me and understands me. And that is very comforting.

Like Father, Like Son
Because I am created in the image of God and am His adopted Son and serve Him; it is important that I try to understand people for several reasons:

1. I can encourage them and do a better job meeting their needs.
2. I am less likely to criticize or hate somebody that I understand.
3. I am more likely to see my own weaknesses.

I will add more to this post in a few weeks when I determine what I am trying to communicate.