I had the opportunity today to talk with someone who worked in an Alabama hospital during the late 1960s. She was telling me absolutely horrible stories of segregation and racial discrimination from her time there. She told me a story of a time when she fought through that by helping a black patient use a "whites only" bathroom. I admired her for that.

This all got me to thinking though. Her stories were from less than 40 years ago. It is unfathomable to me that those things happened in the United States that recently. Sadly, though, I know that there are individuals still today who hold those attitudes and will go to great lengths to hold others down.

The story of equal rights for women is very similar. It makes no sense to me why people are sometimes not hired on the basis of their skills, gifts, and talents.

I have been interviewing a lot of people recently, both for a position at our company and for the local United Way Executive Director. It has made me check myself and make sure that I am not looking at any of the applicants with bias or pre-conceived notions. I believe, hope, and pray that I do not see people's race, their gender, or their disabilities. I pray that I see all individuals exactly as they are -- God's children uniquely designed by Him, each for a purpose in this world. It saddens me to think how racism or sexism has held individuals back in the past, preventing them from being the people that God have intended them to be.

I thank those who went before me to fight for equal rights. I pray that our country and the world continue to advance to where we are allowing all people to live lives that fulfill what God desires for them.