First impressions don’t tell the whole story. My family and I went to Vancouver one summer. The evening we arrived I decided to go for a quick run. The hotel doorman advised me, “Go down this street about a mile and you’ll run into Stanley Park.” And so I did.

In a mile I came to an open, grassy area with a sign saying “Stanley Park.” There was a nice little pond in the middle with a fountain. Then I circled it twice and then turned back to the hotel. I decided on the way back, “There’s not much to that park!”

The next day dawned bright and sunny and we went off to see the sights of Vancouver. When we came to that small patch of greenery with the Stanley Park sign I realized that this was actually the entrance to the park, not the park itself. It turns out that Stanley Park is an amazing place, with six miles of shoreline, gardens, beaches, restaurants and miles of hiking trails through old-growth forests with towering trees over 250 feet tall. Clearly Stanley Park had more to offer than what first met my eye.

And isn’t that true of the people we meet, too? Who can tell at first glance all the God-given wonders that another person holds inside? Now, when I meet new people I recall my experience with Stanley Park and wonder, “What surprises will I discover when I get to know more about you?”