MY HEART HURTS

Those of you who know me know that I work in a Christian business that supposedly deals with Christian people. I say supposedly because not all people who profess to be a Christian are a Christian. Take this from first-hand experience.

In the move of closing my store, we ran across some invoices that were never posted on accounts. The customer took the invoice with them and know they are responsible. Unfortunately they were never posted to show up on a statement. We have no legal obligation to send them a statement. That is stated in our policy when they apply for accounts. It also stated that all money is due 30 days from the invoice... invoice, not statement. We know it was a mistake on our part. We issued letters to about 20 churches about this along with a copy of the invoice. We did have one church pay their invoice without a statement. Out of these 20 churches , most of them have come in or called to take care of the situation. One called yesterday and started off with attitude. She said she was not paying on behalf of her church, that it was never on a statement. I explained to her we don't have to send a statement that you are responsible for the money off the invoice. Well she had more lip to give me. I held mine because I wanted to say..." So your church is using stolen merchandise since it was not paid for" but I didn't . I remember my mom telling me that a soft answer turns away wrath. I went on to tell her we apologize for the mistake and by sending the letter we warning them that it will show up on next month's statement. DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID? No, you don't.... She told me, " YEP , IT IS YOUR MISTAKE AND YOU CAN PAY FOR IT?" I was heartbroken because the first thing in my mind was... What if Jesus said that to us? I did not say this to her but I told her she could call back and talk to the owner, in the mean time I had an authorized signature of a charge to her church. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE TOTAL WAS? No, you don't. It was for a measly $18. This woman ruined her Christian witness to me for $18.

Now my heart hurts because I keep dwelling on the statement, it is your mistake and you can pay for it. What kind of life would we have here on earth or for eternity if Christ had that attitude. We do not deserve his grace but he died for us on the cross for our mistakes. He didn't have to but he did. He could have said, handle your own mistakes, why should I die for your mistakes. I can only imagine that if he , which I know he did, heard that conversation that he was also heartbroken. I was devastated because I was supposedly dealing with a fellow christian. How can that woman use the items in her church in good faith knowing they were not paid for? With all that Christ did for us , how can anyone say that to anyone especially a Christian?


Also it puts you in an ethical situation that if you know you charged items and they did not show up on your statement, as a Christian do we say, oh great what a blessing or do we call the place and make it right. I am not perfect but I would rather have the clear conscience. I have been known to go back if I was not charged for something that I received. In part of her defense, she may not have received the invoice to know there was a charge, you know church protocol but once it was called to her attention shouldn't she have remedied it instead of being ugly and demanding and refusing to pay.... Thoughts to ponder and hearts to heal.

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Please help! Jen, you will chuckle at this one because you asked me about it a long time ago . How come sometimes blogger does not let you start a new paragraph on your post and sometimes it does? I can not figure it out and that is why some of my posts are so unstructured. Please help if you know what I am doing wrong.

What I learned....

I attended the Celebration of Life Service this evening of our dear friend and customer. It was close to three hours long. The family called our store and asked that someone from our family say a few brief things about her. First let me tell you about her, she was a saint in my eyes. I can not tell you when I met her except she has always been around. She was one of the customers who became your friend. She would come back to the office and just talk to us about her life and ours. I knew what she had been through in life. Her pastor husband had an affair and they divorced. Was she bitter? Nope, she praised God through it all. She never once talked bad about her ex to her kids. Her daughter at age 30 was at a doctor's appointment for her diabetes and complications. She was laughing and joking with the doctor and then was gone. Right there at the doctor's office. Did she get bitter with God? Nope, she praised God for her life of 30 years. A few years after this she had custody of her nephew. He was riding his bike in the neighborhood and was hit by and car and died. Did she get bitter with God? No, she praised him for the time she had with her nephew. What a woman! Tonight I was remembering the last time I saw her and it was just last week. I was at work and deep into thought. My mom came up and said, " Bonita ( name changed) is out there, go say hi to her." I was so deep in thought I didn't want to and thought, well she is in here all the time , I will see her next time. Well I did decide to go talk to her and I am glad I did. The first lesson I learned.... don't take people for granted for they may not be here tomorrow and it may be a long time before I go to heaven to see them again. My brother spoke on how she was Legacy. Everyone one else talked about her works and what she did for God but no one talked about her legacy. Oh boy did she leave one with her personal life and church life. She was her church's secretary since she was in junior high and she was 54 when she passed. Her mind was always on Christ and what she could do to show God's love. I have to correct myself, her mind was not always on it, it came naturally for her without thought. Lesson two learned.... what can I do to live my life as a legacy, not for myself but for what I did for Christ. Another friend spoke tonight and what she said I could see her saying. She said, I could imagine her as she approached the pearly gates and approached St. Peter. She probably said... I am sorry St. Peter to wake you so early but can I please come in. As a last thought and dedication to my family friend....... WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Funnies & serious thought

CHUCKLE 1
I teach the preschoolers on Sunday morning for Sunday School. Some days are frustrating and some are quite comical. Today was a comic relief day. My nephew is one of the older ones in my class being in kindergarten. Our lesson was about sharing and the story was about Abraham and Lot at the well with the sheep. I was telling them today we are talking about Abraham and ... well before I could say Lot , my nephew pops in with Abraham and Lincoln. I had to belly laugh because Abraham Lincoln was so many years after Abraham and Lot. It made me see how much he is learning at school at such a young age. He thought he was showing off what he learned in school. My helper was quick, she responded, " well Abraham Lincoln was a great hero but he is not the hero we are talking about today." Wow a kindergartener learning about good old Abe and retaining it. I don't think I covered that until 1st or 2nd grade.

SERIOUS THOUGHT 1

I also went and bought a dozen KK doughnuts for Sunday School. I put the whole dozen in front of me and opened them. Their eyes were huge because doughnuts are a treat. I then said, " these are all mine." Their mouths dropped and faces were so dejected. Then I said, " but I am choosing to share them with you today because you are my friends." Remember our lesson was on sharing. They were so excited. This lesson was priceless and they will remember it.

Chuckle 2

The second funny came up in conversation today and I was telling my neighbor about it and she laughed and laughed. I live in a racially diverse neighborhood. One of my closest neighbors is African American and we can talk about all sorts of things and never have problems. We were discussing the subject of funerals and how they are different in the white and black society. A friend and regular customer of ours passed away this weekend. We were telling our neighbor about all this lady had been through in life and they we had attended her daughter's funeral in which we were the only white folks and the people in the church were kind of rude to us. I went on to tell her that I attended a funeral of one of my dear black pastor's in which the opposite happened. (He was so dear that when his apartment security realized something was wrong with him and broke into the apartment and found him deathly ill but not gone. He called us at my store. He said that number was everywhere in the apartment. I was so surprised because he had a decent size church but the security guard could not find any number but ours. I sent my employee to be with him at the hospital and I made some phone calls to find family or church members. One of the numbers I called was to another pastor who ended up doing his funeral.) Ok, back on subject. My employee and I went to his funeral. The usher knew us and told us to sit with family. We didn't because I felt awkward but we sat about midway and yes we were the only white people. The pastor that did the funeral came in the store the next day and said... I saw you at the funeral. I started laughing because how could he miss us. I am a blonde white girl and my employee is a grey-haired white woman. How on God's green earth could you not miss the two of us? I am still chuckling at the thought of this. My neighbor thought it was hilarious. Her words,
" oh my a church full of chocolate and then you two vanillas. I am sure he saw you too."

SERIOUS THOUGHT 2

On my soap box, we will be going to the funeral this week of our friend. We will probably be the only white people. The funeral will be long because that is one of the differences in the society. We have short funerals. But why with as far as we have come with integrating society are situations like this so awkward. If your friend dies, you should go to show respect and not think about whether you may be the only white person , black person , puerto rican, mexican, etc. We are all equal. You are coming to show respect for the individual and the family. The fact that the person had so many racially diverse friends shows what a deep and well-respected person this individual really was.

Ok, I am off my soap box.

Helped One, Hurt One... It all balances

Last Thursday I had lunch with my nephew at school and was chatting with his teacher's assistant. I looked up because I heard a weird noise and saw one of his classmates choking. I yelled at the assistant who was closer who ran to assist the boy. At that moment he was able to dislodge the food by coughing with her assistance but it was scary. I was so thankful to see him choking before it was too late. I felt good after that, not because he choked but because I saw it when the assistant did not. Later in the day I took my nephew to the park with my SIL and the girl she babysits. They both had come up and said they were hungry and we both replied that they should play 10 more minutes. Well within five minutes, the young girl ( 9ish) was holding my nephew's hand and blood was streaking down his face. I don't do blood. I grabbed him and ran to the bathroom and tried to clean up and evaluate the situation. I was told he fell off the fireman's pole. How I did not see it, I do not know because you can see the whole play area from where I was sitting. He had a a small flap of skin hanging , so I took him to the hospital where my sister was working. She also could not tell if it would need a stitch. A doctor was doing rounds and looked at him and said, butterfly tape it. Well we did but he may have a little scar. I kept thinking in my care he is damaged for life. You know guilt. So for the day I had saved one and hurt one , even though I know I did not hurt him but it was on my watch he was hurt. The part that made me know my nephew was somewhat ok is that I told him we were going to see mommy. Now he knows mommy is a nurse and the last time he fell she peroxided him and bandaged him up. Well, he told me in the car, " NO not go see mommy, mommy do surgery, noooo, not mommy. " I had to laugh, peroxide is surgery.... wow does he have a lot to learn. The second part happened while I was driving. I had caught every red light on the way to the hospital and one turned yellow and I could have stopped but didn't. He was on the phone with his mommy in which he said...." mommy, aunt Becky just ran a red light." I was like wow he feels great enough to tattle tell but now my sister is going to say I was trying to kill him today. Oh boy, what a day!

I'm so sleepy

I finally went to the doctor last Thursday only to have it verified that I had bronchitis. He did give me some antibiotics and some more very tasty cough medicine with codeine. Blah! Tasty ... Blah! Cough Medicine... Blah! Just a spoonful of sugar will make the medicine go down. Ok , it will make it go down but I will be up all night coughing from the sugar high. Well I was up all night coughing anyways for five nights. I might as well have had the spoonful of sugar. Anyways, I am feeling better ( not great) now, Praise the Lord.
I have decided not to exercise or go to the Y for another week just to make sure I am over this mess. That is a good thing because I have been so sleepy even before the codeine. I am a night owl and I have been ready for bed by 9:30 PM and have been sleeping until 9:30 AM. I guess I do have five nights to make up for but oh my. If it wasn't for work, I probably would sleep long after 9:30 AM. Thank goodness I am the boss and come and go as I please most days. I do complain about the late shift but the last few days the late shift has been a lifesaver for my sleepiness. Well off to bed I go, after all 9:30 AM is awfully early and will be here before I know it. HA! Ha!

Cough medicine...

Have you ever wondered why things have progressed for the better on so many products but cough medicine? Why is it that the adult brand tastes so awful? Kids meds come in so many nice flavors but oh no not for adults. Oh my ! I dread taking my Robitussin and still hold my nose like I did when I was little. ... Somebody , somewhere make some progress on adult cough medicine..... PLEASE!

Biggest Loser Thoughts....

Anyone else watch Biggest Loser and think the game was changed to keep the yellow team daughter in the game? I am not for or against them but I found it very unusual that this early in the game they changed to only sending one person on the team home. One must remember that the weigh-in we see is not the real " weigh in". The contestants were weighed previously but do not know the results but the Biggest Loser producers do know them..... Hmmh! How odd! I am glad though that she does not get penalized for her father's health issues. By the way, you go yellow team dad for your weight loss since you went home. How proud your daughter must feel.