This is a vent; and only a vent….I will pray this through and I will not go postal…though I would love to hear what others of you would do in these situations. {G}
Have you ever wished you could just “take off the Christian label” for 10 minutes and give someone a piece of your mind? Of course, this isn’t right. Of course, I would not really want to take off Christ – for any amount of time…but ARGH.
I shared that our van was shot a couple of Saturday’s ago (story and pictures at about 25 Feb). The man quickly noted that we are Christians, that Mike is a “pastor at the base” and that he is a pastor himself, as well. We got TWO estimates to repair the damage that he ADMITS his son caused to our van when he wasn’t watching him in a city park. The estimates are approx $400 because this is a 2005 van and Ford puts a clear coat under the paint to prevent rust. To properly fix the van, since the hole goes to the medal, the clear coat will need to be replaced and the whole door painted. This man didn’t have the $ to pay $400. We agreed to take payments. We faxed him the estimates. He called and wants to pay $75 – 100 PERIOD…because we are wanting to do too nice of a fix it job, because he has some “Christian” in Midland who said it can be fixed for $75. This man has NOT seen the van, doesn’t know the year, doesn’t know what damage was really done and does NOT live in the same city as we do. I can’t believe this. We may well have to take further action with this man and we WANTED to simply be nice, accept payments and be done with it. Really, a parent should be teaching their child to be responsible for their actions…and that would include the parent paying for the damage caused. I’m totally shocked by this situation. I can’t believe that he actually believes that he is RIGHT to suggest we put a bit of putty on it and give it a few sprays of paint. Then again he saw nothing wrong with a 4 year old playing on a play ground with a loaded BB gun. {sigh}Since the incident we’ve learned we SHOULD have immediately called the city police and he would have a nice fine and other repercussions to deal with in addition to fixing our van. He can’t seem to understand that we are being fair and nice.
THEN – TODAY – our new dentist called. I had asked them to be sure to call United Concordia and get pre-approval for our cleaning. They said they did. Our last cleaning in AK was 26 May – our cleanings here were 29 Nov. I repeatedly asked if they had gotten approval because I thought we needed to wait until 2006. Yes, they insisted it was fine. I just got a notice from them. “Oops….your last appt WAS 6 months ago but the May was the second appointment in that year so they won’t pay for it”. So now – at a tune of $50+ per person I have to pay for it because THEY SAID they had pre-approval but seemed to have only looked at the dates and DIDN’T call to get pre-approval.
In both these situations the fact that Mike is a Chaplain/Pastor was brought up. Of course, I need to be Christ-like in ALL situations – regardless of my marriage to a minister…but I’m really wishing I could give someone the left boot of fellowship here….What does being a pastor have to do with either situation? Does being a pastor mean that business offices can do a sloppy job and stick you with the bill? Does being a pastor mean that kids can take pot shots at your van and then refuse to fix it?
On the other hand, I would HATE to think that my actions over something as trivial as auto body work or dental cleanings would turn someone sour on my Lord. ARGH….Why can’t life be simpler? Reading back over this I can’t help but think how chilling the thought of taking Christ off really is. I would be so lost without His grace and mercy in my life. I desire to show grace and mercy to others. I simply desire them to treat me fairly as well…..of course, Christ wasn’t treated fairly. Who can help me with my angst? PASTOR’S WIVES UNITE! {vbg}
**If anyone here locally knows a dentist they’d care to recommend we may well pay the bill and find a new dentist…because I asked them repeatedly to check with United Concordia and they assured me they had. The kids also were not really taken with the “chair side” manner of this dentist.
1 comment:
Here's the thing...
you are not doing that other pastor any favors by allowing him to not do the right thing. The Bible certainly talks about restitution. I am assuming that since you bought a newer vehicle that you want to keep this one for some time. If so, you cannot get it fixed in a shoddy way otherwise you will have rust and damage down the road. This man is responsible for fixing it the right way. Now, I can see that if you and Mike believed that their family was in need, you could out of your own giving, allow him to pay half, but he is responsible for the WHOLE thing unless you release him. And even if they have a need God may not be leading you to help them out. I would have probably called the police, but that is hindsight now. And I don't really know what Texas is like compared to Wisconsin. A BB gun in a park here would be quite frowned upon. Chuck backed into a car in the church parking lot a few years back. It was almost undectectable, but Chuck left a note on the car, and we submitted it to insurance. It was like $800!!!! So, to me, $400 doesn't sound like much at all. I don't think being a Christian (or a pastor) means allowing people to take advantage. It's obviously a balance. Sometimes it's a turn the other cheek, but other times just taking the poor service or being wronged by a business is actually more hurtful to the business than to the person wronged. I don't know if that makes sense.
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