Why I Will Go To That Hot Place When I Die

When Jared got hit by a car last week, I was so thankful that he was not hurt more that he was. He was rather proud that he had survived being hit by a car with only a few bruises and might have even thought it was a great way to start the day!

When I talked to the lady on the phone she offered to pay for a new tire. I hadn't seen the bike yet so I told her that I would have Gary call her after he looked at the bike. Well, after we looked at the bike and Jared showed us what happened, we had a dilemma. The bike was totalled just as Jared had said. The tire was bent, the brakes didn't work, the frame was bent, and the gears didn't work. Also the lady hadn't told the story exactly how it had happened. Jared was nearly across the road, when she rounded the curb and SPED UP! She said the sun was in her eyes, but the next day Gary was there at the same time and said the sun wasn't bad enough to cause her to not be able to see. He thinks she may have been distracted. She also left the school without telling anyone that it had happened and Jared said there was no one around to see it. I was kind of upset that she didn't atleast walk with him to the office to tell them what had happened so that we could have known earlier. She is in the police academy, so I think she should know that she kind of committed a hit and run!

Gary called her over the weekend to tell her the situation with the bike. When she heard that we needed to replace the bike, she actually said that she didn't even think her car had hit his bike! Then Gary said "well that's fine, if you will just give me your insurance information I will give it to my insurance company and let them handle it." She said she didn't want to get her insurance involved so she would think about it and call us back. When Gary told me that, I was fuming. There may have even been smoke coming out of my ears. Her car didn't hit Jared's bike?! Well, then how did it get bent up the way it did?! My red-headed fiery temper came out and I was mad! I usually try to avoid confrontation, but not this time, I was ready for a fight! I was ready to report her to the police, her insurance company, and then I was going to go and yell at the principal at the school!!

She called back in a few minutes and her and Gary talked for a while and came to an agreement that she would pay for 1/2 of the bike and we would pay for the other half. What?! She ran into Jared, totalled his bike and now we are paying for it?! So he explains that she is a single mom of three kids, doesn't have alot of money, is going to the police academy, was scared that if we talked to the insurance company that they would raise her rates, and that the police would find out and it would jeopardize her standing in the police academy. As he is telling me this, he starts to get a little emotional about her situation. So I complain some more and then he says "well you asked me to take care of it so I did what I thought was right." Now, my husband is the cheapest most frugal man on the planet. He is always worrying about money, so I just thought he would be the best person to handle it. In what was probably my finest hour, I said "well I thought you would take care of it, not start crying on the phone with her. Did you give her our house, too? Did you give her access to our bank account? Did you invite her to our house for Thanksgiving and tell her she could take whatever she wanted out of our house?!" Yes, me being most charitable in this season of thanks and gratitude!

Later, as I was cleaning and putting away all the things that we have been blessed with, I started to feel ashamed of myself. I married Gary because of those traits. He is very compassionate, always looks out for the ones that are suffering, loving, patient, is very faithful and firm in his beliefs, and I felt that I had those same traits. Gary and I thought we would make a great team (his analogy, not mine), because we both wanted the same things. Boy, did he get the surprise of his life!

I apologized for my rant and sarcasm yesterday after church. Did you notice all those talks on gratitude?! I let him know I was grateful that he had handled the situation the way he did and grateful for his example. He accepted my apology and then he told me about the ride home from church. He had all the kids, I got to ride home by myself. Usually, I'm the one with all the kids. He said "now I know why it is hard for you to be grateful. It's hard to be grateful when you have to drive home with all that noise and contention." He sent all the kids to their room as soon as he got home with them and was reading to Carson when I got home. Carson fell asleep, the house was quiet... it was like heaven on earth!

We had a nice afternoon walk (just the two of us), held hands, and while I was gasping for air, I even felt grateful for the cooler weather and all the blessings that we have been given. Hmmm..... maybe I won't have to go to that hot place after all. Phew!!