Two weeks ago at Harvest we heard a great sermon series about forgiveness. Yes, it was challenging and moving and the tricky part was that when I forgive someone, I am not just erasing a debt or getting rid of the pain. No, when we forgive, we are absorbing the debt or pain that someone has caused us. I thought that was very interesting intellectually, because I didn't really have much to forgive. Sure a couple fights here and there and some people who have bugged me or bad-mouthed me or whatever, but...not much, in the grand scheme of things. It appears that this week God has thrown something at us that will require us to really know how it feels to take on the debt that another person owes and absolve them of it.
I got a phone call from my dad this afternoon with the damage. My usually cool and composed father was clearly unglued and could barely find where he should begin to list the problems with the car. Very bad sign number 100.
It turns out the "well-maintained" car we purchased had had routine oil changes and perhaps nothing else. The axel and rod on the front right wheel are about to fall apart (can you say, safety hazard?) and oil is leaking in about 5 or 6 places, one of which causes it to drip on top of the engine and burn while in use, making for some smoke and that telling burning smell. On top of that, the power steering column needs to be replaced and it is leaking power steering fluid as well. All of this will amount to close to $2,000 in repairs. That would total our cost for the car at over $4,000 and that is waaaaaay more than it's worth.
Now, let's remember what our buddy "Mark" (put in quotations because I am no longer sure that is his real name) told us when he sold us the car.
- It was his father-in-law's, and he was just helping him sell it. Conveniently, he wasn't willing to negotiate much on the price because his father-in-law was the one who had the say and he wasn't going to budge. He said his father-in-law had kept the car in great shape and it had just recently had the timing belt replaced and that the engine and transmission ran great. The transmission fluid was brown, but we all just thought that was an easy fix and not a big deal. Turns out that was perhaps the only thing that was a quick fix, but it was a red flag and a sign of a bigger problem.
- He said it was a '96 camry but when he came back with the bill of sale he said oops he made a mistake, it's a '95. Hmm.
- He put his wife's name on the bill of sale but she had a different last name than his and he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
- He had another guy looking at the car who pulled up MOMENTS after we did and who was asked to wait until we checked it over because we had contacted him first. Now we wonder if he was a set-up just meant to put a little pressure on us. "Mark" never actually talked to him or even referred to him in order to pressure us directly, but it was in the back of our minds that if we didn't take the car, this guy would.
- He had steam-cleaned under the hood so that we couldn't see any of the oil drips that soon appeared when we arrived home.
- He asked us to please do our best to get the title turned over to our name in a day or two, as soon as possible. Why? Unfortunately we did because we didn't want to drive around with no plates. Now I'm wondering if this was even his wife's or father-in-law's car and if we didn't just put a stolen title in our name.
- When we called him after seeing the leaking oil he said "the car has NEVER leaked oil" which was an incredible lie due to the fact that it was leaking in multiple places and there is NO way he hadn't noticed that.
Now we have seemingly thrown a couple thousand dollars out the window. I kind of wish we had literally done that because it would have at least been a bit more fun and maybe would have made some decent people's day a bit brighter. Instead, "Mark" walked off with a good portion of the savings of a newly married couple who is 7 months pregnant and is struggling to make ends meet and definitely needed that money for hospital bills and maternity leave if it were not going to go towards a fairly decent car. Now I have to forgive "Mark" and wipe away the obligation he has in my mind towards us regarding those couple thousand dollars. I wish I could inflict some consequences on him but he has disconnected his cell phone and he never gave us his home address. He has, for all our intents and purposes, evaporated with our dough and we will never hear from him again.
Twice in the last two days I have had a random song pop into my head whenever I have been praying and/or worrying (kind of don't go together, I know) about the car.
Psalm 20:7 "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."
Yesterday I thought, huh, that's funny...but today I got it.
Chariots and horses were symbols of power and wealth. Only the king, highly ranked government officials, or great armies had them. They were the most efficient forms of transportation in that day. We have been trusting in our small nest egg and the hope of an OK car to drive for our security. Now they are both gone, and one has not even replaced the other as we had hoped, and we are bare and vulnerable. But the name of the Lord our God is a strong and mighty tower. All those who run to it will be saved. Lord willing, even "Mark".
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