I have had many experiences in my life with collections agencies calling my house looking for payments-they have never been good. It wasn't always because I had some nasty person in the other end of the line sometimes that person was me besides the reality is that i wouldn't have been receiving those calls if I had paid my bills. I have heard a popular Christian Financial leader call the people who work for collection agencies "pond scum" and I have dealt with some over the top people that perhaps that title may be true but I was recently humbled by God in a way that made me grow so much the pain felt like those terrible leg cramps I got when I was a young girl.
Tom and I have been living in our house for 15 years and it is only by the grace of God that we still have it. We have been through many different jobs and with our decision for me to leave my job completely over 4 years ago to be at HHSM our finances have never been described as "stable". Last year we realized it was time to get windows since the draft coming in through them was crazy and our heating bills seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. The truth is we needed windows but the bigger truth was we didn't have the money to put new ones in -but we did. We made the decision to finance the windows in the hopes that our heat bills would go down and we could make the difference up to make the window payment. We did need the windows, and they have been great and we do in fact save money on our utilities but the reality still is that payment every month is a killer. We signed up for direct withdrawal which worked out the first few times but with Toms on again off again work it didn't always and we ended up paying an additional $50 in bank fees for the money not being there. So the phone calls would come.Sometimes the people did sound pretty nasty but the bigger reality is that Tom and I were just as bad-you see pride is more painful than any other emotion. Throughout this process we remortgaged the house and were able to put a chunk of money on those windows and thought we would be good for a few months but were informed that the money we put on it would only be used at the end of our contract and there in case we couldn't make a payment, we were really ticked. I am sure those "pond scum" never guessed they were talking to "Christians " on the other end of the line.
About six months ago the phone rang and a new person from our financial collections called. Her name was Maria. She began the conversation by telling me she was new and then began to let me know our payment didnt go through AGAIN. She began to lecture me on the importance of making the payments and although everything she told me was true \i simply said "Please do not lecture me I don't need a lecture from you" After a back and forth heated discussion I finally stopped her and said " look. This payment is probably going to keep bouncing, we never know when money is coming with my husbands work and \i am tired of paying all these fees. Can I please just drive you a cash payment every month- she got permission for me to do this-not company policy-and I drove my first payment down, a 20 minute drive but less cost than those bank fees every month. Our first meeting was better than expected. She saw that my job said I worked at HHSM which made me so embarrassed because of the way \i had treated her on the phone, certainly not with the LOVE AND RESPECT that my card said.She asked for information so I gave her my card. I left our payment and I felt a sense of relief that \i knew the phone wouldn't be ringing from them this month. Next time I went she asked about our large payment and wondered why it wasn't put towards the principle? She said that was ridiculous so she placed that on our principle payment so now we are a little closer. I thanked her for that, she said no problem, and the "pond scum" persona began to fade. Each month that I visit her with our cash payment we talk a little more and come to find out we are both pretty nice people in spite of what I am sure we both assumed months ago on the end of the telephone.
Last week as I was driving up to give Maria my payment \i was stopped at the train tracks which seemed like forever. As i sat there I felt God say to me ,PRAY FOR HER. I looked around at the other cars around me but there was only men inside them so I figured I was just going crazy. I heard it again and again and finally said out loud "you don't mean \maria the collections lady right?!" yes as I talked to God in my car the men beside me looked with concern because my conversations grew to moments of trying to convince God he was wrong that I didn't need to pray for Maria. It would not go away and with God asking me over and over to pray for her i heard him say, pray for her burdens that she carries. The barriers went up and we were free to drive again but I couldn't shake this from my heart but parked at the office and said one more time God I do not know this lady enough to tell her \i want to pray for her please Lord what if she throws me out of the office and tells me \i cannot come with my cash payment anymore? Just do it He said. SO with the boldness that only God can give I stepped into the elevator praying Maria was on a break. She wasnt. I waited in the waiting area for her to come and gave her the money. We exchanged pleasant conversation and she shook my hand while giving me the receipt for my payment and \i said " Pleased do not think I am crazy but God just asked me to pray for you. He said you have some pretty big burdens right now and I wondered if I could pray for you?" She looked at me like I was crazy and stepped back from me. I thought for sure I was about to be escorted from the building. She said " Are you one of those psychics you know people who do readings?" I said "Oh no no no that's not who I am NO! I just wanted to pray for you because God asked me to " She sat down in one of the chairs and took a deep breath and for 20 minutes told me all about her parents who were now in a nursing home and that her mother is in early stages of dementia and that she feels guilty about putting them there and she went on and on....
Her burdens were heavy and God knew that. I told her that God understands and he wants to give her rest. She hugged me and thanked me for listening. I felt another more serious nudged from God when told me to apologize for MY behavior on the phone. OUCH. I said sorry to her and prayed that God would soften the lips and tongues of the people that she would have to call today, she started to tear up. We hugged again. I stepped in to the elevator and looked in the mirror and smiled. I wasn't proud of myself I was smiling at God. Our God who always know what we need and how to teach us lessons in a way we will never forget. I am looking forward to next month when that payment is due now because I will be able to go see Maria and find out how she is doing and if there are any other things she would like prayer for. God reveals the humanity in His people when people like me forget their humanity and only see "pond scum"
Thank-you for following my Journey. Go be BOLD God will be with you.
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