When you read Irresistible Revolution, Shane talks about when Jesus says to 'turn the other cheek'. He points out that its different than just taking the abuse and cowering. He said when someone strikes us, we stand up, look them in the eye so they can see God within us, and then turn to offer the other cheek. So I didn't want to take the abuse silently. I wanted to let them know that I know what they did and I have totally forgiven them anyway.
So with that in mind, Susan and I made up these flyers and hung them up on our community mailbox. I don't expect the person to email or call me, but I wanted to give them the opportunity to choose grace.
A week and a half ago someone in the neighborhood did a hit and run
on the side of my car. I wanted to let you know that I don't blame you for
not leaving a note. Who wants to see their insurance premiums go up for hitting
an 11 year old car that has a fair share of dings and dents in it already?
As a Christian, I am called to forgive others, so I just wanted to let you know that
I don't have any hard feelings and you are totally forgiven in my book. I have found
cheap replacement parts on ebay and hopefully should be able to fix it myself for
under $100. If you'd like to help me put the new part on give me a call at
443-XXX-XXXX or email me at jaysonjaz@XXXXX.com
Thanks!
Jason @ 30 Whitetail
on the side of my car. I wanted to let you know that I don't blame you for
not leaving a note. Who wants to see their insurance premiums go up for hitting
an 11 year old car that has a fair share of dings and dents in it already?
As a Christian, I am called to forgive others, so I just wanted to let you know that
I don't have any hard feelings and you are totally forgiven in my book. I have found
cheap replacement parts on ebay and hopefully should be able to fix it myself for
under $100. If you'd like to help me put the new part on give me a call at
443-XXX-XXXX or email me at jaysonjaz@XXXXX.com
Thanks!
Jason @ 30 Whitetail
16 comments:
what a cool idea, Jason--I hope that person responds to you!
This has nothing to do with the content, but I love how your eyes match the car in that picture!
Way to step up and live the faith. Did you actually print the banner, or did you photoshop in the words after the fact?
The part of your flyer that I would find hard to do is to say "As a Christian..." My fears are that 1) my house would become a target of mocking teenage hoodlums, and 2) every little incidental thing that I would do would be reviewed critically by my neighbors, to see if it really fit with their ideas of what a Christian ought to be like. But I guess that fear isn't a good measure for the advisedness of Christian activity.
If no one steps up to help you with the car, I'd be willing to maybe help. I say maybe, because though i can do basic things with tools, i don't know much about auto body repair.
very cool. keep us updated.
That is a great idea Jason J! Way to walk the talk! Blessings on your head (and your car repair efforts)!
Jason--just added the recent comments widget to my blog--I think it's great idea--thanks (even though I didn't exactly ask you for it...)!
Peaj, I've been a little worried too, but I figure theres nothing un-Christian about forgiving others, so even if they think its weird, hopefully they won't judge it as a wrong thing to do.
I'm not too worried about teenage hoodlums targeting my house b/c for the most part, all the kids on my street are under 10, and they're the only friendly ones, so I don't think they'd attack my house :)
Also, I printed up a sign, but it does kind of look photoshopped in doesn't it
Actually the curve and shadow in the "I" would take some skillz to do in Photoshop.
And I just had a thought... it might not have been a neighbor at all. If you haven't seen a car with it's own crash marks it might have been someone visiting your neighborhood or a pizza deliveryboy or something like that.
Sadly, we have seen a car in our neighborhood with "crash marks"- a little dent in the front driver-side bumper. It's a truck that generally parks across from our house.
Man, if that is the truck that hit your car...how can you live across the street from someone and just pretend nothing happened?! Even if I was embarrassed or anxious or scared about it, eventually I would have to say something...I just couldn't live with myself. When I was a new driver, I hit someone's car while I was trying to park in front of a store. I had no idea who the car belonged to, no one was around. I wrote a note and stuck it on the other car (which had not even been damaged, btw, maybe just traded paint with it, I sustained a cantaloupe-sized dent in my car), and hung around and waited for the owners to show up. Finally, a couple little old ladies came out. I was so upset, crying and everything, and they were solicitous of MY feelings! It would have been easy to leave without saying anything, I guess, since no one saw what had happened, but some time before that a situation occurred when I did not stick around (nor did the other vehicle involved, who was also not without some guilt) and I decided that I would never do that again, I would own up to my mistake (no matter how scared I was). No one was hurt, just some broken lights on both vehicles (not the point, though), and there was no way to make amends later (since we both fled the scene), but I was so ashamed of myself. I don't think I have ever told anyone this story before.
Kathie, thanks for sharing that story..
I still haven't had anyone call me, so either Jason's story is the truth and the person doesn't live in the neighborhood or the person who did it doesn't care to own up..
Either way, I've forgiven them which is great b/c they don't have any more power over me.. That is the true beauty of forgiveness. When you hold a grudge, you allow the person to have power over you, but when you forgive, they lose the ability to affect how you feel. That Jesus definately knew what he was talking about :)
Well said, I completely agree. Another awesome thing about forgiveness is that you are not responsible for the other person's response. Whatever they say or don't say, once you have forgiven someone you are free.
I'll be up the last weekend in Oct/first in Nov so let me know if I can helps you with the repair
awesome! Even if you can't help we should get together so you can meet mr. jonas
Yeah, that too haha
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