I hate confrontation...avoid it at all cost. But sometimes it's necessary and those close to me encourage me to step up and do it more often. Well, it seemed inevitable when my cars SRS light blared red over a month ago. It meant that I would need to take it to the dealership to have the safety light read by their diagnostic computer, a service that would cost me $94 if the problem wasn't covered under warranty.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Except that I had just had the airbag replaced the month before because of a recall. Alan, a friend and engineer at Honda (which is the type of car I have), told me that since the light hadn't been on before they had worked on my car that something had probably come loose. And to make sure I didn't pay a dime. My sister also told me that I better stand up for myself (although she used more colorful language).
Instead of facing the problem, I put it off...for weeks. And then my vacation loomed before me, a vacation in which I was going to drive my car to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. I couldn't put it off anymore. I made the call.
To add more drama and stress to the situation they couldn't schedule me until the day I was leaving for vacation. This meant I would have to wait around for who knows how long until the car was done, then argue with them about how I shouldn't have to pay anything, before driving seven and a half hours to Philadelphia. Awesome!
Well, I turned to God, praying that he would go before me. That he would make all the details work out and that I would be able to follow along, trusting him. I worried, and would have to pray that he take that worry and help me trust him. For two weeks this was my prayer. That and safety while I drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan and back without knowing what was wrong with the safety devices in my car.
And then Wednesday morning I drove my car to the dealership, at 7 in the morning, explained the problem, and was handed a beeper and asked to wait while they ran the diagnostics. I prayed...sat in the waiting area, thankful that I would know early what the problem was so I would have time to prepare myself for battle. And then, at 7:25, the beeper went off and I prayed for the words so that I would not be taken advantage of.
Well, the words were unnecessary. It was a problem with the seat belt buckle (that had been having problems for the past year and I ignored) and it was covered under warranty. No arguing, no money. I was home by 7:35, watching Wallender before it was erased from my TIVO and drinking a Starbucks latte. By 10:45 I was on my way to PA and at 6:00 I arrived.
I know that not every situation will be as simple as this, and at some point I will have to use my voice. But I pray that at all times I will ask God to go before me and if I do I know he will give me the words.
