I'm still surprised at what happened last night and disappointed at my response.
My family and I had pulled into a strip mall parking lot to go eat. As we were driving through a vehicle started pulling out of it's parking spot without looking. Hubby honked his horn to let him know we were there and then moved on to a parking space.
After we parked, the guy pulled up behind us, blocking our way and started honking. Then he got out of his truck and came over to the driver side window. He started cussing at hubby and saying that he was "flying" through the parking lot going 30 and that he needed to practice what our bummer sticker says. It says "Put the Christ back in Christmas." We were both totally shocked because we didn't see that we had done anything wrong. The guy clearly didn't have the right of way to pull out since there were other cars in the road.
Anyway, I had had a really rough day at work and then with some family issues and it all just hit me. This is the part I am totally ashamed of.
I got out of the car and started yelling at him that he had no right to approach us and that we didn't do anything wrong. Mind you, this is all in the parking lot. I know......I'm not proud. In fact, I'm posting because I feel completely stupid about it and this is cleansing for me.
I look over in his truck and see backpacks and kids in the back seat and I said "You even have your kids with you and you stopped to yell at us.....nice." He then got back in his truck and as he was driving off said "and loose some weight."
That was such an extremely low blow and I knew it but I lost it. I got back in our car and cried. I know my girls were freaked out and I tried to comfort them at the same time. It was just more than I could take.
I'm not posting this because I want someone to make me feel better. I'm posting because confession is good for the soul and I want to admit that I did wrong. Of course, being a woman, I've gone over this a million times in my head and what I should have done differently. The thing is though, I can't change what happened. I can just learn from it and try to control my anger and stress next time.
I apologize for a downer post. I'll do a better one later. :)
GOD BLESS!!
My family and I had pulled into a strip mall parking lot to go eat. As we were driving through a vehicle started pulling out of it's parking spot without looking. Hubby honked his horn to let him know we were there and then moved on to a parking space.
After we parked, the guy pulled up behind us, blocking our way and started honking. Then he got out of his truck and came over to the driver side window. He started cussing at hubby and saying that he was "flying" through the parking lot going 30 and that he needed to practice what our bummer sticker says. It says "Put the Christ back in Christmas." We were both totally shocked because we didn't see that we had done anything wrong. The guy clearly didn't have the right of way to pull out since there were other cars in the road.
Anyway, I had had a really rough day at work and then with some family issues and it all just hit me. This is the part I am totally ashamed of.
I got out of the car and started yelling at him that he had no right to approach us and that we didn't do anything wrong. Mind you, this is all in the parking lot. I know......I'm not proud. In fact, I'm posting because I feel completely stupid about it and this is cleansing for me.
I look over in his truck and see backpacks and kids in the back seat and I said "You even have your kids with you and you stopped to yell at us.....nice." He then got back in his truck and as he was driving off said "and loose some weight."
That was such an extremely low blow and I knew it but I lost it. I got back in our car and cried. I know my girls were freaked out and I tried to comfort them at the same time. It was just more than I could take.
I'm not posting this because I want someone to make me feel better. I'm posting because confession is good for the soul and I want to admit that I did wrong. Of course, being a woman, I've gone over this a million times in my head and what I should have done differently. The thing is though, I can't change what happened. I can just learn from it and try to control my anger and stress next time.
I apologize for a downer post. I'll do a better one later. :)
GOD BLESS!!
4 comments:
God bless you for sharing. I'm sure you've said prayers for that man and his family. It's also an opportunity to discuss with your own family what would be a better way to approach the situation. Kids can learn a lot from parents mistakes and so can parents! :)
The way I try to view things is that God has everything under control. All of these annoyances and things that are right in our faces are but opportunities to show HIS love. When we respond to unjust attacks with love, it can help to transform someone's heart. Perhaps that man is suffering and is so angry inside because he needs healing. I don't want you to feel worse when reading these words, please don't. God has blessed you through this and I'm sure that you will have His grace to respond differently at another time. These things are never easy and seem to always happen when we may be at our worst (tired, upset, etc.) When we respond with HIS love, miracles happen in human hearts! :)
Just my two cents! Again, God bless you for your courage to share!
Donna,
Thank you so much for your encouragement. You are right that the kids learn from us. This is why I was so upset after the confrontation because I hated that my children saw this in me.
I apologized to the girls when I got back in the car. I was crying though and I know they were worried about me.
When we were laying down to go to bed I talked to them both again about it. I told them that I totally handled that wrong and shouldn't have said anything to that man. I told them that we will come across people who will treat us like that and we're supposed to pray for them instead of doing what I did.
I hope they listen to what I said and remember that rather than how I acted.
Angie, be assured, YOU are not the only one who has the occasional 'meltdown!' Understand it is an opportunity to grow and if you use it right, a perfect way for your girls to see how we can 'come clean.' We can pray for those who hurt us..we are told to...just happened to have covered that this past week in religion class...OH HOW HARD...You know taking it all to the foot of that cross...again..and again...and again...is how we grow!!
Forgiveness is already given, what a wonderful gift that is! NOW, you have to emerge a more beautiful being, and emerge more into the woman that God created you to be...it's a treacherous journey...HE catches us when we fall!!
...even when we are lying FLAT on our face!!
peace in the journey!
lori
Lori,
Such an insightful post, again. Thank you!!
Reading what you and others write truly inspires me and encourages me.
You are so right, I fell very FLAT on my face. I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries last night andn for the first time, I was moved to tears. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I did it before the day was over.
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