An iPod. An accident. A good God.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
As of one of my last posts, you heard i got an iPod right? Well, i kinda sorta had a little accident…
No one could be more devasted than I when my iPod took a flying leap (much like my external hard drive with my video project) off of the stairmaster machine at the 24 Hour Fitness. Actually, it was more insidious than that. That machine had a tray that had a cup for your water bottle and another little slot that looked like it was for your other such stuff. Not so. In fact, that pocket was no pocket at all. It was a SLOT, with no bottom. I have NO IDEA what that thing is for except for to make me drop my iPod. I placed it in the slot and it stayed for about half a minute, and then it plunged through the bottome to the floor several feet below.
My face went white. I couldn’t concentrate on finishing my workout. All i knew was that i had really messed up my iPod. -__-
I looked up my warranty which said, of course, that it would cover anything that wasn’t by the fault of the user (read: “IF YOU DROP IT, IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT!"). Ooooh, but i wanted to find some way around it. Every cheap chinese bone in my body soooo wanted to just tell a little white lie and send it in for repairs. “I don’t know what happend! I just suddenly stopped working!” I made an appointment at the Apple store at the Genius Bar and headed out, thinking of what kinds of stories I could tell them. “Oh, it’s been a little jostled in my purse, but that’s just normal wear and tear, right?” or “I think it has a bad sector in the memory. It just keeps crashing my iTunes on my computer!”
And i just felt so wrong, scheming ways to lie to get something free that i didn’t deserve.
So, as I was waiting my turn at the Genius Bar, I made a deal with God. “Just don’t make them ask me, ok God? I don’t want to tell them a lie. If they ask, i’ll tell the truth, but please don’t let them ask!” Sure enough, the girl behind the counter didn’t even ask a thing. She just took my iPod, examined it, told me that i had corrupt files music files on it that made it malfunction, and sent me on my way. Well, that obviously wasn’t the problem. It still crashed my computer about 6 times after that, and I still couldn’t upload all of my stuff.
So the next day, back to the Apple Store i went.
This time, i was determined to tell the truth. I was going to tell them straight up that i dropped it. I just hoped that I didn’t get the same girl as the day before because then i’d have to ‘fess up and tell her that, by the way, I failed to mention that i DROPPED the thing from about 5 feet off the ground. Still, it felt like the right thing to do. So I sat there, hoping and praying that I would get the other person at the Genius Bar. As it turns out, she was the next available person. Just as I was about to go to the counter, she got off work and switched out with another guy. YAY! I could tell him the truth from the get go!
So i spilled my guts: I dropped it, I’m embarrassed, I think the hard drive is malfunctioning, etc. Yes, he said, definitely hard drive failure. It would cost $249 to replace it. My face dropped. It’s almost like buying a whole new one! My brother’s and Slim’s gift seemed for naught. But i decided to go through with it, otherwise i’d have a very expensive piece of useless hardware lying around. Not good.
He took me through paperwork. I was glum but resigned, accepting my fate for being a complete butterfingered oaf. After the 20 minutes it took to replace it, the service guy said, “You know, it was really nice that you were honest about the whole thing from the beginning. Most people who drop it come in and say ‘It just stopped working for some reason.’” I just grinned, knowing full well that i had wanted to say exactly that same thing to him. He continued, “It was really refreshing hearing someone tell the truth. Because of that, I’m going to give you this replacement for FREE.” That floored me.
FREE! FREE! FREEEEEEE! The sweetest word in the English language! Despite all things, God had put in this guys heart to reward honesty. God rewarded my struggle, even though i wanted soooo badly to lie. I didn’t trust that He would/could take care of this matter without me intervening on my own behalf. What a great way to learn a lesson! What an awesome story! What an awesome God! ;)
WOW! That is soooo awesome! Way to go, Kathy. I know how HARD that kind of thing is. And even though it seems like such a little thing to just tell a little lie (or avoid saying anything), it must be a really big deal to God, because He really pulls out the stops for the faithful!
w00t!!
Posted by on 01/13 at 07:00 PMi swear, i think you have a low dex, that or wis, i mean it didn’t have a bottom
. But you have super luck,or cha. i swear you’ve re-rolled that stat.are you sure you’re not wearing any items that add to your luck or charisma? what kinds of uber lewt are you sporting?
(if any of you get the references, you need as much sunlight as i do.)
-ryanPosted by Ryan Moore on 01/13 at 11:08 PMHey Kat,
True to my word here is my comment:
Uh.... check out my blog at… just kidding.Well, I already heard the story but I enjoyed the literary retelling just as much. I’m so glad you were able to save yourself $250 bucks but more importantly that doing the right thing actually paid off. Literally. Let’s see, I wonder if I broke my cat but told the vet I did it deliberately if they’d forgive me the bill. And maybe throw in a complementary neutering.
*Here Wonder Boy!*
Posted by on 01/15 at 12:57 AMHey Kat,
That is awesome! God is awesome!
I hate that uneasy feeling before deciding, and worse still I hate that feeling *after* choosing the wrong way… then I won’t be at peace until I go confess it, and that’s even more embarrassing, but man, with God it’s always worth it.
And that little “death” He wants in the little things from the beginning, that little death is worth the resurrection He’s going to bring! The stuff we’re afraid of dying to --- and then we find out that that stuff isn’t the stuff we really need, you know? (^_^)
I’m glad you were blessed so much, Kat!
Posted by Ramone on 01/15 at 01:45 AMIf you don’t mind, I’d like to share that with my Bible class some time
Posted by Daryl on 01/15 at 08:30 PMHaha!!! That’s a great story!!! Well hey, I remembered your site and wanted to see what you’ve been up to lately. Hope things are going well. Catcha later.
Jeremy
Posted by on 01/15 at 11:09 PMisn’t God great? he truly is a rewarder of our faith. EVEN in the small things.
Posted by on 01/18 at 03:42 PMBTW datchan, you can go ahead and use anything on this site for your Bible classes. :D I’m just glad that i provide faith fodder.
Posted by on 01/20 at 10:07 PMjust wanted to let you know that the Bible class went well. It was a good opener. The normally “energetic” class was quietly paying attention to your story. I just wanted to make a point that God is real in “normal” people’s lives and that doing God’s will is not just for pastors or whatever. Little do they know how “normal” you are =)
Posted by Datchan on 01/23 at 04:18 PM