| Author | Message | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5424 Registered: 9-2006  |
Recently I bought a used gardening trailer from a private party who lives over in Oregon and of course I live right across the river in Washington. In Oregon, trailersof a small size are not required to be licensed. It was just the trailer I wanted as I could drive my equipment up into the trailer without having to do lifting. The trailer was advertised on Craig’s list, so I bought it and got a notarized bill of sale. I was required to get it inspected by the highway patrol prior to licensing the trailer. The highway patrol office for inspection is by appointment only, they set my appointment for a month away. Finally came the day, Sep. 1st of 09, I took it down to be inspected. The officer took the numbers stamped into the trailer and ran them. He came back to my truck and said, “I have some bad news for you, the trailer is stolen.” He asked me to wait for the detective, so I pulled the trailer to the side and waited for about 45 minutes until the detective showed up. He came to the window and ask me to come inside the office, when we got there, there were three or four highway patrol standing around. The detective said, “I am going to let you take the trailer, but I can’t release it for licensing until I get this mess straightened out, there is a chance you may lose all the money you have tied up in it.” Then he made this statement, “If there had of been no numbers, we wouldn’t be having this to go through.” I said, “You know I thought of that when I uncovered a number on the trailer, I could have just ground off the numbers, but I could not do that.” They all looked at me and I could tell what they were thinking, that honesty does not pay. I stand to lose considerable money, because I was honest and left the numbers on the trailer. That’s the short of it. The long of it is that I stand to lose considerable money, because I left the numbers on the trailer. I told my employee who was with me,”Its not the end of the world if I lose the money, I WILL obtain a trailer.” The long of it is a question of honest and the cost of dishonesty. The short of it is that dishonesty may bring favorable result for a time. I would have went away with new numbers and used the trailer for the jobs intended. The long of it is that I will submit this before God, trusting in him for the long of it, my heart is not condemned, even suffering loss of the money, I will not be moved. Even though I may not win in the short run, in the long run I put my faith in God and being honest. The short of Adventism may seem to be the way to go, but the long of Adventism is dishonesty. It was born in dishonesty of heart. Instead of repenting they claimed that God covered the mistake with his hand, so they came up with the investigative judgment. You try to deal with them concerning truth and they pop into and out of their rabbit holes of dishonesty and it seems to them to bring relief for the short run, but in the long run their dishonesty with the word will eat them up and there will not be left a bone or a tooth. Millions being dishonest with the word of God, how sad. Coming up with what might have seemed a very small amount of dishonesty in order to save face might have seemed the way to go, but look at the toll on lives in the long run. Should I have decided to grind off those numbers in order to meet a seeming immediate need of licensing a simple trailer logically seemed the way to go and as I said to the detective, it did go through my mind. However at what cost in the long run? I wonder. And that is the long and the short of it. River | ||
| Sparrow Registered user Username: Sparrow Post Number: 79 Registered: 10-2008  |
Thank you for this morning's words of wisdom. God often sends object lessons through the ordinary circumstances of life. | ||
| Bb Registered user Username: Bb Post Number: 526 Registered: 7-2004 |
I am so glad you are trusting God, and that your heart is not condemned. That peace is worth more than any amount of money you might lose! | ||
| Animal Registered user Username: Animal Post Number: 664 Registered: 7-2008  |
River... Thanks for sharing your situation. I admire your courage to stand for honesty. No amount of money or gain is worth circumventing the truth. You have set a good example for all of us here. It sure has me thinking about the issues in my life. Pleasing God should always be our desire and privilidge. May God continue to bless you as you shine brightly for Him. Your friend, Animal | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 10343 Registered: 12-2003  |
Thank you, River, for sharing your insight and also for your example. I'm praying that God will be in the money situation and redeem this event in your life. Colleen | ||
| Mrsbrian3 Registered user Username: Mrsbrian3 Post Number: 127 Registered: 8-2005 |
Honesty is a dying virtue, that's for sure. I'm always looking for examples of being honest ... no matter what ... to share with my son. Maybe those DPS officers and the detectives also look for those kinds of stories to share. You blessed them with a good one. On Wednesday, Garrett (my 14-year-old high school freshman), found a cell phone in the hall at school. He picked it up and took it to the office. When he got there, the girl in line in front of him was reporting her phone stolen. She was very upset and just knew it was gone. Garrett heard what she was saying and showed her the phone. She took it from him and made sure it was hers. It was. She was so happy she pulled out a $5 bill, handed it to him, thanked him again, and walked out. I don't know who was shocked more ... him at getting a reward or her that someone actually turned it in. Needless to say, I was very proud of him. Oh ... then he turned around and loaned the $5 to a band mate who needed to get his ID made but hadn't mowed the yard yet to earn enough to pay for it! Kim | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 505 Registered: 3-2009 |
Way to go, garrett. Hec | ||
| Seekinglight Registered user Username: Seekinglight Post Number: 390 Registered: 3-2009 |
River, I praise God for giving you integrity. I was thinking this morning if all weary/questioning/cynical SDAs just stood up and said, "Enough is enough!! Perhaps we don't have all the answers, but we know Adventism isn't correct." Imagine how it would build the courage of other SDAs to start questioning. Let the domino effect begin!! Goodness, am I overflowing with hopeless, idealistic optimism today, or what?  | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5429 Registered: 9-2006 |
Oh, you haven't heard the best of the story, I told the detective that I hoped he caught the criminal who stole it. He said, "Well, its not that simple, the man who originally owned the trailer had put a bunch of junk in it and had set it on his front yard and put a sign on it "All Free" so they took the trailer!!! I busted out laughing and that started the ball rolling and everybody else busted out laughing including the detective! It was almost worth all the trouble and the money for the story. Who says God does not give us joy in the midst of trouble? I thought I was going to bust a blood vein! River | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 1034 Registered: 7-2007 |
I wish that the Adventist church had had the same integrity when they had that closed-door conference to see what to do about the problems with Ellen White. Oh, when was it? About 1919? And didn't they take the minutes of the meeting and lock them away for a long while? | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 287 Registered: 12-2007 |
Thank you for sharing your story River :-) Made me think of something that happened here last week.... Hubby and I took our dog for a walk on the beach at San Simeon and we found a hat washed up on the beach with a fishing license pinned to it inside a plastic holder.. I took it home, washed the sand out of the hat and rinsed off the license and let it dry. It had the mans name and address but no phone number.. called information to find the phone number is unlisted... so I put the now clean and dried hat and license in a box and mailed it to him with a note telling him how we had found it and hoping he would get it back before he bought a replacement license (about $40.00). Today I got a card in the mail from the guy thanking me for returning his hat and license and he put $10.00 in there "for postage and the trouble". I didnt expect a reward for returning it.. just wanted to get the guy back his hat and license... so next time I make a donation at church or LAM I will put in an extra $10.00 :-) Francie | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5432 Registered: 9-2006 |
I'll bet the guy was in total shock when he opened the box and there was his fishing hat and license! | ||
| Bb Registered user Username: Bb Post Number: 528 Registered: 7-2004 |
Kim, don't you just love it when your kids are kind and honest! Those are pretty much my most favorite virtues. And when I see my kids doing things like that it's like I have won a parenting award! River, that is such a funny story! So it really wasn't stolen after all! Maybe the guy thought it was really a part of the deal!! :D | ||
| Gcfrankie Registered user Username: Gcfrankie Post Number: 578 Registered: 1-2007 |
A couple of years ago my hubby left his wallet at a booth at a fair and did not discover it until later that night and of course that was the last day so we figured that is the end of that so he went and called to cancel everything and change our bank account. Well low and behold a week later he got a package in the mail containing his wallet with everything in it including the money. He had the mans name and address and sent him a thank-you note with some money in it. River, I am so sorry for your upheavel with the trailer. If the guy wants it back the least he can do is pay you back as you bought it in good faith. The guys mistake was not specifing that the trailer was not for sale. It is funny and yet soooooo sad. I one time had a camera stolen and sold and then found by the police and got a call from them telling me it was found and that if I wanted it back I would have to pay for it. Go figure, it seems when you are the innocent victum you end up having to pay in the end. When things like this happen we have the biggest and best shoulder to cry on and know we will not be victumized again. God is soooo great and awesome knowing that He will not turn on us. Let us know what the outcome is with the trailer. Gail | ||
| Psalm107v2 Registered user Username: Psalm107v2 Post Number: 414 Registered: 10-2008  |
Brother I think this should go into your next book and use your sanctified imagination to relay the stories of the theif and maybe one of the officers. Thanks for sharing |
