Boot scootin into the New Year

Attention: It’s Story time! 

I’m going to share what happened to me shortly after I arrived back in America on a December night in the lovely city of Atlanta, Georgia.  It was a Sunday evening and I was with a friend and I was driving my car, attempting to find parking in one of the many shopping malls. I didn’t want to pay for valet and circled a lot for 20 minutes in vain so I finally parked in a shopping complex that had a sign saying “Parking for shopping customers only.” I was desperate at this point and figured that I was only walking a short distance to the restaurant across the parking lot and I should be fine. I mean, how do they really know if I go to those specific boutiques, anyways?  

Haha. Final last words.  So, I had a pleasant fun dinner with my squad mates and then proceeded to my car alone at 9:45 pm. I was greeted by a neon orange paper on my driver’s window declaring that I owed $75 and I should call the number listed to get the boot taken off my front wheel. It said to make sure not to attempt to remove boot on my own or drive with the boot and to have my credit card ready.  

Naturally, I was perturbed and frustrated at this notice. I thought, “This is the welcome home to America that I get??  I’m planning to move to Atlanta and this is my first experience in Atlanta in over a year??  Jesus, are you absolutely sure I’m to move to this city of outrageous parking fines and traffic galore?”  

Then, I calmed myself down, thinking, “Well, Raina. At least you have $75 in the bank to pay this fine. Most of your G42 classmates have basically $0 to their name and likely would not be able to pay off the fine. But, you will be okay. It isn’t the end of the world. And, there’s no need to let your whole night be ruined over this one event.”

Sooo, I call the number listed. Side note: I had recently purchased a data plan so that was a praise that I even had a working phone to call the 1-800 number with or I’d have been in trouble.  As I’m talking to the man on the phone, I notice that someone is walking toward me. “Oh my gosh. He’s literally already in the parking lot, no more than 20 feet from my car. He was just sitting here waiting for me to call. Wow.” 

So, I’m annoyed, needless to say. I greet the fine gentleman and make some sarcastic comment about what a welcome back to America this is and that I am new to this area and Atlanta in general so I don’t know the parking rules. He tells me that unless I enter one of the boutiques adjacent to the parking lot, I will be fined and that there are multiple workers that just sit in the parking lot all day and monitor who goes in and then fine people as warranted. He said that there was a big parking deck just around the corner if I had kept driving.  So, I’m frustrated. And, I really would not prefer to spend $75 of my savings on a ridiculous money-making scheme. 

However, at this moment, I make a decision. I decide to live out of my Spirit and not my soul (shoutout to G42 and really to Jesus for transforming me!!). In some sense, I have every right to be angry and upset. But, I choose to reign my emotions in and control them instead of them controlling me. Spirit over feelings. 

So, I promptly access my credit card and pay the man and he hands me my receipt and removes the boot from my car. I realize, “Wow. This poor man has the worst job possibly ever. He encounters angry upset people all day long and embodies the phrase ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’ How would it feel to have people upset at you and yelling at you all day long and do that day after day?  I thought working in the ER was bad but this takes it to a whole new level. I bet he never feels seen, heard or loved all day long. I’m gonna just engage him in conversation because he seems like a really nice man who is just trying to support himself and his family.”  

So, I did. I told him about my previous years in the ER and how it didn’t quite compare but I could empathize with dealing with entitled, angry, rude, hateful people day after day. He shared how his mother worked 50 years as a nurse and experienced much the same. He explained how people acted and tried to weasel out of paying the fine and how many people actually threatened his very life. He said he was glad that someone like me (petite 5’3’’) wasn’t doing his job as he was 6’3’’ and fit and could defend himself but what would someone my size do to fend off these threats he received?  

I was tired. My friend I was staying with was waiting on me. But, I chose to give this kind man 15 minutes of my time.  We parted ways and instead of letting this one event fluster me and ruin my whole night like I would’ve done in the past, I decided to let it go and just be grateful for that divine encounter and the fact that I could pay the fine and was now safely on the way to my friend’s house. It struck me that, “You know. It sucks I had to pay $75 that could’ve been avoided if I had followed the rules and known there were other parking options. But, truly, if God’s plan was to use my foolish parking decision to make this one person feel seen, validated, heard, and loved, then gosh darnit, it was worth it. If I have to pay $75 to make someone feel loved, then I’ll do it every time.” 

And, y’all. This is a major testimony to how God’s worked in my heart and healed me and transformed me radically these past two years and really over the course of my entire life. I’m only sharing this to testify to His transformative power and grace in my life and to show how it is possible to live primarily from the spirit and feel the emotions as they come, process them, and then act out of the spirit and not our fleshly instincts.  God is so good and I am so grateful for His grace to me! He is so so patient with us and every time we say “YES” to Him, he blesses it and changes our heart one small decision at a time. 

Addendum:

After this happened, I texted the friend that had been in the car with me as we tried to park originally. She was like, “What the heck Raina!”  I explained that I felt it was a divine encounter and was honestly okay with it. I check my Venmo app 30 minutes later and this beautiful friend of mine sent me $25 to go towards the ticket!  What a generous soul! Now, this is the Kingdom y’all and the Body of Christ.  Full circle.  I get a fine that I rightly deserve. I see the One and pursue him instead of making it all about me. AND, I get reimbursed $25 because my friend was obedient to the Lord’s prompting to bless me. THE LORD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME THE LORD IS GOOD. 

My charge to you:

Go after the One. Take your eyes off of yourself and your circumstances. Open them up to the people around you. And, go love them, one person at a time. That’s the Gospel. Love is the point. Amen. 

LOVE Y’ALL!  Thanks for reading this far!  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! 

Love,

Raina