I was watching the Dr. Phil show today, listening to him counsel a woman about listening to her instincts. Being "nice", while feeling afraid of a person, almost got her killed. It was all good advice and common sense stuff. Then my doorbell rang.
A petite woman, a little younger than me, was standing on my porch with an adorable King Charles Spaniel puppy. She was well-dressed and had a nice car parked at the curb. She introduced herself as Rebecca and said she had just bid on a house further down on our street, but had lost the bid. But, God showed her the house she would buy instead, and it was our house. I told her that I was sorry but our house wasn't for sale. She asked, "Are you sure?"while looking incredulous. After all, God was involved in this real estate deal. I mentioned a Victorian across the street that was for sale. I said we had seen the inside and probably would have bought it instead had it gone on the market first. This was just what she wanted to hear. That Victorian had been her house when she was married. She and her husband had restored and even added on a second story to that house before selling it. I suggested she purchase the house back, but now it was clear to her what God had in mind. She became much more enthusiastic. We were to buy the other Victorian, and she would buy our house. That's what God must have had in mind. We were getting seriously deep into crazytown now. I told her nicely that wasn't going to happen but I hoped she'd find some other nice house. This led into her story of being betrayed by her husband and being dumped, very recently, after 31 years of marriage. She was a completely lost soul and standing on my porch. I admired the puppy for a bit before she was finally cold enough to leave. She wouldn't go until she got me to say I'd pray about selling the house to her. I said I would.
There was a time when I would have invited her inside because I feel sorry for her. I feel guilty for not doing so, but I have to admit I would rather not try to reason with someone who gets her life coaching straight from God. A lot of people speak to God but very few show up at my house on his orders.
Now I'm sitting here wondering why my encounter with her left me feeling so bad.
A petite woman, a little younger than me, was standing on my porch with an adorable King Charles Spaniel puppy. She was well-dressed and had a nice car parked at the curb. She introduced herself as Rebecca and said she had just bid on a house further down on our street, but had lost the bid. But, God showed her the house she would buy instead, and it was our house. I told her that I was sorry but our house wasn't for sale. She asked, "Are you sure?"while looking incredulous. After all, God was involved in this real estate deal. I mentioned a Victorian across the street that was for sale. I said we had seen the inside and probably would have bought it instead had it gone on the market first. This was just what she wanted to hear. That Victorian had been her house when she was married. She and her husband had restored and even added on a second story to that house before selling it. I suggested she purchase the house back, but now it was clear to her what God had in mind. She became much more enthusiastic. We were to buy the other Victorian, and she would buy our house. That's what God must have had in mind. We were getting seriously deep into crazytown now. I told her nicely that wasn't going to happen but I hoped she'd find some other nice house. This led into her story of being betrayed by her husband and being dumped, very recently, after 31 years of marriage. She was a completely lost soul and standing on my porch. I admired the puppy for a bit before she was finally cold enough to leave. She wouldn't go until she got me to say I'd pray about selling the house to her. I said I would.
There was a time when I would have invited her inside because I feel sorry for her. I feel guilty for not doing so, but I have to admit I would rather not try to reason with someone who gets her life coaching straight from God. A lot of people speak to God but very few show up at my house on his orders.
Now I'm sitting here wondering why my encounter with her left me feeling so bad.
What an interesting situation! It sounds like one of those things where you look back and go "Wait, did that really happen?" It's a hard thing to decide between helping out and respecting your own personal space/safety. I think you did the right thing. Not to mention, in many instances, I don't think there is actually a clear way to "help" the person/situation in question. But it does often leave you wondering if there was something more to be done....
ReplyDeleteLove your house by the way! And I also love the title "It's Lonely in Crazy Town." That would make a great book/short story/country song name.
Wow. What a fascinating experience. Truly. As I read, I kept thinking somewhere along the line you were going to explain that this was all some clever fiction you wanted to try out. Nope. Stranger than fiction, as they say.
ReplyDeleteYou have got to use this experience to fuel some story or other. Use it. Else, file it away and use it later.
So interesting.
I encounter some interesting people in my place of Part-time work. One time a gentleman browsing in the travel section asked me if I would accompany him on a trip to Mexico. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" did not run across my mind as I digested this proposal coming from a complete stranger.
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