Traveling Incognito with the Moxie to pull it off!
2017 Dodge Durango
Buying a Car shouldn't be this much of a hassle!
Recently, we went through the process of purchasing a new car. We expected the process to be short, sweet, and simple like the purchase of our trailer was just a few months prior, but boy did we get a shocking surprise.
If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I teach by experience and example as opposed to book or head knowledge.
To me, it is important that we learn; as Children of the Most High God how to function in a dysfunctional world, and draw all to Christ. Through every event or situation that we find ourselves in, there is ALWAYS a way to the Cross, and the narrow path that can only be found on the other side of it.
Throughout my lifetime, I have always strived to travel this journey called life as one that can be easily underestimated. I have never been one much for recognition or fanfare. However, there has always been one thing that can get me “Worked Up”. It is to see injustice or abuse, wherever it resides. As such, my personal life events often come with biblical lessons that are applicable to all our lives.
What I was recently calling the power of being underestimated, is really transforming into a deeper understanding of my Christian faith and belief system.
What I was calling “being underestimated”; the Lord began showing me that it is actually called; “Traveling Incognito with the Moxie to pull it off”.
“Traveling Incognito with the Moxie to pull it off”
WOW, did you get that; I heard the Lord say; “Traveling Incognito with the Moxie to pull it off”.
The simple definition of (Incognito) is when you travel your path wanting to avoid attention or being noticed for who you really are.
The simple definition of (Moxie) is having aggressive energy when facing difficulty; being endued with spirit and courage.
While pondering the two seemingly polar opposites of; traveling Incognito with Moxie, it appeared that I was lacking understanding of how these two were mutually congruent with each other, as well as the congruency of this newly discovered understanding with my Christian faith.
Which lead me to The Word (the Bible), to allow the Holy Spirit to begin opening up my understanding of what was happening with the events and issues surrounding the purchasing of our new car and me traveling through life incognito with the moxie to pull it off.
Butt Check Day and Blessing Zone:
I hear your laughter at the title of this segment, but it is true; Butt check day is a “real thing” for us, and it had finally arrived. Little did either of us know that it was also a “Blessing Zone”.
Blessing zones are areas of life where the blessings of God are in disguise, and they are ALWAYS surrounded by turbulence and chaos! Christianese speak: “The Devil had our new car, and we were determined to get it!”
Such was the case on our “Butt Check Day” when we recently purchased our new 2017 Dodge Durango from Clay Cooley in Irving, Texas.
Upon arriving at Clay Cooley CJD in Irving, Texas, the first sign of our “Blessing Zone” that day, which we missed was “The miracle” of an opened door. I failed to recognize that my shock and surprise was my “Spidey Sense” trying to get my attention, and I didn’t listen!
Miracle of an Opened Door!
I have not only been a loving wife and best friend for the past 26 years, since 2012 I became my husband’s sole caregiver as well, since an accident damaged his Spinal Cord and left him 53% impaired on both sides of his body. So what use to be common place for us, (him opening a door for me), is now a rare commodity since the accident.
With his type of Spinal Cord injury, which is called Incomplete Quadriplegia with Brown Sequard type pattern, he has good days and better days; we just never know what it is going to be until that day arrives. So our “Butt Check Day” was one of his better days. His movements were less jerky and he was moving pretty well.
We arrived at the dealership, and upon arriving at the glass entry door, I was stunned! My “I-Quad” husband was opening the door for me. Needless to say I was thrilled and shocked at the same time. However, I failed to realize that this was ushering us into a Blessing Zone, which is always interesting to say the very least.
From that point, I expected that it was going to be a “Better Exciting Day” than normal for him physically, but totally missed the importance of that Opened Door. And how we actually had entered a “Blessing Zone”, in which there might be battles, but a blessing is waiting to be uncovered; otherwise known as a Blessing in Disguise.
“You don’t act like a salesman, and we won’t walk out of here without buying anything!”
This wasn’t our first rodeo at purchasing a new car. Our last new car was in 2006 with a lot smaller price range. At which time we learned that Car Dealerships really don’t like being held accountable to their advertised pricing.
Then again just a few months ago, we purchased a small trailer which required all the same Tax, Title, and License paperwork as a car takes to be road legal and it only took about 30-45 minutes to complete that process.
Naively we thought the car buying process should have gotten better since our 2006 car buying experience of holding a Car dealership to their advertised price.
We did our research. Found the make and model that we wanted in our price range. (We save for 7-10 years to purchase our new cars without financing them. That is how we determine our price range and is part of another teaching I do on budgets and money management.) Then comes “Butt check day”.
The last new car we had, I was the primary driver, and my only requirement was that it had to be my butt high, so I didn’t fall down into it, nor did I have to climb up into it. Hence, I coined the phrase, “Butt High” meaning that our cars are purchased according our butt height.
Since the accident that injured my husband, our old car had become more of a pain in our sides than a pleasure to drive. It was my butt height, but every time we got into the car, my husband had to “FALL” into it, causing him more pain and issues than was helpful to his condition. So that was the reason we called our car buying day our “Butt Check Day”.
The Car buying challenge begins:
Receptionist asks how she may help us and we tell her that we want to look at their 2017 Dodge Durango’s. The salesman walks up while my husband had stepped away for a moment, and the salesman and I begin the typical what are you looking for questions etc., to which I really couldn’t answer anything except we liked the Durango’s.
I told him that he would have to ask my husband all those questions; that this one is his choice not mine. However, I did give him a small piece of advice as my husband was walking up to where we were standing; “You don’t act like a salesman, and we won’t walk out of here without buying anything!”
The only reason we saw why we had to go to the dealership that day was to check the butt height of the vehicle, sign papers, make a down payment and make plans to come back and pick up the vehicle a week later.
Allowing the service department to install the tow package, and make ready to get the vehicle all spit shined and polished for us in a week. One and half hours after arriving at the dealership is when the battle really gets heated between us and the Clay Cooley dealership in Irving, Texas.
Wisdom is found within a multitude of counselors:
Our new 2017 Dodge Durango from Clay Cooley in Irving, Texas finally arrived 2 days later and 5-1/2 hours late, we take delivery of our new car from the salesman, and have become complete APPALLED at the whole ordeal; prayer was the ONLY THING that was going to calm us down on the matter at this point. At which point we began asking the Lord for guidance on the matter. Immediately, I heard in my “right” ear; “Wisdom is found within a multitude of counselors”.
Since we don’t have a “Multitude of Counselors” surrounding us all the time, my next question was where am I going to find a Multitude of Counselors? Answer: My Facebook Friends and Followers! Now, how do I do that and still stay within the confines of what “The Word” says about settling disputes?
Which lead me to make a post on my page that you can read for yourself and please read through the comments, they are most enlightening at: Question which we would like to hear your Feedback on
When Cultures Collide
When the “do unto others as you would have them do to you”, Christian culture, and the Worldly culture of “do unto others then split!” collide, it provides for the perfect conditions for a “Blessing Zone” to the believer or a hotbed of torment for the non-believer. “Have you not heard what the Lord said: The Kingdom of God suffer violence and the violent take it by force?” sometimes there will be places throughout our lives when cultures collide, and such is what I began to see through the comments that were made on my post. As the counsel of the multitude began being posted, I was seeing this Blessing Zone/Hotbed of torment developing, and began saying to the Lord;
“Ok, it seems that the majority of the counselors wants to wants to FRY this car dealership and car salesman to the wall for their actions. And quite frankly, a part of me wants to as well. However, Lord, what should be our next step since we have tried to resolve the issues through the dealership and salesman to no avail and being told out and out lies, so what do we do now?”
As strange as it may sound, almost at the exact moment that I asked that question, I received from one comment EXACTLY what we needed to do! As well as, I was seeing a teachable moment developing! Sweet!
True to form with what our youngest son has asked several times throughout his life “You can get to the Cross from anywhere huh mom?” and my answer is always the same; “Yep, To it and Through it!”
“Know Yours Rights and Stand Your Ground!”
We walked out all the steps given to us in The Word; Matthew Chapter 18 about conflict resolution to NO AVAIL,
1) Tried to allow the salesman to resolve the issue like he said he would. Which everything he said was all LIES.
2) Made many attempts to contact Sales Manager, General Manager etc…and no one would give us a straight answer on even who were the managers!
3) Contacted Dodge customer care; only to find out that they stand behind the dealers NOT THE CUSTOMER! And still we do not have a second key, or owner’s manual, nor are we sure about the tow package installation that Clay Cooley in Irving, Texas did. (We will be taking it to another Dodge dealer at our own expense to have it checked out.)
So what do you do next? The final step of course, as an old bible school professor taught me a many years ago, “Know Your Rights and Stand Your Ground!”
Church in the Marketplace
As a pastor for many years to what I called my Geriatric Congregation (everyone was over the age of 70 except Don and myself), and now, the congregational following that I have online “In the Marketplace”, we are now at the final step into Biblical conflict resolution which is verse 17; “If he refuses to listen and obey what has been confirmed by two or more witnesses, Clay Cooley must listen and hear the word of the Lord; “if you fail to listen to the church (posted comments and private emails), then you shall be considered a Non-believer according to Matthew 18:17 and the weapons that you have formed against the Ordinary “Joe’s” looking to purchase from you shall RISE UP and CONDEMN YOU for your lies and treacherous business practices, for this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and our righteousness is from HIM, says the LORD!
All believers carry the Kingdom of God into the entire world through their travels. It’s knowing when to Know your Rights and Stand your Ground on the Word of God that will demonstrate that ALL believers are traveling incognito (the Spirit of God residing in them), and that same Spirit will give you the Moxie to handle any situation that may arise!
Additional links to complaints about Clay Cooley Dealerships In Texas
Additional public reviews and complaints against Clay Cooley throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth/Weatherford area of Texas.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/willow-park-tx/TNBSS1VS1F7POJNUT/beware-of-clay-cooley-automotive
https://clay-cooley.pissedconsumer.com/texas/irving/RT-AB.html
© 2017 Cammy Walters
