On Thursday we received the text from our attorney about the bad ruling against us and later we contacted a Fort Worth Super Lawyer who was compassionate enough to rush us in for an appointment the next morning, Friday, at 9:00a.m.
Shortly after we received the text from our attorney, and in the midst of dealing with the trauma of years of litigation coming to such a horrible end; the plumbing stopped up and we were unable to flush toilets or to bath. I can't begin to express in words the surmounting stress and depression we went through. And this on top of the fact that we've had a main water line leak going out to the barn for over a week that we can't afford to fix. The water has begun moving across the drive into the front pasture. I can't bring myself to walk out to the mail box and see the water flow, the empty pastures, the broken down lawn mower. My heart hurts so much I struggle with the guilt of knowing I should have faith in God, but feeling completely hopeless.
We woke up Friday morning and unable to shower headed off to our meeting feeling awful and humiliated during this 103 plus heat wave. Nonetheless, we had to go and meet with someone who was showing us compassion enough to take time to review our matter. When we came home I emailed relevant documents for him to review and we are to meet or speak with him again on Monday.
He expressed that he suspects we have issues warranting another potential legal matter which I will not discuss at this time. However, the most critical issue at hand is that of a time clock running for us to file an Appeal. We have no Appellate Attorney, and we have no hope left. It's just been beaten down too many times.
Mike and I have always cared about people, and in fact; our desire was to open up our land to grow vegetables and hold barbeques to feed the homeless and hungry. What a turn of events, now we could be living out on the streets digging through trash for remnants. Those who deem that dramatic just don't understand us and our circumstances, and they don't pay attention to those human beings who are already out there on the streets.
When we came home from our meeting with the attorney, a large successful plumbing company in the area sent someone out. A young silver tongued salesman who refused to snake our pipes because of potential liability with it getting caught in the septic tank. He said the only way to go was to use high pressure water through the pipes. Coincidentally, his dad owned the company they use to sub contract to do the work. I was crying and Mike was humbled, pleading with him:
The plumber simply replied:"But we don't have the $550 dollars to do that. Can't you just snake it?"
"No."He collected his $69.00 and left without doing any repairs other than sawing off a cap which relieved the blockage but now left us with raw refuse to be dumped directly out onto the ground outside the bedroom wall. That was the best he said he could do for us and if we didn't order the other service within the business hours of that day, the $69.00 would not be applied towards repairs.
Yes, I continued to sob as I looked at this young man the age of our own children, in complete disbelief of his lack of human compassion or ethics regarding the raw sewage he left us to deal with.
Mike decided to call the septic service after that, and Larry from Aerobi Tech was here about an hour after the plumber had gone. He got out of his van and looked at the water flowing across the drive and said "What's this?! Is this your septic?" That was all it took and I began sobbing. Precious Larry said "Honey, you look like you could use a hug!" I broke down and shared with him what we were dealing with and he was so kind to us. He fixed our plumbing issue and said "This one's on me guys. And if you have any issues ya'll ask for me."
I asked Mike to send him with a set of "Pilgrims Progress" CD's we had for his kids in response to his kindness. When Mike returned from the speaking with Larry he said:
"Netty, you won't believe what just happened. Larry broke down and was crying. He said our situation and our love for one another just touched him deeply. Larry just lost his wife the beginning of this year, on their 33rd anniversary. I got to minister God's love to him."What happened today just confirms what God speaks in His Word and has shown us over these past few years. People who have compassion are those who have walked through fiery trials. They aren't just "do-gooders" but are those who reach out to others from the very depths of sincere compassion stemming from personal experience. They understand what it is to endure hardship. Larry bore the fruit of one whose heart had been softened by personal trials.
More than our need for plumbing repair, Mike and I just needed to experience someone who cared about us.
