Read the fine print.

Not too long ago I was cruising around my favorite store looking for deals.  I had a coupon that I was sure would take care of my retail dreams.  As I approached the register with a smile the sales lady returned the favor.  The total popped onto the screen and I handed her my coupon beaming with pride.  Maybe this would be one of those extreme couponing moments where bells and whistles went off.  The smiling sales woman scanned the coupon.  Nothing.  No decent on the price escalator.  It was stuck.  Hmmm.  That's too bad they are having computer problems I thought still confident that my big savings moment would happen.  The smiling sales woman, who at this point had lost her smile, turned to me and said, "I'm sorry, it says here in the fine print that this item is excluded from the sale and now you haven't spent enough to qualify for the discount and also, this coupon isn't actually good until next week."  Be. still. my. heart.  I am pretty sure the earth stopped moving at that very second.  I must have looked as exasperated as I felt because the woman began trying to pick up the pieces of my retail train wreck.  I did end up getting the deal eventually, but I would have been saved some coupon heartache had I paid attention to the fine print....

My store experience has me thinking lately about how many things I wish actually did come with fine print information...mainly the people in my life.  I want to read the fine print and know why some days there is a cool, confident swagger about this one particular person, yet on other days it seems as if the rug has been ripped from under them.  Some might say, ugh, not again, get over it! But I say....read the fine print.  I want to know why my one friend will not look me in the eye.  Something has happened in her life so  she does not trust enough to exchange this kind of vulnerable contact.  What does her fine print say?  I want to be able to understand why someone holds on so tight to the people in their life that its damaging to the relationships in the end.  What is in the fine print there?  What makes someone snap or get insecure by a simple joke?  It's all in the fine print hidden somewhere inside.

I guess, in all this fine print talk, what I am really reminding myself is that in order to read the fine print in people's lives it will actually mean I make a commitment to looking beyond the surface and sticking with them long enough to get there...to get to the fine print or just understand that its there.  This means my life will be colored with compassion.  When Jesus walked our Earth he had compassion on everyone he came into contact with.  Not just the ones with easier to read fine print.  With everyone, and that means everyone.  On the day of my shopping extravaganza, I could have just ripped up the coupon, got angry and ran out of the store.  I could have and I might have been tempted to.  Shhh.  But, I remained in that moment with the sales woman as she processed the fine print with me.  I think that's what I need with everyone in my life, a little less run away power and a lot more staying power.  It's easy to run harder than to hang on until we get a glimpse of the fine print.

This has taught me again....and I'll probably have to be reminded again and even again....that everyone needs a little fine print love.  Less of my impatience, more of my acceptance.  More of my understanding and less of my judgment.  I'm not saying that fine print gives anyone an excuse to mistreat.  I'm only saying that there is deep down a fine print reason for their behavior.

So the next time you get completely beside yourself with frustration.  Read the fine print. We've all got it.

"Finally, all of you, be likeminded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble"
1 Peter 3:8