$75 richer

soooo, today i finally went to court. for those of you who haven't heard, way back at the end of october, i got a summons for biking on the sidewalk. i was on my way to flushing center for some yummy food and groceries, and once again my trip was ruined (the first time, i forgot my wallet. i think God is trying to tell me something here, hehe heh. ;). i actually had stayed on the road the whole way during that last scary segment between shea stadium and arthur ashe stadium. at the very last stretch, there was some construction in the middle of the road and a loader on the right side of the road, right next to the sidewalk. a car was honking me like crazy from behind, and, fearing for my life, i got onto the sidewalk. a short while later, i heard a siren - at first, i didn't realize it was for me, but then when i saw them waving wildly at me, my heart sank... then began to pound wildly.

i can't say this summons wasn't well-deserved. granted, in this situation, it was a trap and definitely a dangerous situation for me. however, i know i've been biking recklessly - speeding through lights and all, and i really think it's God's mercy that i got this warning before something happened to me.

of course, i was misinformed about my summons multiple times before finally, everything was settled today. the police-woman who gave it to me told me that i could go to court any day after ~1 week from the day i got the summons. WRONG. then i called the court a gazillion times. the first time they told me it would take 2 weeks to pop up. then 3 weeks. then a month. finally after 5 weeks my summons showed up on their files. the guy on the phone told me i could go any day up to one week prior to my court date, dec 8.

so in the middle of nov, when my rotation was pretty light, i went allll the way out there. that first time i really was pretty nervous. it was raining that day, and as i stood out there, at 8AM, in line with all these people in wifebeaters and smoking cigarettes, i realized one thing: no matter what i thought, in the eyes of the court, i am the same as these people. even more hilarious was the line of couples getting married to the right of us... so after an hour of waiting, i was told to go home and to come back WITHIN one week of my court date. *sigh*

today i went back. i was a lot less nervous. an attending doctor at my hospital basically told me that i would have to pay $100 fine, and although i wasn't ecstatic about it, i knew i was being disciplined by God, and i was just ready for it to be over with. the weather was nice today, and i got there ~8:30pm. the session didn't start until almost 10pm. i understood more deeply what it means when paul says that when we break one part of the law, we break the whole law - because a criminal is a criminal.

so after a series of people who had been summoned for reckless driving and public urination and having an open container of alcohol, i stepped up to the bench. i was sooooooooooo nervous all of a sudden, i could hardly talk or breathe. my heart was poundly wildly, and although i had rehearsed the scene a hundred times before, only a jumbled bunch of words came out of my mouth.

i am SOOO glad i don't need to stand before God in judgment. if THIS was bad, i can hardly imagine what it will be like on Judgment Day. Thank God - for He looks at me, and sees the blood of Christ. i don't have to answer for my crimes - i CAN'T! i am UNable! but hooray! i am free! :)

"$25" - the judge says. "ttttThtttank you," i stammer before i skip back to my seat. :) i paid several minutes later, and by 10:30 i was back at work. again, i am thankful, not only because i am $75 richer, but also because i needed a warning to bike safer. PLUS, all the studying of romans really has sunk in... as well as this passage from II Cor 5, one of my favorite parts of the Bible:

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

i love this passage, because paul so poignantly and poetically summarizes the gospel in a few verses. i am reconciled to Christ - thanks be to God! :)