Lesson from a car salesmen

[apothanein kerdos]

AJ Belcher learned a lesson in God's grace one day when he walked into a Saturn dealership. His daughter's car broke down beyond repair in Georgia and she had been without a car for two weeks. In those two weeks AJ had searched all the car lots to find a car for her. Unforutantely for AJ, he wasn't the richest of people and car lots in that area were notorious for taking advantage of the elderly. He walked into Saturn, never having heard of it before but expecting to get pushed around. Instead, he was greeted with a handshake and a non-pressure approach. He ran into a kid that tried to understand where AJ was comming from. AJ test drove a car that caught his eye and decided that it would be the perfect car for his daughter. The only problem was is that it was outside of his price range. AJ told the salesmen and the manager what he could afford expecting them to laugh him out of the office. The manager said he'd see what car he had in stock that would fit what AJ could afford...and this blew his mind away.

While he waited he saw that GM (who owns Saturn) was having some contest to win a car. All they had to do was press a button and talk to an OnStar rep and the OnStar rep would tell them if they had won or lost. There would only be 500 winners nation wide, and 495 had already won. So he realized his chances were next to nothing and decided not to try. His salesmen, however, talked him into it. He told him, "Come on AJ, it won't hurt you to at least try. Who knows, maybe you'll win and then you won't have to spend a dime!" So AJ got in the car and the salesmen got in with him and they went through it. He went through the usual routine and gave his name, address, and phone number. The salesmen told the lady what kind of car they were in and the store number. She told AJ to hold on while she put him on hold. It went silent. The salesmen looked over wide eyes and flush. "It usually has music..." he said with a hushed tone. The lady got back on and asked AJ to confirm his information and he did and she immediately put him back on hold. "Do they usually do this?" AJ asked his salesmen. The salesmen said with a half smile, "No...I've been through this a hundred times and this has never happened." The lady got back on and immediately the salesman knew what was going on.

"AJ Belcher?" she asked.

"Yes?" he said back.

"Are you sitting down?"

"Yes I am"

"Well then you're sitting in your new car."

Both the salesmen and AJ let out a yell. Everyone in the store looked over thinking a fight had broken out. What they saw was a salesmen and a customer embracing and rejoicing that he had won. Some said that the salesmen looked more excited than AJ did. AJ Belcher couldn't really afford a car, so God gave him one.

AJ talked about how he and his wife had prayed and prayed and prayed that God would provide them with a car so their daughter could have one. God had answered that prayer. They prayed with their salesmen and thanked God for what he had done. After the prayer AJ looked at his salesmen and goes, "You're not going to get any money off of this, are you?" The salesmen smiled and said, "The expirience is enough payment for me." AJ would have none of that. The original car he was looking at he went ahead and bought at a much lower than sticker cost. In fact, the company didn't even make a profit off of it. However, the salesmen was still able to get a little commission. As soon as AJ expirienced the grace of God he turned right around and sacrificed and gave grace to those around him.

I made a lot more customers after AJ and became friends with some of them...however AJ is one that sticks out in my mind the most. He was an example of God's grace and what we are to do when given that grace. We are not to hide it or horde it away only for our enjoyment. We are given grace so that we might in turn show grace upon a world that is desperate for it.

*Side note*

AJ was able to choose what car he wanted. He picked out a $30,000 car and got it all for free. He gave the car he bought to his daughter and sold the car he was driving to the dealership.