Saturday was a big day in the life of our family. Amber, soon to be bride, played host to our family and her new family (girls only, though) as we met for coffee, shopped, had girly food for lunch, and then experienced a really ROUGH few hours at the bridal store. The first few minutes should have clued us in but with our heads buried in toule, satin, and a few unmentionables we were not quite seeing "straight".
Arriving at the (will not mention it's name) bridal store, we politely checked in for our scheduled appointment and were escorted to a dressing room where Amber quietly slipped into her gown while the (will not mention her name) bridal consultant ran around with our premade list of bridesmaids' dress numbers looking for any available dressing room we (will not mention name of bridesmaids) could call home for the next 15 dress episodes. Then, she disappeared as we oohed and ahhed over just how perfect Amber's dress (will not mention a description of it) is. And, I should add how pretty she makes the dress look! Problem being, she (will not mention bridal consultant) disappered with our list of dresses.
No, we did not intend to look back through the 40 or so styles the store offered while politely excusing ourselves through the maze of prom dress shoppers and dare I say daddies and boyfriends. (We spent an hour or so making that list the night before so as to avoid such a calamity.) Nevertheless, no list in sight, we set out through the racks of dresses and then made our way back to the ONE dressing room and perserved as much dignity as possible dressing and undressing as we shared dressing rooms. Then, it all began to go sour. . . And, I prefer to not rehash the events of the next two hours except to say that when our bridal consultant got so flustered (not sure why because she had not even been helping us) that she huffed in Abigail's face (oh, yes, she did!) and later noted that the bride's Mom (will not mention names) was "furious" (yes, her exact word).
Oh my, and that was just some of the really bad behavior we experienced at the (not to be named) bridal store. So, my question is ~ how should we respond? No, really. It's not time for the trite, pat answers. And, it's not time for the WWJD bracelets. I have been pondering this question for over 48 hours now and really do not have a solution (or, maybe it's not an answer I like). But, there is one thing I have settled on.
The (not to be named) bridal consultant is a child of the King. Yep, that's right. No matter how rude we might have perceived her to be or how much we would like to berate her behavior, she is a child of the King. What we do not know is what had happened in her day to lead up to those hours or what what going on in other facets of her life or if she has a relationship with the King. But, what I do know is that just as He loves me (faults and all), He loves her too. (And, Amber will have a bridal gown that is perfect! And, we will have beautiful bridesmaid dresses. And, the flower girl dresses will match Amber's dress. Although, none of these will be purchased at THAT store.) And, the second greatest commandment is to love her (the not to be named bridal consultant) as I love myself without justifying my thoughts with the buts and ifs. Although I'm still not sure how to respond to the really bad service (at the not to be named bridal store), I do know that she (not to be named bridal consultant) is created in the image of Him and she is a child of the King that I am called to love.
