my sister found this little tidbit on the web about forever 21, my sworn enemy (forever 21 is my sworn enemy, NOT my sister)....from The Gods of Retail: Forever 21
...A young designer named Rowena Rodriguez told Radar magazine her theory behind Forever 21’s meteoric rise. “If you really want to know, I’ll tell you. But you won’t believe me…the Changs love Jesus!”
And love Jesus, they do. So much so that, aside from attending daily 5:30 a.m. prayer meetings at LA’s Ttokamsa Mission Church -- whose pastor, Ken Choe, describes the Changs as “prayer warriors” -- the bottoms of Forever 21’s shopping bags are imprinted with John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Meghan Bryan, a Forever 21 spokeswoman, told the New York Sun that the inscription is a “demonstration of the owners’ faith.”
This “demonstration of the owners’ faith” is being demonstrated further by a new line of plus-size clothing called “Faith 21” and will be rolled out to the masses in May...
oh my gosh. they will have a PLUS sized line called “faith 21”! is that like “i have faith that these jeans will fit over my butt? because that sometimes is a LEAP of faith. or “i have faith that this size 18 shirt will make me look like a 21 year old wearing a size 8 shirt?” because that is another total faith moment.
i am just saying that a ummm, well, a certain full sized gal might need to have some sort of relationship with this company in the future...
and a certain plus sized gal does have another update for you. just as with your journey in faith you should go to the highest source, you should do that in dealing with “customer service” as well...
i called their corporate headquarters yesterday. oh yes mam, i did. behold the power of google.
and i talked to a very nice lady who was APPALLED at the lack of customer service that i had received thus far. and she understood my big words.
she took down the card number and my name and said that she was calling to get it back on the card.
an hour later i received this email from the district manager. now this is the interesting part. i had not given the corporate lady my email address (nor my phone number). i had mentioned that i had emailed a complaint in TWICE and gotten some form emails back but no action... so someone (the d,m. or the corporate customer service gal) must have found my email address through those complaints. now that is more like it...
here is her email to me...
subject: credit on card! (i love that she used an exclamation point at the end of this)
Hi Leah, (she spelled my name wrong, but i can live with that.)
My name is Vicki Loria and I'm the District Manager with Forever 21. I was recently notified that the credit has not been applied to your mall gift card and would like to apologize for your recent experience with us at the Forever 21 store located in Governor's Square Mall. I will ensure you receive this credit in a timely manner.
I have been provided with all the information necessary to follow up with your credit, however, I don't have the mall gift card phone number. Can you e-mail me the phone number off the mall gift card so I may call and verify why the credit hasn't been issued? I also would like your phone number so I can be in contact with you to ensure this credit goes through.
Thank you for your patience.
Vicki Loria
Forever 21
District Manager North and Central Florida
407.508.0952
i wish she had added, “i will ensure that the managers who did not please you will be drawn and quartered and made to wear really tight forever 21 clothing that rips up the seams when they bend over and lookie at that, they have on granny panties”. but you can’t always get what you want... but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. (i should write songs)...
so sorry erin, but i won’t be needed your penny rolls today (but save them up, you never know when i will need to go on a rampage). and a HUGE thanks to meg who emailed forever 21 customer service and wrote that she would not be shopping at their stores until her friend had gotten good customer service. now that is FRIENDSHIP!
i do however still feel like the forever 21 store in the mall has “done me wrong” and so i think my marshall plan to exact my revenge on them (as romans 12:19 begins to resonate in my head) is to continue to let millie try on clothing in the mall store. and then we will come home and order that clothing online. that way i can still support the corporation that puts john 3:16 on the bottom of their bags and worked VERY quickly to make me a more satisfied customer, BUT still not shop at the local mall store until such time as they demonstrate their worthiness to me (except for i remember that pesky romans 5:7-8).
man it is tough to be forgiving... (as matthew 5:43-45 comes in as an echo)
and that Bible has such POWER to convict.... (2 timothy 3:15-17 is now taking its place in my thoughts)
and this really isn’t like a HUGE thing to forgive... (luke 7:47 fills up one side of my head)
so instead of my well thought out REVENGE plan, should i bake cookies for the local forever 21 and take them in as a peace offering? (as proverbs 25:21-22 and again with the romans 12:19-21 convict me to the very marrow of my soul)...
how does God ever manage to do that forgiveness thing with me day after day, sin after sin?
that part about sending His Son to die for me seems so HUGE when i have trouble being civil to some people who were a little rude...
is this what it means to “die to self” to truly LIVE out what i believe? to make myself the servant when i want so much to be served? (mark 10:42-45 filling up another side of my brain)
so what will make the greater impact on my soul, on my children, on the people who work at that store....
me exacting the vengeance that i THINK is rightfully mine?
or me living out a faith that says that relationships are more important than being right?
what would it look like to demonstrate that my rights PALE in comparison with the RIGHTEOUSNESS of things like forgiveness and mercy?
what would happen if one plus sized gal took a plus sized leap of faith by forgiving and laying aside her PLUS sized ego and righteous indignation for something FAR more powerful. what if someone did what her life guide book says that she should do instead of what the world says that she should do, what her ego wants to do? what would that do for the kingdom of God? what difference will her anger make for eternity, versus what difference would her love and obedience make for eternity...
i think i will bake some cookies today. and take them into the store. and apologize for my rudeness and impatience. even though that is really hard. and in the example of a Savior who DIED for my sins, baking cookies and eating a little humble pie (and some cookie crumbs) really isn’t that hard. but maybe it will be life changing. for me, for my daughter, and for someone in forever 21...
so i guess this post is aptly called “breaking news” because like always it is me that is broken in the end....
psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
psalm 51:16-18 (The Message)
Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.
just a note, i really went through this whole process AS i was typing this. when i began the post i was going to exact my revenge plan today with us going and trying on lots of clothes and then just leaving and saying we would buy them online because the customer service in this store is SO bad...
and now i am gathering ingredients to make cookies and take them into the store. i think this change of heart, change of plans is described well in this song...
God Moves in Mysterious Ways lyrics by Cowper.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
of never failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs
and works His sovereign will.
You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
the clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
in blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan His work in vain:
God is His own interpreter,
and He will make it plain.