Alex made it back from his business trip just in time for birthday dinner and dessert. He got his usual treats, but also some homemade cards. I had each of the kids make a card for him, and he got one from me with as many things that I love about him as his age. We had to do birthday breakfast the next day - Owen helped make it.
My birthday was different this year. It started out as usual, with a run and breakfast (Owen also helped make my breakfast). A friend saw me out for a run and dropped off a little breakfast treat while I was on my run. And then... I got to go in for jury duty! I got called in during July for jury service, but pleaded my hardship before the judge to get out of that one since it was a month long commitment and Alex was out of town. Apparently, that doesn't count for the year and my service was just deferred for a couple months. I was hoping to get out of this one, but the night before my birthday I got called in.
I had to be at the courthouse most of the afternoon, which meant I missed going to Jared's cross country meet. (I also made my own cake in the morning so that Alex wouldn't feel like he needed to stay home from Jared's meet to bake my cake.) I sent Alex to cheer on Jared and hoped that I wouldn't actually get called to serve on the jury. I didn't want to plead a hardship for this one, because a 1-3 month deferment would be service right in the middle of Nathan's senior year of basketball. So I was going to see if I would be done by sticking through the jury selection. I hadn't been chosen by the end of the first day and there were about 25 of us left, so I was hopeful.
I went in the next day and sat in anxiety as they continued with the jury selection process, watching several people be dismissed and listening as new people were called. This case was also a month long commitment, so obviously we were all hoping to get out of it. It was interesting listening to some of the comments, which seemed to be aimed at getting dismissed from service. One potential juror boldly questioned why they were wasting a month of time for a case where for at least one of the parties, the amount of money they were fighting over was a "drop in the bucket" for them. I think a lot of us were thinking the same thing, but weren't going to say it. Another person declared that they weren't biased to either side, but said it was the best defense statement they'd ever heard...
I did eventually get chosen as the first alternate juror. Only 10 people didn't get chosen and got to go home.
I got to introduce myself and talk about my education, kids, spouse, and such. I didn't have to answer very many other questions, aside from the question "Do you like puzzles?", which all of the newly selected jurors had to answer. That seemed a little odd. I shared one negative experience that Alex and I had with contracts, which was what this case dealt with, but they weren't concerned about it. We got sworn in as the jury and then released for lunch break. I was pretty sad that I had to commit to jury service for the month of October.
And then... we came back from lunch and found out the 2 parties had settled the case over lunchtime! We were no longer needed and excused for the year. What a relief! I don't know what happened, but we were all grateful they worked it out.
I was listening to a podcast the next day while cleaning the house and a phrase stuck out to me: "Mercy wins the day." I thought that applied well to the court experience. Both parties had come to court, feeling wronged and seeking for a 3rd party to settle their case. However, before presenting it to the jury, one or both parties extended mercy to the other. Mercy wins the day. I also realized that maybe it was the Lord's mercy that softened their hearts and allowed them to work it out. For me personally, I felt like the Lord was aware of me and knew that I didn't have time for jury duty this month. Jared had some CC meets that I didn't want to miss, and the rest of the family would have had to make up for my absence. In one of my birthday cards, Jared wrote, "I know having jury duty today of all days is horrible, but just like last time they will see that you are a devoted mother and wife, and ain't got time for jury duty." Well, the court didn't recognize that I didn't have time for jury duty, but I think God knew that.
So what was the case about? The case was concerning 2 tech companies, who had signed a contract over some products to be acquired and/or refunded. They had emails and verbal exchange before the formal written contract. Apparently, the contract was a little different than the verbal agreement, but the person signing the contract didn't actually fully read the final contract before signing. The time expired for getting a refund for the products according to the contract and one of the companies lost 53 million dollars over the deal. However, the timeframe in the written contract wasn't the same as the verbal agreement, so the company at loss felt like the other company had written up a fraudulent contract. However... the company at loss also failed to carefully read the formal contract before signing, so according to the defendant, there was a legally binding signed contract on their side which said the other company's time had expired and they owed them nothing.
As I thought more about the case and contracts, I made some spiritual parallels out of the experience. We make spiritual promises or contracts to God and we end up breaching or failing to live up to our contract all the time. God allows us, in His mercy, to get another chance - over and over again. I also thought about how at the final judgment, when we're standing before God, our 3rd party advocate is Jesus Christ. He is our mercy, and He makes up for our failings if we accept His sacrifice and turn to Him. How great it is to have a perfect 3rd party to take our case! A jury, as the "3rd party," although with the best intentions to fairly judge a case, doesn't know perfectly the thoughts, intentions, and actions of the parties for which they're judging. God and Jesus know us perfectly and with our best efforts to follow them, mercy wins the day!
I wasn't happy to have jury duty on my birthday or miss Jared's cross country meet, but it wasn't a total waste of time. I did gain some insights from the experience and learned a little more about the judicial process. Did you know that you have to leave the notes you take during the trial at the court each day (you can't take them home with you) and they are destroyed after the trial is done? Interesting. I also found some things about the jury selection process a little amusing, such as one of the lawyers asking for a raise of hands for anyone who is afraid of public speaking and then asking each of those people to talk about that in front of a courtroom full of people. Hmmm... 😏
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