YIPPEE!!! YIPPEE!!! YIPPEE!!! WOOHOO JESUS!!!

J has been working with this couple to find a secondary home in Durango for a few months. He's taken them to quite a few properties and had fun getting to know them. They decided to put offers in on two houses, work through the negotiation process, and see which one they were able to get the better deal on.

One house is listed at $499,000, and they submitted an offer for $439,000 (reasonable). The other house is listed at $750,000, and the people wanted to submit an offer for $439,000 (ridiculous). J knew that this was really low, that the sellers would be insulted by it and not take them seriously. So he told his clients that. They still insisted upon submitting the offer, so J did it.

Well, in emailing back and forth with the selling agent, J mentioned that he was almost embarrassed to submit this offer, that he knew it was too low. Somehow, this email got attached to some documents that J emailed to his clients. Well, they saw the email and, understandably, got very upset. They emailed J that they were very disappointed in him, that he was not representing their best interests. They told him they were terminating their relationship with him and were going to find another realtor to complete the deal.

We were pretty upset. J knew he had screwed up and made a huge mistake. He emailed them and left messages on their voicemail telling them as much. He told them that he understood why they were going to go with someone else, that he had violated their trust, however unintentional, and that he wished them the best. We thought we had lost both the deal and the clients. A costly mistake. This all happened on Monday. When I emailed our small group the week's prayer requests that same day, I asked them to pray for our finances without going into specifics. The wound was just too fresh to talk about.

Since J told me, I had been praying for these clients. I really felt like there was something spiritual going on. So, I've been praying for this deal. Well, honestly, I don't know how much faith I had that God would turn this deal around. I was also praying for these people, but I was praying that He would bring a deal to replace it. I didn't even tell J I was praying for the deal to come back to us because it seemed like such a long shot to me.





But...










God works the night shift!

Well, J got an email from this couple today. They told him that they forgave him. That they understood that he was expressing his personal feelings towards a colleague. That they appreciated all the time and energy that he had put into helping them. That this incident was not a reflection of who they believed J to be. And that they didn't want to see the commission from this sale to go to anyone but him!!!

So not only have these sweet people forgiven J (so cool), but they have retained his services and are continuing to negotiate a deal. We have learned a lot this week. J has learned NOT to put ANYTHING in an email that he doesn't want to become public knowledge. He has learned that integrity is admitting when we have screwed up. We have learned to forgive each other, forgive ourselves, and move on. I have seen God answer a prayer that I wasn't sure I had the faith to pray. And we have seen that when our friends pray in the Spirit, given a situation but not the details, that God WILL show up!

Friend, I have struggled with faith since I accepted Christ. Struggled to believe that the Lord of the Universe cared enough about little old, sin-filled me to answer my prayers. That when I prayed something for myself, God would answer. I cannot doubt that any longer.

I have seen checks come in the mail exactly when we needed it. I have seen friends tell me something that only God knew I needed to hear. I have seen my God show up on my behalf.

I have always read the verse about the mustard seed and moving the mountain, and understood what that felt like. Usually I feel like my faith is about as big as a mustard seed. And when the mountains don't move, I get discouraged. What I am now realizing, however, is that if the mountain doesn't move, it isn't that God doesn't love me. It's that He wants to meet me at the top of the mountain.

When you pray, and God says no, it isn't that He doesn't love you. It's that He has something better planned than what you asked. It takes faith to wait for that "better". But it's worth it. Believe me, it's worth it!