The Platinum experience

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Psalms 139:16 NIV

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” Proverbs 3:5 NIV

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, and what is still to come.  I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please’.”  Isaiah 46:10 NIV

Somewhere around 15 years ago my wife and I were experiencing the height of sleep deprivation.  Korbin would only sleep in a moving vehicle.  So, we took turns driving – all night.  I heard people say “when he gets tired enough, he’ll sleep”.  That was encouraging, for them.  All we had was an exhausted kid and two exhausted parents, so drive all night it was.  Taking turns allowed Korbin to rest.  Mary and I took turns at the wheel but there was not much rest.

During one of those drives I saw a “For sale” sign at a house.  It was a tiny little house that had two even smaller little apartments in the back.  We had talked about rentals, but this one had those tiny little units in the back.  Someone always needs a place to stay and these could be used as a ministry of sorts, so I called Adam, the agent named on the sign and Mary and I started to pray about it.

He informed me that the listing had been purchased and that closing was actually going to take place later that same week.  He offered to help us find a similar opportunity.  I told him why I thought we were supposed to buy the house and that I would be praying for the sale to fall apart.  That may not be the greatest thing to tell a real estate agent, but it worked.  Four days later he called me and said “You’re not going to believe what happened..”  I said “Oh, I believe it, but tell me what happened”.  It turns out that the existing deal fell at apart – at closing - over a disputed repair that would have cost around $200.  The property was back on the market.

We submitted an offer.  Upon hearing it the owner did not say no, but he wanted to meet us.  So, we set a date for that meeting.  At the appointed time we met with the owner and the agent who told me that we were not going to negotiate in person, just talk.  Got it. 

A car pulled up and out stepped one of the more interesting people you could have ever met.  You know those stories about people who came in search of the American dream, this was an accurate description.  He had owned a Domino’s Pizza adjacent to the house.  He told me that the little house had served as his church.  He prayed there, and so had others of his same faith.  He commented about the house being used for his church and now for ours. 

So, with no regard for “no negotiating in person”, a man named Inam simply looked at me and said we had a deal, and that he would actually carry the first 25% personally - on one condition.  He told me not to submit an offer that paid him any interest.  It was against his faith.  The entire in person negotiation took about as long as it did for you to read the last paragraph.  I said yes and shook Inam’s hand.  Then, Inam told me he had another property for sale and asked if I wanted to do the same with it.  After looking at it, we agreed to the same terms for it as well. 

Long story short, I became friends with the agent.  He started telling me about his plans to open his own brokerage and that he actually had an office with my name on it.  I found that funny.  He called.  He sent an occasional card.  He kept reminding me that I was going to work for him.  The crazy part is that I found myself signing up to get my real estate license.  I found myself sitting in an office that had four walls and no windows.  I found myself wearing a suit and tie.  Craziness.

At some point he asked me if I knew who his mother was.  I did not, but he informed me that she was the nurse assigned to stay with my wife and I on the night Jordy and Cody died.  She wasn’t allowed to tell us anything.  We sat with her over an hour before the coroner showed up to tell us in person.  It was emotional torture.  Sometimes I still have the urge to find him and “evangelically smite” him upside his head.  It was a horrible way to do it and it was on Facebook before he ever talked to us – true fact.  I hugged her on my first day of work, because it turns out that Adam had recruited his own mom as well.  I love that I got to work with Marci.  She is a jewel of a human. 

I worked for Adam for 10 years.  He is as good at what he does as anyone I know and he bent over backwards allowing me to work how it functioned best for me.  I will always be thankful to Adam for that.  I love the process of meeting someone, finding out what they are dreaming about and helping them find it.  Mary and I made some lifelong friends.  For somewhere around 8½ years we both felt like the path we were on was one that God designed for us.  It was during the last 18 months or so we started to feel like God was changing our situation.   

Be where your feet are.  How much of our time is wasted trying to decide if we are doing the right thing or not as opposed to just fulling investing wherever it is we find ourselves?

Maybe you have had a similar situation, but if you know that God put you somewhere, how do you know when He wants you to leave it? 

Challenge:  Remembering that God sometimes wants us for some purpose, but that He does not really need us for anything.  God wanting to use me to be a part of anything is an amazing blessing.