WE GOT IT ALL WRONG

Good Friday to You, 
The year was 1997. Carol Ann had recently quit her job to stay home after Zachary’s birth. I served as an Associate Pastor in my hometown and earned about $20,000. Of that, we spent nearly $5,000 each year for me to attend seminary. We were paying on my Jeep and had a small house payment. On top of those bills, we had just paid the hospital nearly $2,000 for Zachary’s delivery, since our health insurance had no maternity coverage (“cash price” deliveries were much cheaper back then). It sufficeth to say, we didn’t have much in the way of discretionary income. Looking back, I’m not sure how we “made it.” 
Maybe we really were living on love. 
If they had known our financial situation, I would think they would have passed on us…but they didn’t know or pass. And for some reason, we allowed them to come and make a sales presentation for their whole house water treatment system. The salesman came to our home and gave us a taste of what their system would provide us. I remember the promise of spectacular drinking water and the significantly decreased use of cleaners and detergents. 
And then came the price tag…over $4,000. 
It was an impressive presentation and he really convinced us that our savings would go a long way toward paying for the system. After he made the presentation, he asked us to buy a brand new whole house water treatment system. No one had ever asked us to buy such a product. We were new to the role of homeowners. Shucks…we were new to being a family. 
Two days later, I was exercising Illinois’ 3-Day Right to Cancel. I was anxiously waiting at our local library to get the document notarized and faxed. It didn’t cost me very much to submit the cancellation. It was a bit of a headache and a waste of time. Mostly, I was freaked out thinking I wouldn’t get “all the i’s dotted and all the t’s crossed” and would be legally bound to our $4,000 mistake!
When he finished his presentation that night, we asked to be dismissed and went back to our bedroom where we talked briefly and prayed. We asked God to give us wisdom regarding this large purchase. Was it worth the investment? Was it right for our family? We asked God to guide us and sensed no soft pause or hard stop from our Lord. 
How then, did we get it so wrong?
It’s hard to believe that event was a full 20 years ago now. Thankfully, we got it right two days later and were able to make it right. In the past 20 years, I have learned a lot about asking God for guidance. Sadly, some of that learning is from other times I did get it wrong. Thanks be to God, none of my decisions have wrecked His sovereign plan for my life AND I am discovering the joy of better hearing from Him when making decisions. I look forward to sharing what I 
have learned. You can get a head start by reading James 1:2-8 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=James+1:2-8&version=ESV). Take a look. Our Lord desires to give us direction…Are we listening? 
Hope to see you Sunday, 
Pastor Michael