Hell No

One of my good friends greeted me on his way in to church on Sunday morning. I was selling tickets for our dinner/dance/auction to be held on Friday night, February 11, 2011. My friend shook his head no when I asked him if he would like to buy a couple of tickets. I asked him to kneel down in prayer and ask God if he and his wife should go and then come out at the end of the service and give me feedback. He smiled and walked inside the church. His wife was just a couple of minutes behind him and stopped by to say hello. I asked her if she would be interested in our special evening we had planned.

“Not really”, she said. “I asked my husband, and he said ‘Hell No!' I'm just not that interested this year.”

‘I asked your husband to pray about this event and give me an answer after church.’

The wife smiled and gave me a hug before joining her husband. When the service was over, I stood up before the congregation and made a brief announcement about the evening that our committee had been planning. ‘I will be outside selling tickets for this very special evening. Let's share quality time together and invite our friends and neighbors of all faiths or no faith to share our lives.’

My friend who told his wife “Hell no”, was the first one to greet me. “My wife will write you the check”, he said with a big smile, “and I would like to donate two San Diego Charger tickets  for a preseason game. The seats are amazing, right on the 50 yard line.”

Never underestimate the power of prayer. Maybe you felt the same way as my friend when I asked you to come to our little party in February. Don't worry, I am not offended by your no. Most of my customers that advertise with me said no multiple times before agreeing to give me an opportunity to serve them. It's not too late for you to say yes to our party and I am hoping that people of many denominations will join us for a fun evening.

If you are free on the evening of February 11th and would like to join me at our party in Ramona, send me an e-mail and I will give you more details. Maybe you will consider becoming a “table captain”. This allows groups of six or eight people to reserve their own table and this comes with a complementary bottle of wine. The live auction and silent auction items are out of this world. Perhaps you and your significant other will win the 50 yard line Charger seats. If so, I will make sure to thank my friend who said, “Hell No”, the first time I asked him. Sometimes, it pays to keep asking. I hope to see you at  the party.  Will you come?