The Big Meeting

The day was Thursday, the time 10am. This was the day we'd scheduled to meet our banker.

Actually when I phoned her I was looking for a date the following week but she said, "how about tomorrow?" Whoa! I thought, but my lips said, "That sounds great. And here is why we need to meet with you . . ." I filled in the information that I talked about in the previous post and ended with . "we just want to get in integrity on our loan with you." She said " ok, that's great, I'll see you tomorrow!" I cultured my inward smile and peace as I hung up the phone to call Tricia that we were meeting with the banker tomorrow! What I didn't say was that we could lose our house. But she already knew that . . .

Tricia was as shocked as I that the meeting was for the very next day. But there was no doubt that we were creating our future financial and spiritual integrity with this first step.

I did some research and found all the worst case scenarios of what could happen to us: House taken away, Loan declared due, Jail time! But strange as it seems I was in a blissful state of serenity. I realized we could lose our house and God forbid get jail time but I knew this was the path God intended we take. Best case is that we'd have to refigure our loan at a higher interest rate. Or maybe something else that we weren't prepared for.

Now realize that this was all due to a really small amount of money Tricia made from childcare. But it was a lie and one we had to clean up. It was almost as if God was giving me peace for our decision.

So come Thursday morning, I drove our son to daycare, kissed him goodbye, and set out toward work for an hour of editing.

I met Tricia downtown, she was having coffee with a friend, and we caravanned to the bank. As she followed me in the van I called her on the phone to let her know how much I love her and that this was no big deal, that God only gives you things that you can handle, and that this is something we can easily deal with. I was really at peace and filled with the sense that Tricia and I were on a higher path and one that furthered our incredible love and partnership.

In meeting with our banker there was an immediate sense of peace. Our banker was very disarming and made us feel comfortable. I started us off in conversation, as Tricia was afraid she'd start crying. I spoke about the discrepancy in our loan application, that we'd filed an amended tax return for the year we applied for the loan and that we wanted to get back in integrity. Long story short, our banker absolved us saying that the amount in question was not enough to throw us out of the program and that all was good. She said that she really appreciated that we disclosed the info and that was it. All the fear and weight of being out of Integrity gone. We were free. We left the bank filled with love for each other and full of the love of God.