:::A Great Thing:::

Sometimes vendors will come to the firm to do training sessions or introduce product launches. If it's a product launch, they bring stuff for us -- pens, mousepads, water bottles, flash drives, etc. They want us to sign up for their new service, so they try and butter us up.

Westlaw came today with ice cream and a raffle. One of our partners won a laptop case.

I didn't want the laptop case.

Here is my story.

At the beginning of the meeting I carefully wrote my name on an entry slip, rolled it up as neatly as I could, and dropped it in the jar. I said a silent prayer and pleaded to Heavenly Father for a badly needed tender mercy, a break in the gray.

Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do on my end. I had to make a promise. I had to promise to do something, and I knew what that something was. It was already in my mind, as clear as day, so I said it, I made that promise. Then I whispered amen, and tried to focus my positive energy. It's the same set of steps each time I know Someone is about to step in and bend the course of fortune for me.

But I was still nervous. I could feel the delicate threads of fate dancing in the air, brushing against my face like teasing whispers. One prayer, two prayers, three. Please let this go my way. I need something like this. You know how it's been lately. Please.

My hands were fidgeting, which led my nervous fingers to land on one of our account rep's business cards. In that very instant, I knew what I had to do to seal the deal. With the tips of my fingers on the front of the business card, I swept it towards me, turned it over, grabbed one of the free pens spread out on the table, and wrote my promise on the back.

Then I tucked it under my camisole, right above my heart.

Then I prayed again, and waited.

I won.