Preview of Chapter 3 from book with my Dad

NEXT SPRING will be the launch of the book I am co-authoring with my Dad; Mike Somers on his offbeat stories of triumph, tragedy and life as a mailman and realtor that he shared with me through the years. A lot of life wisdom packed into the book! Here is a sneak peak a Chapter 3! Chapter #3 GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS
In 2006 I represented Barry and Donna in the sale of their Reseda, California home. They had purchased their home at the peak of the market in 2005, and were having great difficulty making the monthly payment. Barry became more and more moody and frustrated, coming home wanting to sleep or just watch TV. This caused Donna to feel depressed and helpless. To make matters worse, their 15 year old son Anthony had just been arrested after being involved with drugs involving some of the neighborhood teenagers. He had been spiraling out of control since hanging out with a rough crowd. The matter of selling the home was now urgent. 
With only a small amount of equity in the home, escrow then closed, and Barry and Donna began to rent an apartment that a family member owned at a highly discounted rate in Glendale, California. Although their son Anthony improved a bit in who he was hanging out with, and in his behavior,in 2008 the recession hit hard and Barry's contractor business completely failed, causing him to go into a severe depression. Some days Barry found that he could not even get out of bed. He felt worthless not being able to provide for his family, and was unable to communicate with them positively. Donna now had to take on three difficult jobs as a waitress, cleaning lady and crossing guard just to pay the rent and feed the family.
Six years later in 2013, matters had not improved. Barry and Donna were still living in the same apartment, and their son Anthony now wanted to go to college at California State University Northridge. Unfortunately there was no extra money to send him there. The entire family felt hopeless, sad and deflated. However, Donna had an inner feeling of hope and promise.
On July 4, 2013 Donna had the urge to buy scratch-off lottery tickets at a local convenience store. She borrowed a quarter so that she would have the $2.00 needed to buy two tickets. When she scratched them off she discovered she had won $10.00. 
She went back into the store and purchased a special $10.00 “Golden ticket”. Before scratching it she prayed with faith to give her family a house once again. When she scratched it she was overwhelmed to discover she had won $77,000.
She rushed home excited, to show her family, and her sister happened to be at the apartment. Her sister grabbed the ticket out of Donna’s hand and realized that Donna hadn’t scratched the entire number away. Her sister started to cry huge tears of joy, shouting to Donna that she had actually won $777,000! Barry and Anthony ran out of their rooms bug eyed, realizing that indeed, Anthony would go to college and they would buy their dream home.
As Donna's former Realtor, I had kept in contact with them over the years. On that same July 4 day she called me to make an appointment to come to her Glendale apartment to discuss buying a house. She did not tell me at that time about her big win, but she did sound thrilled. Three days later we met. They showed me photos of her big win at the convenience store, and had already received a letter from the California State Lottery Board telling her that she would receive her funds in 4 to 6 weeks. We immediately began looking at homes. In a short time we found an extremely nice one with a pool and gorgeous yard not far from California State University Northridge where Anthony would now be attending. We used the letter from the California Lottery Board to prove the buyers' funds to the seller. By the end of July the real check had arrived, and by mid-August (1 1/2 months from the big win) Barry and Donna were in the completely paid for dream home. As soon as they had called me, Barry felt huge weights lifted off of him, and his depression ended. He made plans with a good friend to open a new business.
Miracles do happen. God does answer prayers....Many times there are happy endings....JUST BELIEVE!