How I Almost Won $10,000

We all have had that moment. The moment where you hear what the Powerball amount is, or the moment where someone is giving away $500 if you just enter their drawing. Really, whether the dollar amount is $500 or $500 million is irrelevant. Admit it, you mind goes there. "What would I do with all that money?" You can't help but hope you win.

Every Christmas, Financial Rockstar, Dave Ramsey gives away tons of free goodies and money on his website (www.daveramsey.com). And not just on Christmas, but he gives money away for the whole six weeks leading up to it. This year is bigger than ever - he is giving away $10,000 every week. Stick with me, this isn't a commercial. Well I entered every day for a while, but when I am truly honest with myself, I know that Brandon is the one with magic in his name. Brandon has some special mojo when it comes to drawings, Bingo, and the like, so I decided he needs to be the one to represent our household in the contest. With that, I told him if he gets a call from the Nashville area code, he better stop, drop, and answer that call!

Well at about 1:40 this afternoon, 615-xxx-xxxx came across my cell phone and my heart stopped. My mind zoned in on one simple fact: The Dave Ramsey Show is live RIGHT NOW! So I answer, "This is Lisa..." A man's voice is on the other line. "Hi! This is Jeremy with the Dave Ramsey Show..." My mind: NO WAY! My voice: NO WAY! Yes, I was a bit excited hearing those words over the line. I don't know if Jeremy has ever been greeted with such zeal. In fact, my cheerfulness quite possibly made his day!

My heart was pounding. Blood pressure was rising. And my feet were pacing...fast.

So here I am, waiting for the next words. "Dave wants to talk to you" or "Please be near your phone in 20 minutes." But those aren't the words I heard. No, the words I heard were much more logical and probably should have been what I expected... "We are so excited for your Financial Peace Class that you are coordinating in January!"

WHAT? Not what I was hoping for, and it was pretty hard to concentrate during the remainder of the call since I was trying to get my heart at a more normal pace. Oh, and just a small tip for the Dave Ramsey staff - maybe make your excellent customer service calls at a time when your diehard listeners aren't hoping to win $10,000.

Have you ever "almost" won something?