A family was huddled in their house. The power had gone out briefly. They hadn’t packed provisions. Unsure of what was really going on outside. Then, a knock at the door.

On the porch, a group of men and women, water dripping from umbrellas begin to speak.

“I know it is nasty outside, but we can promise you a bright future. We’ll build a back deck on your house that will turn your frowns upside down.”

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“Will it stop the storm outside?” the family asks reservedly.

“Oh yes!”

“How will such a job make the storm go away?” they ask.

“Because GOD is on our side. We are very faithful Christians,” the contractors respond.

Softening, the family then asks “How much will it cost?”

“No more than $2,000. But listen, you’ll really love this deck. We’re good Christian builders who know what we’re doing. And you have to see; look out your window. Your neighbors can’t take this on. Its up to you. Do this for your family. For your neighborhood. For all of us. We need this right now. All of us. It’s the right thing to do.”

“I’ll need to consult our accountant to see if we can afford such an extravagance. Money’s been tight in our small business,” they hesitate.

“No need! That’s chump change, besides, you need it! Look at the storm! Look at you! This deck will do wonders. You don’t want to be scared forever, do you?”

“Of course we don’t…”

“Then we’ll get started first thing in the morning.”

As the dawn breaks, the contractors arrive, right as their word. They bring the lumber and a small team of professional builders. The deck goes up quickly, but the ground under the deck is soft, and before the final nails are driven, the whole deck has sunk in the soft earth.

The builders try to shore up the deck, filling in around the deck, but these attempts all fail, and the deck continues to sink. More and more the builders pour into the earth, trying to keep the deck from falling away from the house.

The contractors come back to the family to ask for their money.

“But the project isn’t finished!” they shout.

“No, it isn’t. And the project is up to $100,000 now. We’ll need that money immediately.”

The family, unsure of what to do, take out a mortgage on their rather large home. They use part of it to pay their debt.

Years pass. The deck, still unfinished, has ballooned into a $2,000,000 project. The neighbors, all confused at what has happened, try to reason with the family.

“Stop building!” they plead.

“But it isn’t finished!” the family says.

When the contractors come to collect on their $2,000,000, the family is ready for them. They have taken out another mortgage and scraped together from retirement savings, college funds, and the sale of their small business to pay off the debt. They have removed their teenage children from school so that they can work full time. And they have become delinquent on their medical bills, hoping no more come in the next 3-5 years.

The contractors graciously accept the money. But to the family’s surprise, the contractors declare they have another project across town and leave the family to finish their own deck they never knew they wanted.

For many years after, whenever one of their neighbors mentions a home renovation project, the family tells them, “Hey, we know a guy.”