So there I was, going to close on my house. The realtors from both sides were there, the loan guy, and the closing guy. It was kind of refreshing to sign a bunch of documents in a language that I could read. After two years of getting docs shoved in my face in the 9th most corrupt country in the entire world with the command “Signature!” I was a little gun-shy going into the closing.
I threw fear to the wind and signed everything they put in front of me with hapless abandon!
After signing enough documents that they stacked up a full inch, we were done and they handed me the keys to my new house. At last, I was a homeowner.
“ok,” says the loan guy “Now my assistant will just make copies of all of these for you and we’ll be done. Now who wants to see some fish?”
[insert record scratch sound here]
Yes, you read right. he said,
“NOW WHO WANTS TO SEE SOME FISH?”
And with that, everyone in the room (except me) jumped up with excitement and big smiles.
I wouldn’t have been weirder if he would have opened up a jar of pickles for all of us to share.
I went along as he ushered us down the hallway, out of the signing room, and to an unmarked door at the end of the room. He opened the door for all of us and we walked in and there was another hallway and then a room full of tropical aquariums! The walls were lined with tanks of exotic fish, the center of the room was a big open tank full of coral and clams and snails.
A man was standing in the middle of the room and my loan guy said to him, “This is Steve and Judy (names changed) and they want to switch from freshwater to saltwater and this is Dan Sullivan and he needs a saltwater.”
Steve rescued me by starting to talk to the fish salesman while I stood in a little shock. A tropical aquarium business in the mortgage company?
Then two people came in another door with a younger high-school kid. He began to talk genus and species with these other customers and I wondered if there was a sign outside that door.
I checked and there was. There in the backyard, the sign said “Employees Only”
“Ok, so this is really weird.” I said to Judy. I figured the next thing was that they would block the doors and commence to steal our kidneys. After about another minute, I had enough. I didn’t leave work early to close on a house I’ve been waiting for for months to look at fish.
I headed for the door and got the classic handshake at the door that I learned at the Shoe Carnival. If the customer is leaving empty handed, shake their hand at the door and thank them for coming to turn them back toward the store, you may be able to turn them back in from there.
In the signing room, it was no surprise that my documents were ready and after a few moments, I got out of there.
All of this led me to think about first-fruits. All over the scriptures, God asks that we give Him the first part, and He will make all the rest Holy. I’m wondering about the first-fruits of my homeownership. If the first 10 minutes were so bizarre, what will the next 10 years hold?
Here is one of the pictures of the eclipse that I posted on my 
