By Mark Andrew Beach

I was totally in the zone with work the other day when my phone rang. It was my wife—and she was practically yelling in my ear.

"Are you sitting down?" she started, kind of calmly. Then suddenly, she burst into tears and shouted, "We won! We won!"

"What did we win?" I asked, though I already had a pretty good guess.

"We won the thousand dollar sweepstakes at Horseshoe Mountain Hardware!" she exclaimed.

"Honey, that's fantastic!" I said, genuinely thrilled. Of course, winning a grand prize from our small-town "Do It Best" hardware store was exciting—but what really lit me up was the confirmation, once again, that the laws of success actually work. Here’s how it unfolded.

Last summer, my wife and I started a home improvement project that, like a good macaroni salad, just kept growing every time we opened the fridge. One day in July, I was at the local hardware store picking up supplies when I noticed a large, slightly lopsided box at the counter. It looked like someone had wrapped it in leftover party paper, with a handwritten sign inviting customers to fill out a form and enter to win a sweepstakes.

So I did. I filled out the first of what would be several entry forms over the next couple of months. But more than just scribbling my name down, I got a clear image in my mind—not just that I wanted to win, but that we would win. I felt what it would be like to win. I pictured receiving the call, imagined the joy and gratitude. And just like that, the laws of perpetual transmutation and attraction were set in motion. That moment marked the beginning of our prize moving into physical form.

What I didn’t know at the time was that my wife had been doing the same thing. She’d also been entering the contest whenever she visited the store—and having her own quiet little moments of visualization and gratitude.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. This wasn’t the first year the hardware store had held a sweepstakes. In previous years, my wife entered diligently, even going so far as to take stacks of forms home and return them filled out, “stuffing the box” in her favor. She never won. But this year? She didn’t do any of that. Just one form per visit—same as me.

We both visualized winning, but not obsessively. We didn’t turn it into a full-time affirmation routine. Still, whenever we drove by the store and saw the banner announcing the sweepstakes, the image of winning would flash in our minds and we’d feel that same little wave of gratitude. But we weren’t focused on it daily like most success gurus might tell you to be.

What we were focused on—relentlessly—was finishing our home improvement project. Every day we visualized that outcome. We acted on it constantly, hiring a contractor, pitching in with our own efforts, and staying committed. My wife—our household’s proud “penny pincher” (and I say that with all the admiration in the world)—was constantly hunting for savings and better options. That’s the law of cause and effect at work: sowing the seeds through action, trusting God to make up the difference.

Another key factor? Gratitude. We felt it daily—for progress on the house, for small wins, and, yes, for the possibility of winning the sweepstakes. When the prize came through, we knew part of that money would go toward helping someone else with their home improvement needs. That’s how we honor the blessing—by giving back. That’s the law of relativity in action, and it’s straight from the financial principles taught in scripture.

And finally—maybe most importantly—we let go. We trusted. Every form we dropped in the box was followed by a release. No clinging, no obsessing. Just faith in divine timing and surrender to God’s will. That’s the law of gestation. Sure, we’d occasionally say, “I wonder when they’re doing that drawing?” as we passed the store, but we left it at that.

By aligning with these universal laws—visualizing, taking action, staying grateful, surrendering the outcome—we allowed the prize to come to us. And come it did.

Needless to say, we’re thrilled. And grateful. Very, very grateful.