As our story unfolded in part one, Louise, Fran's Christian coworker, is asked to approve an expense account of a senior account rep in her group—Jerry—and Louise knows he has included meals that were not with clients but were with his girlfriend. Louise talks with Fran about this dilemma, and Fran invites her over in the evening for prayer and a search of Scripture so Louise will know what to do. That's where our story left off.

Just as Fran gets her children ready for bed, the doorbell rings, and Louise arrives.

"Whew," Fran says to Louise, "as much as I love them, it's always nice to have the peace and quiet that comes once they're in bed."

"But they're so nice, Fran," Louise says. "They really are nice."

"Thanks, Louise," Fran replies.

"Well, have you given the problem any more thought?" Louise asks.

"Off and on all afternoon," Fran says. "I couldn't come up with a specific verse which I thought gave a specific answer, could you?"

"Well, not exactly," Louise says. "But I know it would be wrong for me to approve the report, since I know Jerry is cheating. That much I know."

"Right, I agree," Fran says. "So now we just have to consider your other options."

"Let's start with prayer," Louise suggests, and they spend considerable time praying together. Both pray for wisdom from above, and Louise again confirms to the Lord that she is willing to do his will no matter what the cost will be to her. Fran prays their minds will be renewed by God's Spirit so they won't think incorrectly, and they will know God's good and perfect will.

"Louise," Fran says, "I suggest we start by listing all the options you have."

"Good idea," Louise agrees, and they get a pad to write on. After some discussion, they come up with only two options:

Turn in the report without Louise's approval on it and see what happens.

Return the report to Jerry and ask him to complete it and turn it in himself.

No longer is any consideration given to approving the report as it is, or lying in any way. They both agree that is not a biblical option.

"Let's think about what will happen in each case," Fran suggests. So, she and Louise write down everything they can think of. Option 1, they decide, is simply postponing the inevitable. The report would come back to Louise for completion, and she'd still be faced with the dilemma. Option 2 would mean a direct confrontation with Jerry and would undoubtedly cause him to be very upset with Louise. And Louise is fearful of retribution on his part. After all, Jerry’s been around a long time and has some pull in the company.

"You know," Louise says, "it's not like Jerry would even miss the $87, Fran. He makes plenty of money. You'd think I was talking about $87,000, the way he acts about this."

"Remember Louise," Fran responds, "money makes people do crazy things—even small amounts of money. That's why Jesus said you can't serve God and Money, with a capital M. It has power over people to cause them to do all kinds of dishonest things, and often totally out of proportion to the amount."

"You know, you're right," Louise says. "I remember last week I was filling out an expense account for myself and I was really tempted to put down a meal I didn't have to pay for. I had to force myself not to do it, because I wanted to pick up $15."

"Oh, it's happened to me many times," Fran says, "and I haven't always done the right thing."

"I guess I can't be too hard on poor Jerry," Louise says. "After all, if it weren't for Jesus, I'm sure I'd do the same thing. And even with Jesus, I'm tempted to cheat for a few measly dollars."

"Yeah, you're right," Fran agrees. "You know, Louise, we didn't pray for Jerry. We should."

And with that, they stop where they are to pray for Jerry, for his salvation, for his family, for Gail, his girlfriend, and for a change of heart to be willing to do the right thing. "I hadn't thought about praying for him," Louise says as they finish.