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This is Book 2 in the series, The Making of a Preacher. Life in a preacher's home is real. |
| This is the place for me to store all of my materials for NaNoPrep 2020. |
| (1) Settings. Where does your story take place? The Making of a Preacher's Family takes place mostly on ZoNed4, the world of transplanted humans, who need a missionary witness in their midst. Marks' hometown is Fort Childhood. That makes it the most important location for the action. Primary Colors is of secondary importance because it's the twin's favorite recreation spot. Major Marks is of tertiary importance because that's where Zenith and her wife moved after breaking off her relationship with Matt, her dad. (2) Protagonist. Who is your main character?. Matthew Paul Marks is the main character, who plays both protagonist and antagonist because as Matt is wont to say, "I am my own worst enemy." (2b) Flaws. What are the protagonist's major flaws? i. Matt is so focused on "the ministry," that he forgets his first ministry, which is his family. He tends to wear himself out, and the family, too. ii. Matt lacks confidence because his focus is wrong. He focuses on himself, rather than on the Lord, Who is the source of his strength. (2c) Goals. What does the protagonist want (or want to avoid)? i. Matt cares about the salvation of souls. He, of course, wants his family to be saved, but somehow the desire for the second gets lost in the activities of the first. ii. Matt wants his twin daughters to love and to serve the Lord as much as he does. He wants to pass the faith along well, like a good relay runner hands the baton to the next leg of the race. (3) Conflicts. What's keeping him from his goals? i. Matt's daughters take turns opposing him ministry through disruption and isolation. ii. Matt's wife has not fully embraced her role as pastor's wife, and supporter. (4) Antagonists. Who or what is creating the conflicts? i. Matt doesn't realize, until nearly too late, that he is causing many of his own problems. ii. Aurora appears to be the obvious problem, but as it turns out, she is a great part of the solution. iii. Zenith appears to be a blessed solution, but due to her wrong motivations, she presents an ultimate problem, that needs an ultimate solution. iv. Artista plays the role of supporter in the physical while being a drag on Matt's resources, both emotionally and spiritually because she's not all in. (5) Resolution. How does it all turn out in the end?. At the end of the book, Matt finally hears the voice of the Lord, Whom he has been ignoring for most of his life while trying to serve the Lord with all of his heart. He confesses his sin. (I John 1:9) The Lord forgives him in accordance with this verse. The denouement shows the restoration of Matt's twin daughters to each other, as well as his physical demise, which creates the restoration of Matt and Artista in the Presence of the Lord Forever. (6) Theme: What is the theme or moral of the story? Any family on Earth or on ZoNed4 or anywhere else in the first physical life is made up of imperfect humans. However difficult it may be, the goal is always to keep the family together, forever. (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10,13; Philippians 2:13) (7) Outline: Update your outline as needed. The Making of a Preacher's Family I. The Early Years on ZoNed4 (Twin Toddlerhood) II. The School Years of Elementary through Half of High School III. The Transition of Late Teens to Adulthood IV. The Disruptions of the Twin's Early Adulthood V. The Confession of Sin, It's Immediate Forgiveness, and The Restorations   |
| Wise J. Newsman: "How is life for you now, compared to life prior to these events?" Matthew Marks: "Well, John, as you may be aware. I recently died. So, life is out-of-this-world for me, now, and from now on. However, if I had more time to live on ZoNed4 (or even go back to when the twins were still little girls,) then there are many things I would change about the way I lived that life. "These precious daughters of own deserved so much more of my time than I gave them. Ministry was important. That's true, but my first ministry was my family. I didn't realize that then, but Oh, how much is hindsight 20/20! Aurora wasn't being unruly. She simply wanted my attention. Zenith did many good things in her childhood, but again she really wanted my attention. Artista was more than happy to help me with the ministry, but once again, I think I would still have her with me if I had taken time to strengthen her by giving her my attention. "I, also, believe I have greater insights, now rather than before, as to how the Father works with His children. The Lord's children don't have to do anything to gain the Father's affection. Human children are not made to earn their earthly (or in this case, ZoNedian) father's affection. Children are made to be loved. Love cannot be earned. Love is the only commodity in all of existence in which an attempt to earn it diminishes its value. Love given out always comes back in greater and greater amounts. Love is like air. We share it in the same house, but anything toxic, that is introduced causes all parties to die." Wise J. Newsman: "How did the events of your story change you?" Matthew Marks: "That is an interesting question. For much of my story, I didn't change. I kept right on going at a breakneck pace, that nearly broke my entire family. The climactic restoration came only a short time before I died. Though I was called the protagonist, in many ways I was my own worst enemy. "I think Eternity will be a much different story than my temporary days of beating heart and air-filled lungs. For one thing, sin is now gone, and Time is no more. Therefore, in the Everlasting Now. I have nowhere to be in a hurry. I have my entire existence to be with others, including my dearest Lord. The Lord spoke in Hebrews 4, 'that they may enter into my rest.' Rest is being completely satisfied with the One, Who made me, and with the ones, He loves as His Everlasting Bride. Rest is the peaceful non-rushed experience of never needing to leave because we are always together. "I've learned, that I a sinner saved by grace and that His Grace makes me ever-new, ever-joyful, ever...HIS." |
| This book is narrative adult fiction. Matt's story deals with family relationships. Matt's story is about serving God through an imperfect vessel. Matt's story is about evangelism through the challenges of life. This book is Christian adult narrative fiction. The ideal reader of Matt's Story is a preacher, who experiences life in the myriad human emotions and experiences. I pray the Lord will develop me as a writer, who appeals to a number of people in this niche genre, but at the moment, I guess the reader is me. The Narrative Voice (synopsis): Matthew Paul Marks is not your typical preacher. He tends to be very soft-spoken. Without a microphone, very few people in the congregation would be able to hear him. Matt has always wondered why God called him to preach because he doesn't fit the preacher profile. Matt loves God, and he wants others to be able to love God, too. He leads people to the Lord without the usual emotional strong-arm approach. This means, that relatively few souls have been saved under his ministry, although he has prayed for many, and he maintains a daily relationship with folks through encouragement and admonishing them to follow the Lord with their whole hearts. Matt and Artista have twin daughters, during the three-year space flight from Earth to ZoNed4. The girls are quite different. Aurora is the strong-willed child until the Lord Jesus saves her soul at age 15. Zenith is the compliant child, who serves the Lord to please her parents because "it's the right thing to do" (Ephesians 6:1-3) throughout her childhood, growing "weary in well-doing," (Galatians 6:9) until she finally gives up on her faith at the death of her mother. Zenith does this reluctantly, not because she hates God from her heart, but because she has tried to serve the Lord for many years, without the results, both inwardly and interpersonally, that she had expected to get in the walk of faith. Her conclusion is "Maybe I just can't be a Christian, even as much as I hate the thought of going to Hell forever. I've tried, but I can't seem to live it. So, I'm done with trying. I've got to live the rest of my life in the happiest way possible before I leave and become forever unhappy." The Making of a Preacher's Family is intended to be a cautionary tale of a life lived out-of-balance. Of course, the Lord wants us to live for Him with complete devotion, but devotion taken to the extreme of focus only on service to the Lord demonstrates the inability to rightly define the concept of "devotion to the Lord." Our love for the Lord will draw us to love our families and our fellowman with just as much passion as we love the Lord. There are seasons of life when the preacher has to focus on ministry as the family "takes the back seat," while great spiritual acts of service are being performed for the Lord's Glory. However, this season is to be followed by a season of focusing on the family, while the ministry "takes the back seat." The typical week will have at least equal parts of ministry and family time, outside of the time when the entire family is occupied with daily responsibilities like school, and jobs. Matt lives a full life. There are great seasons of ministry, but he tends to get carried away in the ministry to others in a church setting, neglecting his family without really realizing it, since his emotional needs are being met in ministry. Matt often sees his only problem as Aurora, since "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." He's convinced, that Zenith is "okay" because she serves the Lord and Matt so faithfully, not realizing until it's apparently too late, that she has been dying on the inside, doing a thankless job without sufficient relationship with her dad on the heart-level. Artista bears the weight of the family, while trying to show up well-dressed and pleasantly faced as the proper preacher's wife at every church function, but decades of service to the Lord, supporting a man, who gets all the attention is finally too much for her body. She dies fairly early in life at age, 60, and Matt is never the same. After a decade of grief and varying levels of depression, Matt preaches his last sermon, sees his twins restored as the family he is about to leave, and he breathes his last to be reunited with his dear wife and his precious Lord in Heaven. The tearful "Goodbye" hands the baton to the twins, who are entrusted with the next tale to be told. |
| Opening Scene: Aurora impulsively goes for a tubing adventure down the whitewater rapids of the river about a mile down into the valley behind the Marks' peaceful home on the outskirts of Fort Childhood, where the family set-up housekeeping about four years ago when they arrived on ZoNed4. When Matt arrives, he starts running along the bank, until he sees what appears to be an unconscious Aurora, sprawled out in the cleft of a rock as though in the very Hands of God. Matt tied the long rope he had brought with him around the trunk of a tree as well as around his own waist, carefully wading through the eddy to a bridge of rocks, that led to the one holding his dear daughter, Aurora. Ultimately, the rescue was successful, and the precious girl was taken to the local hospital, where she was treated and released after three. She was awake but had a headache. 2nd Scene: While in the hospital, during the watch, Matt's mind drifted to the three-year spaceflight when he and Artista became parents, learning to care for this growing family. (So, we have a flashback here-and-there, which is interspersed with conversation from a doctor or nurse, that enters the hospital room to care for Aurora. 3rd Scene: Matt and Artista discuss how to rear their strong-willed child, often forgetting about their compliance twin, who is in need of their attention, too. They nearly remember Zenith when she bursts through the door to alert them of yet another dangerous activity Aurora has thrown herself into on a whim. This time she has climbed nearly to the top of the large elm tree in the front yard, and she can't remember how to get down, after becoming overwhelmed by the height. Such is their life throughout most of the twin's childhood and tween years, but the dynamics start to change in their middle teens. Aurora becomes a Christian and Zenith starts to wear out from living the Christian life. There is joy in serving the Lord, but not when we do it in our own strength. Life appears to be ready to start with the twin's 21st birthday, then Artista dies a few days later. Zenith is done. Aurora carries greater and greater levels of weight as Matt sinks deep down into grieving depression. Zenith marries her longtime girlfriend, Delilah Broadway. Zenith tells Matt not to show up at the wedding because she doesn't want to have anything to do with him ever again. The new couple moves all the way across the planet to Major Marks, which is quite ironic, given her last name, and how she feels about her dad. Ultimately, the story comes to a harmonious ending with the twins restored to each other, and Matthew Paul Marks joining his dearest love, Artista in Heaven. The lessons along the way as well as the moral at the end emphasize the Truth, that Family is forever, and our dearest loves are worth extended prayer and continued reaching out to give every opportunity for restoration because Family leaves no one behind. |
| 1. "Foreshadowing: Hints of something to come" would be an excellent approach to the impending shift in roles between Aurora and Zenith, which starts at age 15, but which doesn't fully complete itself, until their twenty-first birthday. 2. "Repetitive Designation: An object or fact appears over and over.". The twins' preoccupation with the town of Primary Colors shows how linear their relationship is until their individual loves of blue and red become a unified love of the secondary color, purple, when we finally see, that neither girl is perfectly good, nor perfectly bad in their lifestyle choices. They, like every other human to ever live, is sinful. This means, that only the Lord Jesus can make us be redeemed to His greatest life, both now and forever. 3. "Symbolism: Small facts, objects, or characterizations represent something bigger." Zenith always decorates with stars, that have a tail on each, like the one, that led the Wise Men to Jesus in the Bible's Gospel Accounts of Jesus, the Chosen One, the Messiah. This is because Zenith lived the first part of her life by the Law of Doing Right to please her earthly father, while that last part of her life was redeemed by the actions of her Heavenly Father, who draws each Christian to salvation as a lasting gift to His Son, Jesus. (John 6:37) Zenith is defined as "the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the nadir and vertically above the observer." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadir https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zenith. Zenith "took the long way home," (Interesting reference to this book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Take_the_Long_Way_Home. Refer to her main concept, "The title refers to their habit of taking the long way home so that they could continue their conversations." as an illustration of the fact that the Lord often starts dealing with a heart early in life, even if Salvation doesn't come, until much later.) but in God's own time, she stood directly under the star, which leads people to Jesus. Aurora paints "outside of the box" with myriad colors and brushstrokes. Wild fits of coloring in any and every media have come to be associated with Aurora. Aurora means "(when)capitalized: the Roman goddess of dawn." This was very clear in the first decade and a half of life. Aurora seemed often to be under the control of some foreign goddess because she didn't seem to hear to voices of her parents, nor the Lord of Glory Himself. Ultimately, her transformation at age 15 was glorious to behold. All the electrical displays of the colors of the Aurora Borealis became the new definition of her life. She was, indeed, a great colorful light, which shined in the night sky for the glory of her precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 4. "Poetic Justice: Good guys are rewarded and bad guys are punished." There all seems quite typical in the literary world. However, for my purposes of storytelling, I shall employ a newly-coined expression of "Poetic Irony: All good guys and bad guys alike are sinful, which means everyone should be punished, but Jesus' perfect life and sacrificial death transformed the results. Now, all sinful people can be rewarded when each is in Christ. When we are in Christ, the Lord can't see our sin because He sees Christ. All should be punished, but all can be rewarded." |
| Matt is wholly committed to Jesus Christ. He started this strong commitment many years ago as a small child in early elementary school when he was saved, being translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light. (I Peter 2:9; Hebrews 12:1-2, KJV) If Matt was perfect or even perfectly committed to God, then he with simply go higher with the Lord every day, becoming less and less tainted by the world, but herein is the rub, Matt is just as human as the rest of Earth's residents. Matt is tempted to doubt the goodness of the Lord and even his own salvation (aka the Lord's Rescue Plan) in his life. Matt is tempted to wonder if he is a good father, since Aurora is such a strong-willed child, early in the lives of the twins, and later in life when Zenith turns her back on her dad and his faith for what seems an interminable period of time, while he is living it. Lazarus Whatyudid is like this terrible narrator in the soul of Matthew Marks. Lazarus too often sounds like a quadriphonic foghorn at the weakest spots of Matt's life, while remaining a low-grade irritant, even on the strong days, like a badly-wired doorbell or an obnoxious alarm clock, that doesn't seem to have a snooze button, nor an Off-switch. What does Lazarus do, during these times? He points out the things, that are already issues in Matt's heart because Matt cares very much for the world as a whole, and especially for those individuals, who are closest to him, like his wife, and his two twin daughters. Facing life issues of her own, Artista, Matt's wife walks the tightrope between contentment in the life of a pastor's wife and distress over not being the professional artist she really desires to be, rather than "just a hairstylist." Matt feels his wife's struggles, even when she is not voicing them because Matt is sensate in the realm of the spirit, and is growing to see and hear in this spiritual realm as he is being drawn closer to God by His Holy Spirit. Diotrephes Broadway is another "thorn in Matt's side," who seems to get a great thrill from poking at Matt, whenever their paths cross. "Well, how's life going, Old Friend? Is the Lord meeting your needs, saving souls, and transforming the world? (smirk) God doesn't exist, and I'm doing fine! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! (and more of the same.)" (Psalm 80:6, KJV) ZoNed4 is an entirely new planet to the colony of humans, who have settled here. Atmospheric adjustments make it difficult to breathe at some time more than at others. The additional gravity makes the human body feel "fat", even when the appearance is quite thin. Aging seems to be more rapid in this environment of great duress, but the Lord "giveth grace when the burdens grow greater." ZoNed4 is the ultimate place for testing the promises of The Word of God. If the Lord can get the victory on ZoNed4, then He can get the victory anywhere. |
| "Betcha can't find me." Not only did the twins look alike, but they sounded alike, too. I couldn't tell whether it was the voice of Aurora and Zenith. The seven-year-olds had had a favorite way to spend an afternoon ever since we arrived on ZoNed4. It cost me forty-five minutes of driving one way, but the mutual look on their faces when we arrived at Primary Rocks was worth every kilometer. "Red is better!" That was Zenith. "Naw, it isn't. Blue's the best!" That was Aurora. Their opinions made the difference. I still couldn't distinguish their voices. The twins were so good at camouflage. Aurora dressed from head to toe in blue, including her blue socks and shoes, blue face paint, and blue dye in her hair. Naturally, she chose the blue rocks for hiding. Zenith dressed from head to toe in red, including her red socks and shoes, red face paint, and red dye in her hair. Naturally, she chose the red rocks for hiding. If it looks like I am repeating myself, it's because I am. This is my life. I feel like the announcer at a horse race. "'Aurora Starts' and 'Zenith's Ending' are running neck-in-neck once again. The lead changes with each galloping hoof, and as they cross the finish line it's a twin, I mean tie." Two of everything shows in the decorations of the twin's room, but it has never been the exact same thing. Aurora always chooses blue. Zenith always chooses red. I chuckled when I enter their room because it always looks like an explosion in a crayon factory, that only makes primary colors. Their Mom and I painted their door and door frame and the window frame yellow because coming in and out and looking out on the world are really the only times they're the same. If you want to see where each girl has been in the room, just follow the color trail. A blue sock here by the door, a blue shirt there on a blue bed, a blue pencil over yonder on the yellow window sill, and Aurora left her mark. A red book on the blue shelf there, a red shoe on a blue bed yonder, and a red undies askew in the hallway meant, that Zenith was running to her bath and pretty much anywhere else she could think of going. My reverie was shortlived as a blue rock to my right appeared to be moving in gentle waves. "I see you, Aurora." "No, you don't. I'm not here," came a sweet little mischievous voice, choking back a giggle. "Then, I better adjust the fine tuning on my TV set." "Daddy, what's 'fine tuning'?" "Well, I uh..." "Yeah, Daddy, what's a TV set?" Now, Zenith joined the chorus. "My age hath betrayed me once, again, Dear Ones," I confessed. "Let me try to explain over supper, tonight. Speaking of supper, I have two girls to find, or we will most assuredly be late. You don't want to go to bed without eating, do you?" At that, two rocks, one red and one blue, exploded, and I was knocked down by primary colors, giggling and laughing, trying to find somewhere, that I was ticklish, but I won because I saw two little colors scrunching their chins. Ticklish necks. My advantage. |
| The first story in this series, The Making of a Preacher, was told as one large flashback. This second story will be told as a Linear Narrative with the continuation of input from the same fiends, who troubled Matthew Marks in the first story. Now, not only will Matt have to deal with these unscrupulous enemies as he tries with greater and greater levels of strength to serve the Lord each day, but his two unsuspecting twin daughters must deal with Lazarus Whatyudid and Andy Attelpate, who appear to the girls often in the guise of friendship and mentorship in order to lead them away from the Truth in the reverse of the Bible admonition, "line upon line, precept upon precept." There will be no emotional and spiritual help from Paul Letras, who passed away, during Matt's years on Earth. Likewise, Straitway Marks was left on Earth, and communication between the planets is virtually non-existent to date. However, the Lord knows, that He's going to give Matt another mentor. Sadly, Artista Marks is the story's first victim of the corrupt machinations of these two low-level demons, who convince her, that continuing to live is not in her best interest. At the moment of truth, she has a heart attack. While her body is in the care of the EMTs, her spirit stands before the Lord, Who gives her the choice of returning to her family or going on into Heaven with the beloved. She chooses the latter, which is better for her, but which is worse for Matt, whose body starts its slow decline to the end of his physical life. Overview Outline: I. The Flight A. What to do for three years? B. The Twins C. Parenting II. The Arrival on ZoNed4 A. Meeting the Mayor B. Settling in C. A New Home to Decorate D. Learning where to buy groceries and fuel E. Active Twins to Rear F. Friendship & Romance to Maintain G. Seeing the Sights III. The Twins are Different from Each Other A. Zenith is sweet and helpful. B. Aurora is a handful. C. Teaching John 3:16 & "Jesus Loves Me" to the girls. IV. Ministry and Adventure on ZoNed4 A. Explosive Growth of the Church in Childhood Fort B. School Starts for Two Active Twins V. The Whitewater Rapids A. Aurora is gone. B. Zenith shares the news. C. Matt gives directions and then runs out to help. D. Aurora is alive, but unconscious. VI. The Recovery of Aurora and Continued Evaluation A. What went wrong? B. What do we do next? VII. Ministry and a lot of Prayer A. Why can't Aurora be like Pansy? B. Zenith works well, but Matt missed her heart. VIII. The Family Knows Great Togetherness and Ministry for Five Years A. Aurora Gets Saved. B. The Twins (Age 15-20y.o.) C. Matt & Artista Are at Their Best Together D. Artista Finds Companionship in Myriad Female Friends IX. Ministry Plateaus & Family Spirals Out-of-Control A. The Death of Artista B. Zenith Turns Her Back on God. Has a Same-Sex Wedding with a Marriage Contract. C. Matt Battles Depression for a Couple of Years, and he Recovers. D. Zenith still won't Speak to Matt. E. Aurora works hard to comfort her Dad, keeping him going. F. Matt Finds Himself Often Alone in Fast-Paced Ministry, While Unable to Keep Pace. G. Aurora Matures and Ages Under the Weight of Running Ministry Virtually Alone, but with Help from Leaders in the Church. X. Matt's Last Days on ZoNed4. A. Matt Returns to Preaching with a Broken and Much Older Heart. B. Matt Continues to Reach Out to Zenith. C. Matt Commits the Twins into the Hands of the Lord. D. Matt Commits Aurora to Ministry by God's Grace. E. Matt Asks the Lord to Save Zenith, Getting Her to Heaven One Day. XI. The Sermon (Matthew 21:28-32, KJV) A. Matt gives his final best. B. Aurora is not there. "Where is Aurora?" C. Aurora comes in late with Zenith. D. Matt prays a quick prayer and ends the service early. XII. The Reunion & Matt's Death A. Now, Restored to Both of His Girls, the End is Near. B. Hugs & Kisses, Matt passes away to the Pool Next to the Raging River. (See last chapter of First Book.) C. Heaven is Just a Step Away. ---------------------------------------------- The typical day for Pastor Matthew Marks starts at 5:00 AM with prayer and Bible study, Breakfast is sharply at 7:00. Office at 8:00, Matt works on three sermons for the next week. Lunch is precisely at noon. Hospital visitation begins at 1:00 PM. Walk in the park at 3:00 PM for exercise and meditation. 5:00 PM Matt - Visitation. Drives home 7:00 PM for supper and time with the family. 8:30 PM, sharp - He tucks the girls in bed. 9:00 PM - Matt and Artista take time to talk. 9:20 PM - Artista's bedtime. 10:00 PM - Matt's bedtime. |
| 1. Mandy Broadway - Zenith's wife of ten years in their twenties. This is a marriage, filled some much-needed escape for both ladies. Mandy is running away from her father's many sexual advances. Zenith is running away from the many spiritual responsibilities, she has shouldered for many years in her father's ministries. 2. John Lucas - The mayor of Fort Childhood is very much a boy at heart. His mayor's office is a replica of the town's namesake. Though he is able to play and have fun, he faithfully fulfills all of the adult responsibilities of his important position. 3. Elijah Best - Matt's new mentor. The two met on the three-year flight from Earth to ZoNed4. They became fast friends. Elijah is about a decade older than Matt, making him perfect as Matt's "older brother," who is almost a father figure of a mentor. Elijah has know the Lord for most of his life, getting saved and age, four. He started preaching when he was fifteen years old. 4. Hugh Garnet - He's the curator of Primary Rocks. Hugh's main focus is to keep the rocks polished and quite attractive for the visitors. He's a great painter in his own right, but as we might guess, his palette is filled with primary colors. 5. Angela Wordwave - She's the acting curator, mayor, and principal teacher for the town of Library End. Angela is as much a prolific reader as she is an excellent writer. If the town ever runs out of things to read, then she can create more books in a short-short. 6. Lottie Breesta - She's the mayor of Joe-N-Tea. She has gotten so good at making her namesake coffee drink, that she is able to create three excellent lattes at the same time by tripling the amounts of espresso. When it's time to finish the cups off with creamy froth, she "paints" a tree in one, and heart in the next, and a kitty cat face in the last. 7. Timothy Mission - He's Matt's closest ministry friend. They spent time together for fellowship in the Lord, and for planning new ways to reach the people of ZoNed4 for the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 1. ZoNed4 - ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the Zenith Kneelite System of a dozen planets. The similarities with Earth are closer than a cursory glance can gather. The distance between their respective suns is very close with ZoNed4, being approximately 10% farther away and therefore about 10 % colder globally than Earth. It's a slightly larger version of Earth, but it is still inhabitable. The air is thicker and heavier with ionized Nitrogen, but it's still breathable. ZoNed4's primary moon is once again slightly larger than Earth's moon. The trek of this moon around ZoNed4 requires a little more time. This would be 32 days in fact for every month, not just the seven 31-day months of Earth. ZoNed4 is notable for its eight-day weeks. This means that some Earth songs are a reality on ZoNed4 (aka "...eight days a week,") not just hyperbole as intended by the songwriters. ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the System, being the most hospitable to life, it has the honor of being the System's abbreviated namesake. 2. Rotational Adjustment - The Rotation Adjustment on ZoNed4 occurs once every year for two days in length. This creates a ten-day week, during the annual Rotation Adjustment Celebration. It's the one week out of the year, that has ten days in the week rather than the typical eight, which makes it great for vacations and holidays. 3. Salvation - This is the restoration of fellowship between temporal beings and the God, Who created them. Adam and Eve sinned breaking the perfection of everything and everyone, that was created. Jesus made the restoration possible through His death, burial, and resurrection, outside of Jerusalem two millennia ago. Salvation is applied to all, who receive His Gift of Salvation through the receptive tool of faith, which is also His Gift. (Ephesians 2:8-10) 4. Jesus Christ - Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of all men. He is the Creator of all, that exists. He is the Savior of all, that He draws to Himself. 5. Interstellar Missionary Society (IMS) - This organization was founded on Earth as the interstellar arm of Matthew 28:18-20 6. Warblix - A bird, that is native to ZoNed4, the Warblix is blessed with four wings with claws on its innermost set of wings, and two legs with claws on its underbelly. The Warblix has a beak similar to the human double-chin/double-nose, which makes it a strong digging tool used for reaching little animals, insects, and worms, that hide in tight places. It warbles as suggested by the name with an ending trill resembling the growl of a dog. 7. Square-square (S2) - A uniquely ZoNedian church building, creating as a square within a square to demonstrate the equality of the Body of Christ as well as the Lord's desire, that the closer we draw to Him the sweeter and more intimate the fellowship with Him. 8. Prayer Chain - A group of people, who are connected by word-of-mouth in some way to add strength together in prayer to God for the answer of some need, and for the Glory of God. 9. Baptism - Being immersed (or dunked) in a large container of water for the purpose of showing the new believer's identity in Jesus Christ. Baptism is the public testimony, that one is a Christian. 10. Woolly Milch - These are the only cow-like animals, which are native to ZoNed4. Their heavy fur shows, that they hail from the extremely cold lands of the north. This means, that for those who live in the north, milk from the woolly milch is good straight out of the utter since it already tastes refrigerated. Let the milk of the WM sit out for a few hours in those northern climes, and you have a homemade milkshake. Woolly milch can live in the more temperate climates, but refrigeration of their milk is a necessity since it spoils within a ZoNedian day in warmer temperatures. 11. Day - One Day on Earth is 24 hours long. On ZoNed4 it is 28 hours long. 12. Week - One Week on Earth is seven days long. On ZoNed4 it is eight days long. 13. Year - One Year on Earth is 12 months long. On ZoNed4 it is 14 months long. 14. Sun - The Sun of ZoNed4 is approximately 20% larger than Earth's sun. This tends to create richer and more vibrant hues of color across the spectrum. |
| The culture of ZoNed4 has much in common with the cultural divide of America in the 21st Century. However, this Society is quite similar to the society of pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Half of the passengers were Christians. The other half were atheists, agnostics, or simply didn't care about the subject of belief. The earliest explorers of ZoNed4 arrived with Diotrephes Broadway didn't really have any time for God, since they were always exploring, but DB's attitude didn't help. "I have no need of a god. I can make it on my own. Thank you very much!" The foundation of no churches and "no need for God" created a secular culture through the early years of ZoNed4. Matthew Paul Marks and his spaceship load of missionaries changed the dynamics of this newly-settled planet. Now, ZoNed4 was full of Christians, agnostics, and soon everything in between. ZoNedians soon found that they were like the Christians and the Strangers of the Mayflower. They needed something to unify and to smooth life around the edges. The two groups of the Mayflower became known by the agreed-upon title of Pilgrims. They drafted the Mayflower Compact as a set of commonly understood and agreed-upon laws, which all parties could accept and live by and live with. The ZoNedians, under the leadership of Broadway and Marks followed the basic tenets of the Mayflower Compact, creating ZoNed4's Intraplanetary Covenant. 1. As a Society at large ZoNed4 has come to accept the probability of God by permission. No one is forced to believe in God. This is maintained by Statute AG8. However, no one is forced to relinquish his or her belief in God, either. This is maintained by Statute Tri-G3. Considering the fact, that these former Earthlings were so far from Home, they universally thought it prudent to be much more accepting of others, even if not their beliefs than the NYLA Accords of 2030 on Earth in which agnosticism became the law and the belief of the country, forcing Christians into hiding, facing daily physical and legal jeopardy. 2. The Christians, who came to ZoNed4 were mostly Protestants and Evangelicals, but some Catholics came as well. They all had worship services, filled with singing and the spoken word. Belief in Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior was pretty standard, but how come into relationship with Him as Lord was still as divergent as it was on the Homeworld, that they left. "We don't leave our problems behind. We take our problems with us." (JOT) 3. The laws are based on The Mayflower Compact. This variation on ZoNed4 was dubbed "The Intraplanetary Covenant." 4. To date Diotrephes Broadway has been the de facto "King of the World," but the residents are considering their options, such as President, Prime Minister with a Mosaic of leaders to help the top man to carry the load. This idea is based on Jethro's advice in the Book of Genesis to keep Moses from "wearing out." Since his arrival on the planet, Matthew Marks has been Diotrephes' unofficial advisor, even though he believed, "I don't need one." 5. Much of the technologies, which were available on Earth had the benefit of infrastructure already in place. For many years during the Construction Phases of building infrastructure, ZoNed4 has much in common with Earth of the early 1800s, probably even earlier, since horses could not make the trip to the planet and since vehicles were not easily built from the known elements on ZoNed4, transportation by foot was common. 6. Life was much harder for Matt and his family as well as the rest of the residents since the advancements of 21st-Century Earth was not available to the ZoNedians. They learned to adjust to a more primitive life, which meant that life was forced to be restored to be much slower pace. This was much more conducive to building family relationships and friendships among the residents of ZoNed4. 7. Amusement is lost by and large to the residents of ZoNed4, but this is a good thing since their lives became more thoughtful and relationship-oriented, especially the consideration of God and their lives beyond the physical world, that they presently inhabit. |
| 1. Breezy Glade is just like it sounds. It is a beautiful valley of grass, that is greener than any grass on Earth. 2. Fort Childhood is a wonderful little community, whose oldest remaining structure is a childhood fort. 3. Major Marks is known for the fifteen or so very deep cracks that run from the top to the bottom of Mount Blue Smoke. The fact that these fissures started on the mountain about the time that Matthew Marks arrived with his little family created an amazing amount of fodder for Mayor Diotrephes Broadway, who loved to quip, "Well, Preacher, you certain Major Marks on this planet, didn't you?" 4. Library End is, as the reader may have guessed, a town that is almost entirely dedicated to books and reading. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Town Hall is located at the corner of Book & Nook. 5. Joe-N-Tea is the hometown of many folks, who are thoroughly devoted to their freshly-brewed drinks. Some like coffee. Some like tea. Yet, all of these dear folks like their cups of fluid comfort to be hot. None of them are bashful about asking the barrista, "Do you mind nuking this for a minute for me? If I've still got hairs on my tongue, then it's not hot enough. Oh, and bring me back a scone when you come, too, please." 6. Primary Rocks is a curiosity. Artists flock to this town due to the configuration of boulders in all three of the primary colors. Others come bringing their preschoolers because they think the town's name refers to the best Kindergarten on the planet. 7. Stable Home is a town populated by equestrians, who tend to have marriages that last 50 to 60 years or longer. Most of the residents are pretty proud of their town's motto, "Horsin' around makes you love longer." 8. Excellent Falls is one of the best nature parks on ZoNed4. It is also one of the few places in the Galaxy to find triple-level falls from a River that makes the Amazon on Earth look small. Excellent Falls has been measured at 2 miles of falls when all three levels are considered. 9. Birch Sentinels Mountain Preserve enjoys the status of being another of ZoNed4's premier vacation spots. Located on the sides of Mount Golden Crown visitors are refreshed every day with cool breezes and brisk nights. Mountain cabins are the preferred accomodations, but the more adventuresome still stake out tents or bivoac one of the sheer cliffs, that drape the first two to three thousand feet up the mountain. There are places among the Birch Sentinels Forest in which the wise tent camper can stake out in the midst of birch trees, that are so close together in a circle formation with a gap at the mouth, that the campers are virtually protected by this fortress of sentinels. 10. Techlahoma provides the comforts of home on this planet, that is three years away by spoaceflight from Earth. Inhabited almost entirely by former Texans and Oklahomans, this unique town's residents were, also, members of Silicon Valley in California before the taxes drove these intrepid techies to the South Central states in the USA, where they started the Silicon Desert, and finally on ZoNed4, Techlahoma, the name, that incorporates all of these locations and their unifying profession. |
| ZoNed4 is the sort of place we used to dream about back on Earth. The hues of colors in the blooms of flowers, in every sunset, in the lush green, that accompanies the blues of creeks running through every set of woods, and even the colors of the paint on the wall of every building is ten times more brilliant than anything ever seen on the Earth. The other day Aurora and I were walking from our house to Breezy Glade, which is a three-mile walk out and back. Not too back for a man, who passed his seventieth birthday a few years ago, wouldn't you say? Along the way, I staggered at the Spectacle Realty Building. It was about the middle of the afternoon, but still far enough away from noon, that the red, orange and yellow rays created screaming gold on the side with a blood-red crown, and at the top the two blue spires had the effect of making the whole building a butane torch. A couple of miles outside of Fort Childhood is the little of Primary Rocks. We detoured a bit to see this display of creation as we had done so many times before, especially when Aurora was younger. (It seems to make her obstinant tendencies to mellow back then. We were a happy family for a few hours. That was worth the effort all by itself.) The sight of red, yellow, and blue rocks strew all over the ground in the varying sizes of pebbles, larger river rocks, and boulders took our breath away every time. The three largest boulders were the most unique attraction in town. We approached the red one, which was so red as to make us squint since it appeared to be brighter than the sun, depending on the time of day. Aurora stuck out her left hand to touch the redness, and once, again, her hand disappeared into the cascading rogue. She giggled like the little girl she had been the first time we experienced the "disappearing hand" trick. You may be wondering how that was possible. It's actually science since the primary colors are created by lichen and mosses of extreme hues, and of thickness, we had never seen in lichens and mosses on Earth. The aroma of this wonderful vegetation was not pungent as I had known them to be on our home planet, but it was a pleasant mixture of a small amount of honey, along with butterscotch syrup, and caramel topping with a hint of chocolate thrown in for good measure. We all took turns putting our hands in the mossy blanket and pulling them back to our waiting noses, closing our eyes to experience the explosion of aromas, cleaning off our hands with joyful tongues, that danced in dreams of swimming in ice cream sundaes. For some time we forgot completely about Breezy Glade but as the day grew long, we decided to pick up our pace to make it to our favorite natural playground, still having enough time to return home before dark. Breezy Glade enjoyed a nearly constant gentle breeze, which ranged in intensity from five to fifteen miles per hour. The lush green, verdant, emerald vegetation seemed to cry out, "Lay back on us. Let us carry you away to a peaceful place where cares are no more." It seemed as though I had just laid my head down on the soft bed of a jade patch when Aurora shook me. "Dad, wake up. You've been asleep for a half-hour. If we don't leave now, we'll never make it home before dark." The trip home didn't seem as long because we walked into the sun, squinting the whole way, but our steps were lighter on the sea of magenta and clementine with visual smoothings of lemon zest. What a vest for life! We were "Walking on Sunshine" until I found myself ensconced in my favorite easy chair. What a day! |
| The first story in this series, The Making of a Preacher, was told as one large flashback. This second story will be told as a Linear Narrative with the continuation of input from the same fiends, who troubled Matthew Marks in the first story. Now, not only will Matt have to deal with these unscrupulous enemies as he tries with greater and greater levels of strength to serve the Lord each day, but his two unsuspecting twin daughters must deal with Lazarus Whatyudid and Andy Attelpate, who appear to the girls often in the guise of friendship and mentorship in order to lead them away from the Truth in the reverse of the Bible admonition, "line upon line, precept upon precept." Sadly, Artista Marks is the story's first victim of the corrupt machinations of these two low-level demons, who convince her, that continuing to live is not in her best interest. At the moment of truth, she has a heart attack. While her body is in the care of the EMTs, her spirit stands before the Lord, Who gives her the choice of returning to her family or going on into Heaven with the beloved. She chooses the latter, which is better for her, but which is worse for Matt, whose body starts its slow decline to the end of his physical life. Overview Outline: I. Arrival on ZoNed4 A. A New Home to Decorate B. Active Twins to Rear C. Friendship & Romance to Maintain II. Ministry and Adventure on ZoNed4 A. Explosive Growth of the Church in Childhood Fort B. School Starts for Two Active Twins C. Artista Finds Companionship in Myriad Female Friends D. Matt Finds Himself Often Alone in Fast-Paced Ministry III. Ministry Plateaus & Family Spirals Out-of-Control A. The Death of Artista B. Zenith's Wedding & Departure C. Aurora Matures and Ages Under the Weight of Ministry IV. Matt Grows Old Too Early, Leaving Ministry to the Twins A. Matt's Final Sermon B. Zenith Returns to Matt & Aurora C. The Twins are United Again. This Time in Ministry. |
| Today's post is word-for-word what I wrote a couple of years ago, when writing my novel, The Making of a Preacher.. I need to spend more time with this world I am creating, since ZoNed4 was merely given a cursory treatment in that previous book. "ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the Zenith Kneelite System of a dozen planets. The similarities with Earth are closer than a cursory glance can gather. The distance between their respective suns is very close with ZoNed4, being approximately 10% farther away and therefore about 10 % colder globally than Earth. Like Earth, ZoNed4 has an aging star at the center of its system. Solaris Rossa Marillo sounds like a Latin American festival on Earth, the name highlights the heavy reds & yellows in its surface coloration. There are three planets between this sun, (known as "S. R. Maria" or "Señora Maria," the two most used nicknames) and ZoNed4, whereas there are only two between the Sun and the Earth. The three inner planets of the Zenith Kneelite System are Flamos, which looks more like a comet than a planet, due to its close proximity to its sun. This makes Flamos appear to have a tail to any astronomers in the System. After Flamos comes Traxler, the terribly arid planet with absolutely no vegetation. Then, Raldon follows in the third position, but the climate is still too hot and dry to support life, though an apparent misty atmosphere hints at the potential of water on the planet. ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the System, being the most hospitable to life, it has the honor of being the System's abbreviated namesake. As one might imagine the other eight planets of the Zenith Kneelite System are all too cold to support life, even if water is extant on the planets. For the sake of introduction, their names are listed here. They are Phosphers, Iridens, Tribleu, Overantis, Sufeslandos, Zorronarlas, Sinsontazul, and Tenebral12. The description of ZoNed4 is taken from Chapter #9, "Storms of Joy." What is ZoNed4 really like? It's a slightly larger version of Earth, but it is still inhabitable. The air is thicker and heavier with ionized Nitrogen, but it's still breathable. ZoNed4's primary moon is once again slightly larger than Earth's moon. The trek of this moon around ZoNed4 requires a little more time. This would be 32 days in fact for every month, not just the seven 31-day months of Earth. ZoNed4 is notable for its eight-day weeks. This means that some Earth songs are a reality on ZoNed4 (aka "...eight days a week,") not just hyperbole as intended by the songwriters. The eight days of the ZoNedian week have consequences that affect the weather and the seasons. The summers near the Equator, especially the desert countries are much hotter and have much longer summer seasons. Winters in the northernmost frigid zones and even in the temperate climes are much colder (on average 15-20 degrees colder in terms of the Fahrenheit scale,) much longer, and much more taxing on the emotions. (The emotional effects are similar to the experiences of people, who live in the northernmost parts of Alaska and Russia on Earth when the sun is not seen for months at a time.) ZoNed4 has a 50/50 land-sea ratio that intensifies the seasonal extremes, making them at least 15% to 20% colder or hotter on average than Earth seasons are. The towns of ZoNed4 have been named by the humans, but the topography is completely original with the planet. Breezy Glade is just like it sounds. It is a beautiful valley of grass, that is greener than any grass on Earth. Fort Childhood is a wonderful little community, whose oldest remaining structure is a childhood fort. Major Marks is known for the fifteen or so very deep cracks that run from the top to the bottom of Mount Blue Smoke. The fact that these fissures started on the mountain about the time that Matthew Marks arrived with his little family created an amazing amount of fodder for Mayor Diotrephes Broadway, who loved to quip, "Well, Preacher, you certainly left some Major Marks on this planet, didn't you?" Library End is, as the reader may have guessed, a town that is almost entirely dedicated to books and reading. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Town Hall is located at the corner of Book & Nook. Joe-N-Tea is the hometown of many folks, who are thoroughly devoted to their freshly-brewed drinks. Some like coffee. Some like tea. Yet, all of these dear folks like their cups of fluid comfort to be hot. None of them are bashful about asking the barrista, "Do you mind nuking this for a minute for me? If I've still got hairs on my tongue, then it's not hot enough. Oh, and bring me back a scone when you come, too, please." Primary Rocks is a curiosity. Artists flock to this town due to the configuration of boulders in all three of the primary colors. Others come bringing their preschoolers because they think the town's name refers to the best Kindergarten on the planet. Stable Home is a town populated by equestrians, who tend to have marriages that last 50 to 60 years or longer, which is an even greater feat on ZoNed4 than the already long tenure on Earth. After all, with approximately 20 extra days per year,60 years on ZoNed4 would be slightly over 63 years on Earth. Most of the residents are pretty proud of their town's motto, "Horsin' around makes you love longer." One Day on Earth is 24 hours long. On ZoNed4 it is 28 hours long. One Week on Earth is seven days long. On ZoNed4 it is eight days long. One Year on Earth is 12 months long. On ZoNed4 it is 14 months long. The Rotation Adjustment on ZoNed4 occurs once every year for two days in length. This creates a ten-day week, during the annual Rotation Adjustment Celebration. It's the one week out of the year, that has ten days in the week rather than the typical eight, which makes it great for vacations and holidays. The Rotation Adjustment is a little hard to explain, but it's roughly like a man tightening the payload on his truck with a ratchet. Whereas the seven-day-a-week model of life on Earth remains more or less in a consistent rotational spin, the eight-day-a-week model of ZoNed4 causes rotational "rope" as it were to stretch out of shape throughout the year, until, finally, the once-a-year adjustment tightens the "rope" onto the next tooth of the ratchet. As a rule, businesses, churches, government offices, and schools take the days off to observe and to experience this unique "hands-on" science lesson. The celebratory atmosphere is due to the way the Rotation Adjustment affects the gravity of the planet. For approximately 48 hours from the end of the eighth day to the end of the tenth day of that unique week, the gravity on ZoNed4 gradually decreases to roughly 10% of normal gravity. The lighter the object or individuals may be the more it or they start to float. Very little actual work could be accomplished on these two days, due to the gravity of the situation. The good thing about the days on ZoNed4 is that they consistently start at midnight on the clock as do the days of Earth. When the Rotation Adjustment starts people may find themselves waking up on the floor instead of in their beds with the joyful fact that there are no bruises, nor awakings from sleep, that would normally happen when someone falls out of bed. On the second day of the Rotation Adjustment people often wake up standing on their feet, (even the non-sleepwalkers do this,) though they still feel like they are sleeping horizontally in their beds. Some folks don't go to bed, until after the Rotation Adjustment is complete on the third night. Going from 10% of gravity to 100% of gravity as the "ratchet-tooth" catches tends to be a bit unsettling. This is so unsettling that a tradition has developed in the past few years of either sitting in one's car with the seatbelt fastened or sitting in one's living room with newly-installed seatbelts keeping the residents firmly ensconced on their couches. The last hour of the Rotation Adjustment on ZoNed4 is quite similar to the last hour of New Year's Eve on Earth. Whereas Earthlings stand up, raising their hands, and cheering as the Ball drops, ZoNedians secure their seating, toasting with their favorite variety of hot tea, until the very minute when they place their need-to-be-empty cups on the nearest pillow beside each of them, waiting for the rather large THUMP, THUD or BUMP when life can return to "normal" for the next 14 months. The Sun of ZoNed4 is approximately 20% larger than Earth's sun. This tends to create richer and more vibrant hues of color across the spectrum." In all reality (or reality-based fiction) ZoNed4 is such a suitable Class-M planet, that we may consider it to be Earth-enhanced. |
| Theme: Family is Forever. "Leave no one behind." Resolution: 1. Matt is sold-out to the Lord. Ministry is everything to him. 2. Artista became a preacher's wife by default. She has never embraced the role with her whole heart. 3. Zenith embraces the role of daughter and the minister's assistant throughout her childhood and early teens because she wanted to be close to her daddy. Matt took her for granted, and ultimately personality of the Pleaser ran out of gas when she turned 21. 4. Aurora had an honest distaste for the role of preacher's daughter from the very beginning. She fought with her life, with the rules, and with the unwanted role as a strong-willed child. At age 15, she had a conversion of the magnitude of the Apostle Paul. Everything changed. She wanted to serve the Lord from the heart because the Lord transformed her throughly. 5. The weavings of loyalties and traitorous tendencies in, around, and throughout the family make the family of Matthew Paul Marks appear to be a mess. Yet, the final result will show a group of individuals, who are truly connected by blood and by the spirit with the desire to "leave no one behind." 6. The family seemed to be of one mind and of one spirit, during the twins' late teenage years of 15-21, since Artista was still alive back then, too. However, the unity was merely on the surface, since Artista taxed her heart severely trying to make-believe, that she was sold-out as the preacher's wife. When she had a heart attack and died in the days, that followed the twins' 21st birthday, the family unraveled, quickly changing from four apparently-dedicated Christians to two believers, who were totally sold-out to Jesus of Nazareth. 7. The next decade aged Matt, markedly, since his dearly-loved wife was now with the Lord as her body occupied a chifferobe in the local graveyard, and one of his dearly-loved daughters had totally rejected him without so much as a word for the duration. 8. Finally, the "goodness of the Lord leads us to repentance." (Romans 2:4) Aurora's persistent attempts at contact paid off. Zenith was completely transformed herself. She and her wife repented of their lifestyle choice, annulling their contract marriage because the wife had been saved, too. Now, during the decade of separation, the two ladies had adopted three children, which meant, that they needed to live close by for the sake of the children. Matt was fine with their continued friendship as long as it didn't include sexual contact since "that is against the commandment of the Lord Jesus Himself." (Matthew 19:4) 9. By the time Matt passed away there were six remaining people connected to the Marks family, who were dedicated to the Lord, and who were committed to serving Him for Time and for Eternity. 10. Families in this life endure many challenges, heartaches, and disagreements, but as The Triune God is made the center of the family one lasting Truth will rise to the surface. Drawing closer to the Lord draws us all closer to each other. |
| 1. Matthew Paul Marks Age: 50 Occupation: Preacher Relation to the main character: Self Physical Description: 5', 8", Brown hair, blue eyes, athletic build, slightly overweight, 195 pounds. 2. Artista Marks Age: 45 Occupation: Preacher's Wife, Hair Designer, Artist Relation to MC: Wife Physical Description: 5', 4", Brunette dreadlocks, hazel eyes, athletic build, 115 pounds. 3. Zenith (aka Zenni) Marks Age: 15 Occupation: Student, Ministry Volunteer, Praise Team Singer Relation to MC: Daughter Physical Description: 5', 4", long brown hair, blue eyes, athletic build, slightly overweight, 120 pounds 4. Aurora Marks Age: 15 Occupation: Student when she wants to be Relation to MC: Daughter Physical Description: 5', 4", short brown hair, blue eyes, athletic build, 112 pounds 5. Lazarus Watyudid Age: Timeless Occupation: Demon, Second-Class Relation to MC: A thorn in his side Physical Description: Often invisible, but appears about 5', 8", jet-black hair, dark hollow eyes, athletic to the 9s, seems to be 140 pounds. 6. Andy Attelpate Age: Timeless Occupation: Demon, First-Class Relation to MC: Another thorn in his side Physical Description: Often invisible, but appears about 5', 6", jet-black hair with some white streaks, one dark purple eye & one dark blue eye, kinda fat & a little dimwitted, seems to be 200 pounds. 7. Diotrephes Broadway Age: 48 Occupation: de facto Leader of ZoNed4 Relation to MC: Human thorn in his side, Frenemy Physical Description: 5', 5", dusty blond hair (thinning on top,) really fat (like the mayor of Lake Town in The Hobbit 3,) 210 pounds |
| Matt's Family provides a heavy load for Matt to bear throughout the novel. His wife, Artista doesn't really want to be a pastor's wife, but at times she tries very hard to force herself to enjoy the role. His twin daughter, Zenith, plays the role of the "good girl" supporter of her dad throughout the early chapters of this novel, but at age, 21, she turns her back on her Dad and everything she has ever believed in, becoming his worse critic by offering his the cold shoulder for an entire decade. (Not speaking to a person, like Matt, who is highly relational, is experienced as the death of a loved one.) His twin daughter, Aurora, plays the role of the "bad girl" antagonist throughout the early chapters of this novel, getting saved at age, 15, becoming his greatest supporter throughout the rest of his temporal life. Interestingly enough the three dearest ladies in Matt's life play the roles of antagonists and supporting characters as though these parts are "hot potatoes," meaning that no one can hold a role for the entire novel. Matt soon learns, that his greatest confidant and supporter is the Lord Jesus, Himself and that his greatest antagonist is Satan, who works through his minions, like Lazarus Whatyudid, and Andy Attlepate to affect the lives of Matt's family members to cause him grief at the most inopportune moments of life. The Apostle Paul said it best in Ephesians 6:12, KJV, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." |
| "Aurora, it's time to get up!" Artista shouted from the kitchen. "Sunday breakfast is in fifteen minutes." "I'm not going to church, today," Aurora said. "I have a tummy ache." Every Sunday, Artista thought to herself. Will the battles never end? "Hi, Mom!" Zenith popped into the kitchen, cheery and ready for the day. Like every other Sunday, it's 7:00 o'clock and this daughter is dressed to the nines. Artista thought and smiled. She said, "You are such a balm, Zenith. Do you think you could help your sister to be up, dressed, ready, and fed in time for the car ride to church?" "Sure, Mom, I'm glad to help you. Back minute." Zenith took a powder, and in a moment was in her bedroom next to Aurora, whose mouth was agape, and drooling. "Two more different children have not been born," whispered Artista under her breath. "Why couldn't both be like Zenith. Only seven-years-old and she's already a little adult, responsible, cheerful, a real joy to be around. Aurora will be the death of me. Always obstinant, always late, hateful wherever she goes. Why? Why God? Why can't you tell me why?" No answer. The Heavens were brass. A bubble of grits popped, splattering her glasses. "Really? That's all you can say?" Artista started to boil over. At 7:15 AM, sharp, Zenith bounced into the kitchen. "Here we are, Mom!" Hands held high, waving, she smiled, ebullient. A very slow 20 seconds later, Aurora lumbered in, squinting, rumpled, and groaning, "Do we really have to have breakfast so early in the day?" "Glad to see you, too," Artista managed. Been working my fanny off to make you something good to eat before a long morning at church, and this is all the thanks I get? "You'll feel better after you eat," Her words dripped with syrup, like the proper Southern matron she was. "It's almost time to go." "I wish you would go, and let me stay home." "You know I can't do that, Aurora. You're not twelve, yet." The typical Sunday continued. Ten-minute drive to church. 9:00 o'clock Sunday School. 10:00 o'clock Church-wide Fellowship with coffee and doughnuts 11:00 o'clock worship service 12:00 Noon scramble to The Eat Wave to take the best seats from the Methodists. Another ten-minute drive home. Afternoon naps. Ten-minute ride back to church. Training Union, (another Bible storytime for the kiddos) Evening Worship Drive home. Get ready for bed. Snore up enough courage to live through another week of school days. My life as a pastor's wife, thought Artista as she laid her weary head on the pillow. Sundays were thick with responsibilities and activities. Matt focused on ministry with the tenacity of a snapping turtle. Artista and Zenith serve with smiles on the outside and breaking hearts within. Doing the same thing every Sunday for more than 700 in a row (or approximately 14 years) was a wearisome task. On the twins' 21st birthday Artista looked old. Barely in her 60s, she didn't appear long for the new world they had served for a number of years. As it turned out, she wasn't. One month to the day after the twins' birthday, Artista had a birthday of her own. She died to this life as she was birthed into the Everlasting Day. The grief of losing her mother caused something to snap in Zenith. "Dad, I'm done. I've served the Lord for 21 years. I smile. I'm pleasant. People abuse me. I'm not going to take it anymore." "You're grieving, Zenith. Give it some time." "It's not worth it. Mandy and I are eloping. We're moving to the other side of the planet. Don't try to call. I will not answer you. You're no longer my Dad, and I hate your God." With that Zenith turned on her heels, ran out, and slammed the door behind her. Matt fell into a heap on the floor. "God, please help me. I've lost my wife and one of my daughters in a matter of a month. What do I do now?" Shrews are made when they live a thankless life. Shrews are made when their fathers don't see their hearts. Shrews are made through neglect on some level. Shrews are made when they trust their perspective, regardless of their father's attempts to do the right thing. |
| I. The Flight A. What to do for three years? B. The Twins C. Parenting II. The Arrival on ZoNed4 A. Meeting the Mayor B. Settling in C. Learning where to buy groceries and fuel D. Seeing the Sights III. The Twins are Different from Each Other A. Pansy is sweet and helpful. B. Aurora is a handful. C. Teaching John 3:16 & "Jesus Loves Me" to the girls. IV. The Whitewater Rapids A. Aurora is gone. B. Pansy shares the news. C. Matt gives directions and then runs out to help. D. Pansy is alive, but unconscious. V. Recovery and Evaluation A. What went wrong? B. What do we do next? VI. Ministry and a lot of Prayer A. Why can't Aurora be like Pansy? B. Pansy works well, but Matt missed her heart. VII. The Family Knows Great Togetherness and Ministry for Five Years A. Aurora Gets Saved. B. The Twins (Age 15-20y.o.) C. Matt & Artista Are at Their Best Together VIII. Artista Dies. A. Pansy Turns Her Back on God. Has a Lesbian Wedding. B. Matt Battles Depression for a Couple of Years. C. Aurora Runs the Ministry with Help from Leaders in the Church. IX. The Ten Silent Years A. Matt Recovers. B. Pansy won't Speak to Matt. C. Aurora works hard to comfort her Dad, keeping him going. X. Matt's Last Days on ZoNed4. A. Matt Returns to Preaching with a Broken Heart. B. Matt Continues to Reach Out to Pansy. C. Matt Commits the Twins into the Hands of the Lord. D. Matt Commits Aurora to Ministry by God's Grace. E. Matt Asks the Lord to Save Pansy, Getting Her to Heaven One Day. XI. The Sermon (Matthew 21:28-32, KJV) A. Matt gives his final best. B. Aurora is not there. "Where is Aurora?" C. Aurora comes in late with Pansy. D. Matt prays a quick prayer and ends the service early. XII. The Reunion & Matt's Death A. Now, Restored to Both of His Girls, the End is Near. B. Hugs & Kisses, Matt passes away to Pool Next to the Raging River. C. Heaven is Just a Step Away. |
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