Chapter 10 – Sure foundations
Spontaneous praise erupted around the throne as ten thousand upon ten thousand of His holy angels sang, “Great and marvelous are Your works, oh Lord God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are Your ways, oh King of the nations.”
The sound of heaven’s music filled the skies over the state of Wisconsin. Colonel Ryak worshipped from somewhere above the state capital building in Madison. Major Cyrus and his Truthful Ones raised their voices from the skies over Sheboygan County. Captain Aza joined her brothers and sisters in the song of the ages atop the gym at Plymouth Elementary School. Prince Eli and Jasmine sang the majestic ancient songs from the northern woods of Glory Meadows, accompanied by a chorus of terrestrial bears, deer, owls, beavers and a moose which had wandered into the meadow during the storm.
Before dawn on Sunday morning, Edith Simpson carefully tacked a note to the message board in the kitchen near the garage door. Turning out the light, she then quietly walked out the front door. Placing two suitcases into the trunk of her car, she backed out of the driveway and drove away.
Trinity awoke Sunday morning to the sound of a beeping alarm clock. After a restless night of howling winds and banging shudders, she wasn’t too eager to get up. Trin hit the snooze button a couple of times before finally climbing out of bed around seven am. Taking a leisurely hot shower, she then dressed for church and went downstairs. Opening the front door to retrieve the Sunday paper which had been delivered earlier, she paused to briefly survey the grounds for any storm damage. To her relief, other than a few broken tree limbs and mounds of scattered leaves, there appeared to be no major problems.
After pouring a fresh cup of coffee, Trinity sat down at the kitchen table and opened the Sunday morning Edition of the Plymouth Press. She was not surprised at the headlines. “Freakish storm of the century wreaks havoc in upper Great Lakes.”
“Tell me about it,” Trin thought as she continued reading the highlights of each story.
“Tornadoes left a wake of destruction in cities and rural areas throughout multiple counties and sent thousands of local residents scurrying for shelter in the middle of the night.
“Massive electrical storms lite up the night time sky like Times Square over portions of Wisconsin and Michigan causing wide-spread power outages. Spokesman for the Northern States Electrical Company are working to restore power to dozens of communities, but state it may be days before the lights are back on in isolated areas.
“Raging winds battered resort towns and record-level water surges cause major flooding along shorelines.
“Local residents in and around the Mirror Lake area reported a mysterious electrical explosion around 1:30 am. The enormous explosion shattered windows in vacation homes along the water’s edge, causing rolling blackouts from Union Bay to White Pine.
“Between the hours of midnight and 2:00 am, officials confirmed reports of seven powerful waterspouts over Lake Superior. At the height of the storm air traffic controllers from the Upper Peninsula’s only tower at Sawyer Airport tracked a Category 5 funnel hovering near the middle of Lake Superior. Controller Mark Helm reported, ‘That monster appeared out of nowhere, remained stationary for several minutes, and then simply vanished from our scopes. In all my years as an Air Traffic Controller, I’ve never seen anything like it.’”
When Trinity got to the bottom of Page 1, she turned to Page 2 to read local storm-related news. But her growling stomach reminded her she had not yet had breakfast. Preparing a quick bowl of steaming oatmeal with a few raisins, she returned to the kitchen table to pick up where she left off. At the top of the page she read,
“High winds and golf-ball sized hail responsible for wide-spread damage throughout Madison, Sheboygan, and Green Bay counties.
“Shortly after midnight, civil defense alarms sounded when three funnel clouds were sighted moving southward toward Plymouth. Making landfall, one of the funnel clouds touched down near the Van Husen estate causing substantial damage to the primary residence and attached garage.
“Approximately 1:15 in the morning, lightning struck the Sheboygan County Airport terminal igniting a massive fire. Several maintenance buildings on the runway were destroyed. The main passenger terminal of Charter Airways also sustained major damage. Flights in and out of the airport have been suspended indefinitely while construction crews work on repairs.
“Plymouth residents may be without power until late Sunday evening.”
Trinity was looking through the images of the storm’s damage, when she suddenly looked at her wrist watch. “8:30! Oh my gosh! Where’s the time gone? I’ll be late for church.”
After a quick clean-up in the kitchen, Trin put on her rain coat, grabbed her Bible, and headed out the front door. The trip to church was normally a ten minute drive. But anticipating potential flooding, road debris, and perhaps even road closures, she wanted to give herself plenty of time to arrive before the 9:00 am service began. To her surprise, the drive north on Pleasant View Road was unhindered. Evidence of the storm’s fury could be seen to the east, but the road itself was relatively free of any major debris. But when she turned into the parking lot at church, she was met by one of several deacons who were rerouting traffic to the back side of the education wing which was a good distance from the main entrance to the church. Apparently a mud slide had buried a substantial section of the lower lot near the high school building.
Upon entering the foyer of the church, Trinity was greeted by Pastor Jamison and his wife. After surveying the main chapel and giving Mrs. Jamison a quick hug, Trin said, “Wow. The sanctuary is beautiful! It’s not Christmas, so what’s the occasion?”
Pastor Jamison grinned and said, “My wife thought a candle light service would be a lovely way to begin the new week and I agreed.”
Mrs. Jamison smiled at her husband’s teasing then said, “Actually Trinity, we still don’t have power. And given everything this community has been through lately, we didn’t want to cancel service. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Trin replied. “I think it’s perfect!”
Trinity entered the church and took her familiar seat on the right side of the sanctuary towards the middle of the room. As she was taking off her coat, she happened to see Gary and Derrick Simpson sitting on the opposite side of the room in the far corner pew. Derrick spotted her and smiled. Trin waved. Gary also saw Trin. As their eyes met briefly, she sensed a humility she had not seen during the hearing.
A few moments later, the Baxter family walked down the center aisle and sat down in one of pews closer to the front of the sanctuary on the left of the podium. Jason immediately spotted Derrick and the two boys waved. When Mr. Baxter saw Gary he whispered something to his wife. Then together, he and Jason walked back down the aisle and around the back wall towards the Simpsons.
Jason was the first to speak. “Dad, this is my friend, Derrick. And this is his dad.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Derrick,” Mr. Baxter said.
Then extending his hand towards Gary he added, “And you as well, Mr. Simpson. It’s a pleasure to have you here this morning.”
The two men shook hands and the Baxter men then rejoined Mrs. Baxter. As they did, Pastor Jamison took his place at the podium and led the choir in an opening hymn of worship. He then addressed the congregation.
“Thank you all for braving the roadways to be here this morning. It’s so good to see your sweet faces especially after last night’s storm. We have great deal to be thankful for, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s thank the Lord.” After a short introductory prayer, Pastor Jamison began his sermon.
“We continue this morning with our systematic, book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter study through the scriptures. Turn with me to I Peter Chapter One as we read verses 18-22. Please stand with me for the reading of God’s word. In unison, the congregation stood to their feet and followed along in their bibles as Pastor Jamison read,
“‘For you kn
ow that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. Through Christ, you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.’ You may be seated.”
When he finished reading, Trinity took her seat. As she tried to focus on the pastor’s message, Trin couldn’t help but thank God once again for His deliverance during her recent trials. But she was also overcome with awe and wonder at the thought that God would choose such a portion of scripture as the sermon text for this particular Sunday. She knew this was probably the first time the Simpsons had ever been inside a church. She silently prayed God would use these verses to help Gary understand not only the truth of God’s word, but God’s tremendous love for he and his family.
Trinity listened intently during the remainder of the message, jotting down some notes on the back side of her bulletin to review later in the day. During the closing prayer, the choir stood and sang “Just as I am.” When they were finished, Pastor then dismissed the congregation.
After saying, “Thank you” to several well-wishers, Trin made her way down the aisle and out towards the door. As she did, she couldn’t help overhear the Baxters as they invited Gary and his son to lunch. She was thrilled to hear Gary’s acceptance. Trinity then said her final goodbyes to Pastor and Mrs. Jamison. Walking slowly down the concrete steps outside the church, she happened to look up just as Cameron Mitchell was pulling out of the parking lot. On impulse, Trinity turned back and glanced at her Pastor still standing behind her. He just nodded and smiled.
Trinity spent the rest of her day alone at home in quiet meditation and reflection. After a short afternoon nap and early dinner, she made a cup of extra chocolaty cocoa and headed out onto the patio deck. There was an unusual freshness in the air as darkness settled over Glory Meadows. It wasn’t long before the sky overhead was ablaze in starlight. A sliver of a crescent moon could just be seen in the eastern sky. Lost in the beauty of the night, Trinity was startled by a splashing sound coming from the pond. Turning to investigate, she could just make out the form of several small creatures scurrying about the water’s edge.
“Beavers!” she chuckled.
After a long moment of intense introspection she said, “It was less than a week ago on this very porch that I first saw the purple stone and then met those two fantastic creatures. I wonder what ever happened to them? Which reminds me…I haven’t seen that stone since the hearing on Friday. I’d love so show it to my students tomorrow. I’m not exactly sure yet how to explain it, but it would sure make an exciting, ‘Show and tell” item.”
Leaving her mug on the arm of the redwood deck chair, she went back into the kitchen to get her purse. Emptying the contents onto the counter she said, “That’s odd. Where did it go? I know it was here?”
After a thorough search of kitchen drawers, the bathroom counter, her coat pockets, and the inside of her car, Trinity gave up. She put on her pajamas and robe, then went downstairs and turned on the news. As anticipated, national news reports still contained articles relating in some way to the school board’s decision to allow her to keep her job and for the Ten Commandments to remain on display in her classroom. As for the local news, she was especially fascinated by the story of one reporter in particular.
“Sandscapes resembling horse body parts mysterious appeared overnight along the north shore of Devils Island in the Apostles Island Archipelago. Kayakers exploring the islands early this morning captured on film these startling images of hundreds of sculpted sand statues in the shape of horse heads, legs, torsos and tails. Remarkable as it may seem, there are images of what appear to be a single horn attached to the head of several sculptures. One tourist on the island said the sculpture reminded her of a unicorn’s head. Authorities remain baffled as to how these statutes were created and placed on the island.”
Trinity was fascinated by the image of one horse head in particular. “No, it can’t be,” she thought. “That face looks a lot like… No! It’s too fantastic,” she said shaking her head.
Following a short commercial break, Trinity listened as the final report promised to be about her own community.
“We wrap up this evenings’ news with a story about crows. Last week, thousands of the large black birds mysterious descended on the city of Plymouth, causing chaos and wide-spread property damage. Today, officials report the crows have simply vanished without a trace. Experts have no explanation for this bizarre occurrence. And that’s it for the Channel 10 Sunday evening news. We’ll see you again tomorrow. Good night.”
Bright and early Monday morning, the Tender Teacher walked down the familiar corridors of Plymouth Elementary School. Upon entering the Teacher’s Lounge, she was greeted with the spontaneous applause of fellow teachers, coworkers and school staff. Even Cameron Mitchel was present. It was several minutes before all the hugs, kisses and well wishes were finally finished. When the first bell rang, the room quickly emptied, as each one hurried off to their respective responsibilities.
Trinity walked proudly down the hall and into her fifth grade classroom to resume the profession she so dearly loved. And even though her students greeted her with the same enthusiasm as her peers, Trinity did not allow a lengthy discussion of the previous week’s events. After permitting the children a few moments to express their joy in seeing her again, Ms. Trin quieted the children then turned their attention to the lessons of the day.
When the lunch bell rang and the students were filing out of the room towards the cafeteria, she was pleasantly surprised to see Jason and Derrick walk out together. As Trin walked by their table in the lunch room on her way to the Teacher’s Lounge, she overheard Derrick asking Jason what the Bible said about moms and dads.
Swallowing a large mouthful of his bologna sandwich Jason replied, “Well, one of the Ten Commandments from God says children are to honor their father and mother.”
“My, oh my,” Trin thought as she continued walking past the boys. “This is truly the beginning of good things to come for Derrick and the whole Simpson family. Thank you Jesus!”
The remainder of the day was pleasantly uneventful. With the exception of hugs and some additional words of encouragement from grateful parents as they picked up their kids, discussion about the hearing was minimal. Trin pulled into her garage at the usual time, retrieved her mail then walked thru the garage and into the kitchen. Putting her purse and brief case on the table, along with a bouquet of flowers given her by one of the parents, she shuffled through the stack of mail.
“Bills. Advertisements. National Education Journal. What’s this?” she said.
From the stack of mail she pulled out a small, purple envelope with no postage stamp addressed only to “Ms. Trinity Woodard.” And instead of a full return address in the upper, left-hand corner, the envelope simply read, “Gary Simpson.” Opening the envelope, Trin read the following note:
“Dear Ms. Woodard:
Derrick confessed to stealing the cookies and then lying to cover up his actions. He understands his actions were morally wrong and is very sorry for what he did. But just as important, I now realize my attitude and actions have also been wrong regarding this entire incident. On behalf of my family, I ask you to forgive us for the pain, suffering and humiliation we have caused. We sincerely hope you will one day find it in your heart to forgive us, and put these unfortunate events behind us all. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Gary Simpson.”
“Well, will wonders never cease?” Trinity said out loud. “Thank you God!”
Putting
the letter on the counter near the phone, Trinity then turned her attentions to preparing dinner. As the spaghetti sauce was simmering and the pasta boiling, she flipped on the evening news. She stood motionless, eyes glued to the TV set, as she listened to the first story.
“Victor Underwood, former Editor-in- Chief of the Plymouth Press, has been arrested on charges of embezzlement, corporate fraud, and racketeering. He was apprehended without incident early this morning by U.S. Border Patrol officials just south of the Canadian border near Emerson on Interstate 29 while attempting to flee the country. Inside sources report Underwood is cooperating fully with the District Attorney’s Office. Unconfirmed reports speculate the former newspaper tycoon used his influence to embezzle more than ten million dollars over the course of his editorial career. Trial is expected to begin early November.”
A moment later Trinity was on the phone to Grandpa Eddie. “Grandpa, did you hear the news about Victor Underwood?”
“Sweetie, I learned of his arrest this morning,” he replied. “I have a friend downtown who called me shortly after Victor’s arrest. But to tell you the truth, I am not surprised. I’ve known for some time there was something going on, but I could never put my finger on it. I feel sorry for Victor. I really do. He has destroyed his reputation and thrown away a prestigious career. He has sold his soul to the devil and for what? A few years enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin only to lose his own soul in the end?
“I’m so sorry, Grandpa. I know you and he have been friends for years,” Trin said softly.
“I know,” he replied quietly. “He still is my friend, honey. And God still loves him as much now as ever. I’ll be there for Victor as much as I can during the difficult days ahead.”
Around 6 pm, Derrick heard the front door bell ring. “Finally!” he said. “Dinner.”
Paying the delivery boy for his pizza, Derrick shut and locked the door, then put the hot box on the floor in the living room in front of the TV. After devouring 4 pieces of a large, pepperoni pizza, Derrick went into the kitchen to get something to drink. As he opened the refrigerator, he thought he heard a noise coming from the garage.
“Dad’s not supposed to be home ‘til later,” he thought. “Must be the wind.”
Opening the upper cupboard door next to the stove, he looked through the glasses on the shelf hoping to find his favorite mug.
“Rats!” he said. “Where did mom put it this time?”
After searching thru every cabinet in the kitchen, he decided to search the garage. “I bet she put it in one of those giveaway boxes for the Salvation Army,” he thought. “But where’d she stack ‘em?”
Entering the cluttered garage, he carefully scanned every wall, every corner, and the tops of every shelf. It was several minutes before he found the boxes carelessly stacked underneath his father’s work bench on the opposite side of the garage. After spying his red and white plastic mug sitting in an open box, he shouted, “Ah, ha!”
He smiled as he picked up the Wisconsin Badger cup, remembering the time his father bought it for him at a football game the year before. Derrick then closed up the box and turned to go back into the house. But as he flipped off the garage light, something caught his attention. From the inside of one of the Salvation Army boxes he could see some sort of purplish light. He turned on the garage light again and went to investigate.
The Woodard estate was quiet for the rest of the night. A great horned owl enjoyed dining on a plump juicy rabbit. A small herd of deer munched peacefully on tender blades of tall sweet grass. Several contented beavers scurried about their nightly chores.
A year later, Cameron Mitchell and Trinity were engaged to be married. Mr. Van Husen, Sr. had been elected governor of Wisconsin while Laura was married to the senior vice-president of a banking firm in Madison. Victor Underwood was serving a fifteen year prison sentence and Grandpa Eddie visited him every Sunday after church. Edith Simpson was working for a syndicated newspaper in Minneapolis. Gary Simpson had opened his own law firm in Plymouth and he and Derrick faithfully attend services at Calvary Church of Plymouth. And the City of Plymouth, Wisconsin was named by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the best place in the country to raise children.
Colonel Ryak and his special forces are still stationed in Madison. A contingent of Truthful Ones still patrols the court houses and schools of Sheboygan County, while Major Cyrus and the rest of his comrades have been redeployed. Captain Aza and her sisters were sent to Texas to assist their brethren, while a group of Healers remained in Plymouth. Eli and Jasmine visit Glory Meadows as often as Papa permits.
Trinity never found the purple stone and never again saw the two unicorns. But sometimes on very quiet evenings, she thought she heard voices in the north woods of Glory Meadows.
P.S. – Mrs. Trinity Mitchell recently published a book to help teachers and parents identify and develop the unique, God-given talents of their children. Perhaps you’ve had a chance to read it. It became a national best-seller. The title is, The Tender Teacher Trait.
P.S.S. – On peaceful autumn nights, sit quietly on your patio and listen carefully. You too just might hear the conversations of angels. And if you should discover a glowing, heart-shaped stone in your yard some night don’t be surprised. Eli and Jasmine are just bringing you a gift from Papa.
The End
####
About the Author
Without a doubt, Donna's favorite books are found in the Christian fiction/fantasy series, Divine Commissions. Originally written for her grandchildren, these are stories filled with real-to-life adventures of ordinary people. They include epic struggles between angels and demons, between good and evil, right and wrong, choices and consequences. With the launch of Stone of Truth, Donna has already turned her creative energies towards Volume V in the series. The title is yet to be determined, but she assures readers Volume V will be another epic adventure of global proportions.
Discover other titles in the Divine Commissions Series:
Volume III - The Power of a Legacy
Volume IV - Messiah's Message
Connect with Donna Farris Online:
Visit https://divinecommissions.blogspot.com/ and follow the tales of Eli and Jasmine through other action-packed adventures. Discover interesting, behind-the-scenes insights into the characters. Get hot-off-the-press updates regarding upcoming stories. Share your discoveries and connect with other readers.
GrippedforGlory blog: https://grippedforglory.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Gripped-For-Glory/142580449129848
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/grippedforglory
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends