One Sunday morning, Jose McCall was preaching to his Nazarene church, known as the Cross of the Nazarene. He arrived to the church with his nine – year – old daughter, Hailey and his wife, Tonya. The Cross of the Nazarene was located in his hometown, Junedale, Maryland. Hose was still in school, so he still had a lot of learning left until he graduated from school. His dream was to become a pastor.

Jose, Tonya, and Hailey arrived to the Church early. Tonya was part of the women's ministry, and so far she likes it as a newcomer. Today was different. A lot of people were still on summer vacation, and school would be starting soon. So today the congregation was small, so he only preached for one service.

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Out in New York, Roger Blackman and his new wife, Zoe Williams were getting some last – minute packing for their trip out to Maryland. Both Zoe and Roger were up at almost four in the morning. Their flight was scheduled to leave around seven, so it still gave them enough time to pack.

"Are you looking forward to going on our trip out in Maryland, Zoe?" Roger asked.

"Yes, I am. This should be a fun trip."

What Zoe had just said was true, and husband and wife hadn't been on vacation since their honeymoon on the fourth of July. This was supposed to be a nice visit to Maryland and neither of them had ever been to Maryland, so this should be fun.

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The service at the Nazarene didn't start until nine – fifteen and it was a good thing worship didn't start until nine – fifteen, and right now it was only eight – forty – five.

As for now, his wife was in the chapel with several other women in the ministry. The ladies' ministry had weekly breakfast in the chapel so this gave Tonya an opportunity to meet the other women. Hailey wasn't interested in children's church, so Jose and Tonya didn't seem to mind.

At eight – forty – five, Jose dismissed the Sunday School students. The Sunday School class was small, but it is growing, but not much of it grew as fast as Jose expected, so he was happy to see some new faces, which was a good sign. Tonya was still in the chapel when he arrived from Sunday School. He decided to stand by the door and greet the people who decided to hear him speak today.

Jose said good – morning as he greeted the visitors who weren't members but did visit on a regular basis. Even guests liked Jose as he greeted them at the door. When Jose was at the door, Tonya was able to finally leave the chapel since breakfast was over. Like Tonya, Jose was still meeting people at the church, but it took time. Tonya decided to join Jose at the door to greet people as they came in. After the last family stepped in, Jose and Tonya closed the door. One thing was for sure: Jose was going to get an unexpected visitor during his message.

2: Chapter 2

Roger still wasn't ready by the time he and Zoe were leaving for the airport to find their seats. Zoe had an idea.

"Roger, I have an idea."

"What's that, honey?"

"Since you're still not ready, why don't we just take separate cars?"

"That works for me," he agreed.

Since this was supposed to be a fun time for their very first visit in Maryland, Roger changed their idea of what she just shared with him.

"Zoe?"

"Yes?"

"I changed my mind about this vacation we scheduled for."

"What is it now?" Zoe asked.

"I want to cancel my flight we're both going on."

"Why do you want to do that at the last minute? This was supposed to be our time together as a couple."

"I understand, Zoe. I just saw that I forgot I had a doctor's appointment. Would you mind canceling my half of the trip at the airport for me?"

"Sure, Roger. I'll text you once I get to the airport in Maryland," she promised.

"All right. I guess you'd better get a move on to the airport."

"You're right. I don't mind driving myself to the airport."

Once Zoe found a parking space at the airport, she unlocked the trunk to collect her carry – on and suitcase so they could be ready to board on her trip. Neither she or Roger were believers in Christ, she thought it was a good idea to visit a church. She knew she would be late to arrive on time, but there was no need for her to worry about.

She made it to the airport in Maryland without any problem. Before she left for Maryland, she did what Roger asked her to. Her ticket was still good for today's flight. Once she arrived in Maryland, she kept her promise to Roger, so she got out her phone to text him. He wasn't anywhere near his phone to see a text message to him, Zoe reminded herself he would be at the doctor's office, but left a text message anyway.

About an hour or so later, Roger finally checked his e – mail and text messages. He saw one of the text messages was from Zoe. So he read it and this is what he saw:

'Hello, honey. Understand you're not around right now, but as I already promised before I left for the airport that I would send you a message, so you'll know I got here safely. I took care of your ticket with no problem. Talk to you later. Zoe'

Roger smiled once he finished reading what her message told him. He replied back:

'I'd love to hear what you had in mind on what you're doing, but of course you'll share with me. Roger'

As for now, Zoe rented a car and drove herself around town. Yes, the car had GPS, so she didn't bother using it.

As she was driving, she stopped every once in a while to send pictures of the scenery to Roger. She thought to herself since neither of them believed in Christ, she could send a picture of the Church where she was going to visit for that day. Roger would text her back and told her his thoughts on the picture she shared.

Once she arrived at the Cross of the Nazarene, she slammed the car door behind her and locked it. She was about twenty – five minutes late to hear Jose McCall's message, but did she care? Not a bit. Since nobody was at the door to greet her, she let herself in. Oh, well. She'll take a picture of the Church once it was time for the service to end.

When she walked in and slammed the door, she looked inside of the sanctuary. She saw there weren't many people listening to Jose speak. She saw Jose was in his late thirties to early forties. She wasn't sure which one fit him, but she took a guess anyway. She saw he had chestnut hair, but since she was still a bit far to see what his eyes were enough to look.

She took a few steps as she walked into the sanctuary, but before she could find a seat, she saw Jose look in her direction. She saw he started to get angry. So he interrupted his message to the congregation and spoke to Zoe in a tone of voice she was familiar with, so he told her, "Missy, this is a church, not a police station. You ruined my Sunday's message."

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"Look, I've been sharing this message for about thirty – five minutes now and you come along and ruin it! Was this your plan to ruin a Sunday such as this?"

"Of course not, Sir."

"Then sit down and I will stop my message here and go to my office and call the police."

"No, Sir. My husband wouldn't want that."

Jose didn't care about what she just told him. His message was finally over. This was the first time something like this happened to him.

He said, "This message has been interrupted and ruined. I would like to ask the worship team to come back up."

That's when Jose walked off the stage with an angry face. Even his tone of voice stayed that way.

"Come with me and I'll go and call the police."

Zoe didn't respond, so she finally had a closer look now than she did when she arrived. He was described the way she came in. He had hazel eyes, she saw. She really didn't care about hazel eyes.

Zoe didn't bother following Jose into his office to call the police. She left right away and didn't bother to look back. No need to call the cops now, Jose told himself. What kind of Sunday is this? Zoe ran outside of the Church without bothering to see if Jose was still there or not.

Once Zoe was out of the Church again, she got her phone and took a quick picture of the Church and send off to Roger's phone. She unlocked the front door of the rental and drove away from the Church without looking back. This was a good way to turn around and drive over to the airport and get back home to Roger.

Zoe didn't bother checking into the hotel where she and Roger made reservations for, but she did phone in to cancel. Once Zoe arrived at the Maryland airport, she sent Roger a text by telling him she was on her way home. His response: 'Why are you coming back home when you just got there? I don't understand. Please tell me why. Roger'

Zoe saw his response. Here's what she sent:

'I'm sure you probably saw that picture of the Church I checked out. I thought I'd get back on the plane and get home back to you. I canceled our reservation. I decided to have this trip short, but it would have been more fun if you went along.'

'I understand, Zoe. Come on home if you want. I'm already unpacked my stuff. I almost forgot that you left your car at the airport. Thank you for ruining your time on this short story. I would've loved to see that. Roger'

Zoe saw his reply, but since it was time to board the airplane and return to New York.

It didn't take her very long to arrive in New York, so she didn't bother calling Roger to let him know she was on her way. She and Roger only lived about ten to forty minutes from the airport, so there was no need to do so. Forty minutes later, Zoe parked in the driveway. Roger heard her car drive up, so he ran out of the door. She saw Roger as the two hugged and kissed one another.

"Roger, I have an idea."

"What?"

"When we go to Maryland as a couple, let's visit a church and ruin what the minister shares with his message."

"I don't think so."