Note: I wrote this a while back but I didn't post this story to this site right away so here it is. This is a 7 chapter story.

Pastor Wayne Larsen, pastor of the John Baptist church in New York, finished doing his sermon by giving out Scripture to the congregation about His grace. That was the semonfor the week.

"I know this service is almost over, but I'd like to read a Scripture or two about gracious, and then I do have an announcement to make," Pastor Wayne told the church.

"In Exodus 33:19 says this about gracious:

GOD said, "I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I'll call out the name, GOD, right before you. I'll treat well whomever I want to treat well and I'll be kind to whomever I want to be kind."

"And here's what He tells us about gracious in Numbers 6:25:

"GOD smile on you and gift you."

After Pastor Wayne finished reading that short Scripture, he said a prayer before making his announcement.

"Father, I would like to Thank You for Your message about grace today. Those who don't know the meaning of grace spiritually don't know they are missing about Your teaching through Your Word to nonbelievers about Jesus Christ. If they are nonbeliever, it is the right time to start speaking to them so they can get a good idea who You are. In Your Name, Amen."

That's when Pastor Wayne made his announcement.

"Church family, I do have an announcement to make. I will not be able to share GOD's message to you all next week. I will be out of town for a while. There is some sort of conference I have to attend, so I will to you all here about how the conference went. You are dismissed."

Pastor Wayne did plan on doing a series about grace. He wasn't so sure what kind of conference this will be, but he'll wait and see what happens. From what he was told, Pastor Wayne didn't know about who the pastors are for the conference. He wasn't so sure on what they would be talking about. 'Whatever this conference is, I hope it goes well,' Pastor Wayne thought to himself.

2: Chapter 2

Daphne never really thought about what this sort of conference was all about, but she was foursquare and did hear there would also be a Baptist and Nazarene pastor as well. She didn't really catch the names, but she'll get them once she meets them in person.

She did hear that the Baptist pastor out in New York was fresh from school, so this was his first time pastoring to his Church. Since he was new to this sort of thing, she took a guess that this was what the conference was all about – advice on how to make the Church grow.

Daphne did forget who did mention to her about the Baptist and Nazarene pastors seemed true to her about her thought on this conference. She is married to Hank Black. Hank was a bartender and they did have children of their own. From what she also was told that Pastor Wayne was single, so all he did was have no wife and children but she did forget what the other pastor's background was. And another guess that came to mind was the Nazarene pastor had a family of his own, but again she could be wrong. She told herself this conference better be interesting.

3: Chapter 3

Pastor Wayne didn't at all feel nervous much at all about this conference he was scheduled to attend. Like a lot of people in today's generation, he was on a few social media websites, but hardly visited social media, but he only signs on to facebook to add more friends and that was it.

The conference didn't start until Tuesday morning, so he had little time to pack up for the flight. Pastor Wayne hoped to come back home to New York before Sunday so he could give out another message about grace. At least there are a lot of things about Christ we know nothing that the Word does not mention – for example, what His plans are for us in the afterlife once we enter Heaven.

He wasn't so sure if he wanted to be friends with the other pastors from the conference since it was mostly business and not friendship. He wasn't so sure why these other pastors were attending the conference for what reason. For sure it was none of his business to take a guess about it. Since this was his first time pastoring, he came to the conference for advice.

Of course Pastor Wayne was aware of lots of people having a limit to what they could bring with them, so he decided to pack up his Bible, a notebook, pencil, crossword puzzle, his wallet and clothes for the trip. That should be enough for his limit. He was never a big fan of books, but the only book he ever read was God's Word, and that made God very happy.

Pastor Wayne thought to himself that if he would be back in time for Sunday's message, it would make sense to become prepared to give a message to the Church congregation. He'd been busy praying about the flight for the conference. Here's what his prayer was:

"Father in Heaven, I may not know how You wanted to have me involved in this pastor conference that is coming up on Tuesday I have to attend since You wanted me involved with a few other pastors. When it is over, I would like to be back in New York before Sunday comes around again. I only paid to attend this conference for the week, but the Baptist Church means a lot to me. I know You are listening to this prayer, and Thank You for listening. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

When he finished saying that prayer, Pastor Wayne smiled to himself. He'd been a believer in Christ for almost twenty years now, and was smart enough to follow God's plans. He thought tnow was the right time to get started on packing up for the conference. He got up from his knees since prayer time ended. There was only one way for him to find out how many other ministers would also be there. He'd find that out when it was the day of the conference.

4: Chapter 4

Thirty – eight year – old Jose McCall, with chestnut hair and hazel eyes, was pretty nervous about this conference he was supposed to attend on Tuesday. He was with his daughter, Hailey and wife, Tonya.

"Daddy, don't go," Hailey told him.

"I'm afraid I have to, Hailey. I don't know what we are doing at this conference. I've survived several of them in the past."

"Your father's right," Tonya agreed.

"I know, Mom. I want Daddy to stay here and not attend that dumb conference."

"I understand, Hailey, but it's something I have to do. I'll be home in a week."

Hailey was their only child, and he and Tonya were very close to Hailey. When he finished saying that, he got up from the kitchen table to pour himself a second cup of coffee.

Jose McCall and his family live in Maryland. He looks exactly like his mother, whose name was Janice. She was the only parent he had left.

"I can drive you to the airport, Jose. Hailey can come with us to say good – bye," Tonya told him.

"Great idea. But first let me finish my coffee and grab my things and I will be good to go."

He was attending a conference that involved pastors. He still had no idea what to think about this sort of thing, but whatever it was, he going to find out.

5: Chapter 5

Mitchell Sanford wasn't very excited or nervous about this upcoming conference. He has done public speaking a lot of times, and here he was, attending a conference. He'd never been a big fan of conferences, but he has to do it. This time he was involved in a conference with a few other pastors, but the info he heard wasn't going to be very big at all.

Mitchell was in his twenties, a widower, no children and his mother and father, William and Tamara were still doing well for their health and ages. Since Mitchell was grown, he was still in college and is able to live on his own. He figured this out on his own the pastors who were involved in this conference were older and younger than himself.

He lives in Georgia. He'd always liked it in Georgia. This was where he was born and raised. He is now studying to become a pastor, so he would be new to this sort of thing, and might learn something on how to grow a church. He wasn't so sure if that would be something that would be brought up, but if that was what they were to talk about, this better be good, he thought to himself.

He was having supper with his folks tonight, but he did have a feeling his parents would bring up the conference. They usually showed interest in this sort of thing, but since he hadn't left yet, the conference could wait to be shared with William and Tamara when he came home from that conference. He planned to do just that.

Mitchell arrived at his parents' house several minutes later. Once he parked his vehicle in their driveway, William walked outside to greet his only child.

"Hello, Son. How was your day?" William asked, giving Mitchell a hug.

"It went okay, thank you for asking," Mitchell answered truthfully.

"That's good to hear. Come on inside and tell your mother hello. We're having steak with vegetables and fruit," William told Mitchell.

"I like steak. One of my favorites, you know," Mitchell reminded his father.

"How could your mother and I forget that one?" William said as he and Mitchell walked into the living room. Mitchell was smelling the steak for sure.

"Tamara, Mitchell's here!" William yelled.

"I heard," Tamara answered.

She didn't yell back to her husband. She never really liked people yelling. She was on the quiet side.

"Those steaks sure smell delicious, Mom. I never really thought about it."

Mitchell told Tamara the truth. She always made steak on the stove, and that was how Mitchell always liked it. Tamara walked over to her son and husband. That's when Mitchell and his mother gave one another a hug.

Mitchell decided to set the table.

"Dinner should be ready soon," Tamara told them.

"All right, Mom," Mitchell said when they finished hugging one another.

A few minutes later, Tamara called Mitchell and William to dinner. Once they sat down at the table, Tamara said, "So Mitchell,why don't you tell us again when you leave for the conference.?"

"I leave on Tuesday. I am beginning to think this conference would be a mix of older and younger people with their generation. If my guess is correct, I am thinking the topic might be on how to grow the church, but again I would be wrong."

"You will tell us about the conference?" William asked, reading his wife's mind.

"Of course I will tell you both when I get back," Mitchell promised.

"I'm sure you will be able to pass those courses in order to become a minister," Tamara told him.

"I'm working on it, Mom," he promised.

6: Chapter 6

Daphne was the first to show up for this conference. She was supposed to be a part of for this week. She still had to wait for the other three to show up. She hadn't been waiting very long enough until she saw the door open. She saw the person who walked in just then looked like he was in his forties. He had light brown hair and was nicely dressed, with a suit and tie.

He studied her once he closed the door behind himself.

"Are you here for the conference or are you here for another reason?" he asked Daphne.

"Of course I am involved in this conference. Who are you? I am waiting for three other pastors to show up," Daphne told the man.

"So I heard there were going to be four pastors involved. I don't remember how I was told about this conference. I am Pastor Wayne Larsen from New York," he answered and shook Daphne's hand.

He saw Daphne was a lot younger than himself. She was blonde with blue eyes, wore a purple and white dress with white pants and socks. She did look pretty for this week's conference.

"It's nice to meet you, Wayne. My name is Daphne Blake – Black."

He figured it out Daphne was married because he saw a wedding ring on her finger.

"I know you're married since I just saw that ring."

After Wayne said that to her, she thought he sounded like a good person.

"You look too young for this sort of job, Ms. Daphne. You look like you're in college," Wayne told her.

"I am still in school, but the Lord told me I should be a pastor in a church, so here I am. I'm on my second year and I have a few more years."

"That's cool, Ms. Daphne. It was a real pleasure to meet you."

Daphne could see that Wayne Larsen sounded very polite for his age. And professional, too, which was a good thing. The two of them didn't say much after that. They waited a while longer until Mitchell Sanford and Jose McCall to show up.

Pastor Wayne and Daphne chatted for a while longer until they saw another person walked in. Wayne and Daphne turned to look who just walked into the door. They both guessed he must be a part of this conference. Neither of them were good at judging ages, so they didn't bother with this guy.

He had chestnut hair and hazel eyes.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," Daphne and Wayne returned.

"Are you part of this conference?" Wayne asked.

"Yes, I am. What about you?"

"We are. I am Daphne Blake – Black," Daphne told him.

She let Wayne introduce himself to the guy they just met a minute ago.

"I am Wayne Larsen."

"Jose McCall. It's nice to meet you both," Jose said when he finished introducing himself.

"I don't think we met before," Daphne told Jose.

"I don't think so either. What congregation are you involved in?" Jose asked.

"Baptist," Wayne answered.

"I am foursquare."

"Nazarene," Jose said.

"How long have you been a pastor?" Wayne asked.

"I'd say about almost seven months, so I'm learning," Jose said, and then added, "what about you?"

He was looking in Wayne's direction.

"A year. I just got out," Wayne said.

"So, Wayne, what sort of message are you sharing with your Baptist church?" Daphne asked.

"Right now it's a series about grace. Last week I shared was from Exodus 33:19 and Numbers 6:25. I hope I can get a chance to work on next week's message if I get lucky to get home early, but I did mention to the church family I wouldn't be at the church Sunday."

"Good idea," Daphne said.

"What have you been sharing, Ms. Daphne?" Wayne asked.

"The message was from Genesis chapter one verse one when the Lord first created the heaven and earth."

"I would like to get back to the message. I will pick up again from Psalm 103:8," Wyane told them.

"That's a good message about gracious," Daphne reminded him.

"I know, Ms. Daphne. I'm going to switch back and forth. I could read a few Scriptures from the grace subject and we all can take turns," Wayne said.

"That's not a bad idea," Jose said and he watched as Daphne nodded in agreement.

"How big is your Baptist church?" Jose asked.

"Two services is what John Baptist church has," Wayne answered.

He looked at Daphne another time.

"Ms. Daphne, I have thought to myself that this conference was on how to let our home churches grow, but again I could be wrong."

"It really doesn't look like it to me since my church, the Church of the Messiah is big enough and we're still growing. I'm probably guessing we're just going to share Scriptures with one another."

"Never thought about it," Jose said and Wayne nodded.

"We can read them once we have enough people," Wayne said.

"How about if we do half now and the other half when the others are here?" Jose asked.

Daphne and Wayne both liked the idea.

"We can start right now," Daphne said.

"We can start with the three of us," Wayne replied.

"Good idea," Jose agreed.

"Why don't you start, Wayne?"

"I was thinking of letting you go first since you're a woman," Wayne told Daphne.

"He's right. Women are always first," Jose agreed.

"All right. I guess we should stick with your topic, Wayne. Does that make sense?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, Ms. Daphne. It does make sense. I'd like to share some of it to the Church family when I get back from this conference. I'm sure they found a guest speaker so they could listen to that person," Wayne said.

"Okay," Daphne said.

Before they could start, the door opened again. Wayne, Daphne and Jose watched to see who was coming in.

"Hello, everybody," the man said.

"Are you part of this conference?" Jose asked.

"You bet I am," he answered.

"Your name is?" Jose asked.

"Mitchell Sanford," he answered.

So the other three could see this Mitchell character was really young, but Jose guessed Mitchell and Daphne were almost the same again. Again he could be wrong.

Mitchell had gray eyes and chestnut hair. He had the same coloring as Jose did since his hair was also chestnut.

"If I'm Mitchell Sanford, who are all of you?" Mitchell asked.

"Daphne Blake – Black."

"Wayne Larsen."

"Jose McCall."

"Nice meeting you all. Jose, huh? That's Spanish, right? McCall doesn't sound like a Spanish name to me," Mitchell told him.

"Of course McCall isn't Spanish. My folks decided they liked the name, so here I am. I don't mind the name," Jose answered.

When Jose finished talking, all four of them turned to look at the door since it opened.

"Is this the conference room?" a woman asked.

Jose, Wayne, Mitchell and Daphne really didn't pay much attention to what the woman looked like.

"Yes, ma'am," Wayne answered.

"Your conference got cancelled. The other members of this conference had some airplane issues, so they ended up going back home. I do think that would be best for you all here," she said.

"Thank you for telling us some of us have just arrived," Mitchell told her truthfully.

"All right," Daphne said.

"Sorry about that," she added.

"Happens," Wayne said.

The woman shut the door behind her.

"I just thought of something," Jose said.

"What?" everyone asked.

"I understand we just met and got here. Why don't we keep in touch and we'll see what we can do in the future if we meet up again," Jose said.

"Good idea, Jose. I don't know why we didn't think about that earlier? How should we keep in touch? E – mail and facebook or telephone?" Daphne asked.

"Whatever works. I do have a facebook account but I usually am not on social media," Wayne said.

"Neither do any of us," Mitchell agreed.

Then he added, "When I get home, I'll be sure to look all of you on facebook."

"We'll look out for it," Jose told him.

Then all four of them left.

7: Chapter 7

Pastor Wayne saw that he was correct about coming home before Sunday. While on the plane ride back to New York, he was happy to have a chance to work on Sunday's message. He went to Psalm 103:8. He wrote the Scripture down.

GOD makes everything come out right;

He puts victims back on their feet.

He showed Moses how he went about his work,

Opened up his plans to all Israel.

GOD is sheer mercy and grace;

Not easily angered, he's rich in love.

Pastory Wayne then turned to Psalm 145:8. Here's what he read:

GOD is all mercy and grace –

Not quick to anger, is rich in love.

Wayne saw he liked from the Scripture, and every word of it is true. When he finished reading that, he said, "Amen!" Then he turned to Proverbs 16:24. Here's what he found:

Gracious speech is like clover honey –

Good taste to the soul, quick energy for the body.

"Another Amen from me, Father." He decided to flip over to Isaiah 30:18.

But GOD's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. GOD takes the time to do everything right – everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

Next came Matthew 11:26. Here's what Wayne saw:

Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: "Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You're concealed your ways from sophisticates and know – it – alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work.

Last, but not least, he paid a visit to Luke 4:22.

All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, "Isn't this Joseph's son, the one we've known since he was a youngester?"

Wayne saw he was finished with his series, but planned to continue where he and the congregation left off. He got home around 9:25 PM that night. After putting his things down, he went to check facebook for a few minutes. So he did just that. He saw when he logged in, there were a few friend requests. Before accepting, he decided it made sense to see who wanted to be friends with him.