[Joshua 5:15] And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

There were two houses he went to only because the mother of his sons wanted to, and his sons went to the kids' ministries. The first was the new thing of that season, the new van and the latte and coffee in the church, and nobody told that Jesus was pierced in His side, that Adam is the sign, that the bride comes out of the side. It was a house called Rockbridge. They like to build a bridge over the rock, and he was trying to explain to them who the rock was. Its pastor's church was like a gathering of all the churches; his assistant pastor spoke in tongues, but he did not. The way did not really go there, but the Comforter was there. The way saw him go up and take care of that pastor, moving his pulpit, bringing him water, whatever he needed, and he saw him be a heart to comfort the pastor at the other house too. The way did not really know him yet.

In 2010 he wrote to the pastor of Rockbridge, and to the pastor of the other house, the two biggest churches in Dalton in his eyes, and told them both about the one who came from the one, probably not so eloquently. The pastor of the other house was upset that he was included, and never answered; he only told him in person, don't do that. The pastor of Rockbridge wrote back, I don't understand what you're saying. I don't think Jesus claimed that about himself. Jesus claimed to be God himself. Are you talking about my church, or the church as a whole? And the way wrote back to them both, yes, the church as a whole, and I think you understand exactly what I'm saying; you seem to clarify it pretty well. And he explained it further. No answer came.

The second house was where she had friends. He said, I'm going to my church. She said, I'm going here. So sometimes he went with her, and God showed up for him there, big. He stood as who he is, said what he said, and saw what he saw. He will not not say it, and he will not not see it. That same year, on an Easter morning, while he was contending with the pastors, he came in with a Starbucks in his hand and sat in an unusual spot in the back, with seven or eight people on both sides of him. Here came the Spirit: take off your shoes. He took them off. Here came the Spirit: come out and worship me. And he said, no, no, come on. Under his breath he said, speak to someone else. What are they going to have, eight more minutes of worship? A young man began to cry at the front, and the way only noticed because he came up on the stage and took the microphone out of the pastor's hand. He said, I haven't been a good Christian lately, but God just spoke to me, and He said, turn around. So I turned around. And then God said to me, do you see anyone in here worshiping anything? And the young man rebuked the whole church and said, I have to be honest, I didn't see anybody worshiping anything. So I don't know if God's telling you to lift your hands, or come up front, but please do it. The way felt very small. He said, God, I know you told me to come out and worship you. And God said, what do you mean? You just said under your breath to speak to someone else, so I did. Afterward he went to the pastor and told him what had happened, and asked him, did you think it was odd, what that young man did? It is time for the way to see that he is in the way. He knows the way. He has a job to do. It is time to dig, dig, dig.

That same year the Spirit told him to follow a man in a white pickup truck, on a day that was not a Sunday, and he said, I'm not doing that. It came again another day, and finally he did, all the way to the man's parents' driveway, near the yellow house, and he said, hey, God told me to follow you. I live over there. Come see me sometime. And he did. He came while the way was trying to start his weedeater, and got it running, and there in the way's driveway by the mailbox he told him about the tongues. The way thought it would be news to him. He already spoke in them, and had gotten six of his friends speaking in tongues that same year. That man is the Comforter.

Then God said, she has to choose you. He said nothing to her, and the mother of his sons said, I can't choose you. She already knew. The night she said she did not want to know him anymore, he went and cut the widow's grass next door, and killed a serpent in it. Two days later, after church on the Sunday, the widow came over, and in front of the mother of his sons she looked her in the eyes and said, son, that ain't your wife. Those were her words. And the mother of his sons huffed off, saying, I don't have to take this, because she knew what was happening. The woman who stands beside the well digger and cannot stand the well is not for the man, and never could be.

On the eighth day a prophet told him he was waiting on someone else to move. Take My hand, he said. Follow Me. I am leading you. I am guiding you. There is a cloud over your life now, and you cannot see the sun, but on the other side it is brighter than it has ever been. He was not talking about his own hand. Years later the way saw that prophet at a gas station and said, do you remember me? And he said, no, I don't remember you. Really, the way said. I guess you've given so many words you don't remember them all.

That fall the Comforter moved to Colorado, and soon after he called on the very day the way hurt the most. The way sat in his own living room with his back against the wall, broken, and said, I'm doing pretty bad. The Comforter prayed for him in the name of Jesus, and the way felt an invisible hand touch his head.

He dreamed the double doors of that second house threw him out, and he turned around and found himself sitting back inside. In that same dream the roof of that house opened, and the sunshine came in. They may put the messenger out, but the One who came from the One never leaves.

Long before, in the years when the way was a boy of twelve and fifteen and the prophets were speaking over him, a prophet gave his father and mother a word: something like, the great end time move of God will come through your daughter. They had three sons and no daughter, and they never received it.