Ramifications: Day 20

Word Total: 120,027

Year to Date: 990,115

Summary of Events:

Dom read an e-mail from his mother talking about how she wanted him to move to Melbourne and vented his frustrations to Bethany a little bit. Lachlan tailed the Golden Shadow to an unknown location and managed to burst in on his attempted sale of the package Lachlan was looking for, which he successfully got away with. Dom got a call from his mother, who told him that she and his father were planning to start a homeless shelter in Melbourne, and wanted him to run it. Lachlan met Harrison and gave him the recovered package.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Dom sighed. "Course, whether or not we have children is beside the point."

"And vhat is the point?" Mama asked.

"I am not leaving Brisbane," Dom replied firmly.

"I vill send you pictures of the varehouse and logo designs," Mama declared. "You vill vant to come to Melbourne vhen you see how nice and fashionable ve make your homeless shelter here."

"I have no care or desire to have a fashionable homeless shelter," Dom said, measured and forceful. "The one I have is working just fine, and will be working even better once we've made use of the million dollars you've so graciously gifted us. I will not leave it; not because I consider my fellow volunteers inept and incapable of managing it without me — they've proved more than capable in these recent months for a variety of reasons — but because this is where I want to be. More importantly, this is where, I believe, God wants me to be. I will only leave if it is Him leading me."

"It is important to be close to family!" Mama protested. "It says in the Bible."

"No," Dom replied. "It says both that man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and that we are, as believers, to go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Now, certainly, I have not left Australia, but I am somewhere else in the world making disciples of Jesus, and I'm staying here until He tells me to move on."

"You are so selfish Dominik," Mama pouted.

"Selfish?" Dom asked. "You really think I'm selfish?"

"Yes," Mama replied.

"I am not Mama," Dom said quietly. "If you were to come here, to Brisbane, and talk to to all the people I know, they would never tell you that I'm selfish. The only one who's being selfish here is you."

"I vould never be selfish Dominik," Mama replied, aghast.

"You and Father need to spend some serious time in thought about your relationship with me," Dom said. "That's the only way you'll find out which one of us is right. And, so you know, I have no interest in hearing from you until you have thoroughly thought on the matter."

He set the receiver down without bothering to listen for whatever rejoinder Mama might have to that comment and shoved to his feet.

Running his fingers through his hair, Dom sighed. He could hardly believe it. His parents were going to literally start a homeless shelter in Melbourne in efforts to lure him down there."

Unsurprisingly, I am, again, a

Check back for the Year-End Summary on November 25.