Not Good Enough, my contribution to THE ELI DIARIES series, is available now!
The brainchild of prolific author, Bill Myers, this series asks the question, “What if Jesus were in high school today?” With that question in mind, Bill asked a few of us to write stories from the perspective of one of the biblical characters: Mary Magdalene (Maggie), Judas (Jude), Thomas (Tommy), Martha, and Peter (Pete).
Jesus, in this series, is called Eli, and each character interacts with Him in different ways. And each character, at this point in the story, is still a seeker of Truth. None, as yet, are followers.
When Bill called me to discuss writing Martha’s stories, I laughed. He saw Martha, pre-salvation, as a hypocritical, holier-than-thou pharisee whose “goody two-shoes” mindset prevented her from truly seeing that Eli is God’s son. I laughed because I have been that girl. I am, in the words of a favorite writer, a recovering pharisee myself.
From there, the story fell into place. Martha has two younger siblings – Mary and Laz. I have three children: two girls and a boy. Friends and family who read this will recognize elements of my children in the dialogue between these siblings. Friends and family will see quite a bit of “real life” in several of the characters, as a matter of fact. Writers are told to “write what you know,” and so that is what I tried to do.
Those of us who know God’s word know that Martha ended up being a devoted follower of Jesus. This project has allowed me to consider how she got there. It has been an exciting experiment. It has also been enlightening – as I expose Martha’s hypocrisy, I see my own. I, too, struggle to ‘earn’ God’s favor. I struggle with equating being good with being righteous. I also am in desperate need of the Grace of God, even though I don’t always recognize that need.
This is the first of Martha’s stories. There will be more in the coming months. Please read this and the other stories in this series, as this “world” is intertwined. And, if you enjoy them, please consider leaving a review.
