🎵 Dramatic music swells 🎵

In a world where kindness is overlooked and dreams are just whispers in the wind, one girl rises from the ashes…

But the clock is ticking. ⏰

• A midnight deadline.
• A lost shoe.
• A moment that will redefine her destiny.

🌌 Over the last three days, you’ve journeyed with her—through the shadows, the heartbreak, and the glimmers of magic. Now, as we approach New Year’s Eve, the tension mounts. What secrets does Episode 4 hold? Will the prince find her in time? Will she discover her worth before it’s too late?

🎇 And when the clock strikes 12… everything changes. 🎇

As our midnight service rings in the New Year, Cinderella’s story reaches its breathtaking climax.

🔮 This is your moment. Your last chance to take advantage of your end-of-the-year donation.

Catch up on past episodes, dive into Episode 4, and prepare for the grand finale.

Because this isn’t just Cinderella’s story—it’s yours.

A story of transformation, hope, and renewal… just in time for the New Year.

⏳ The clock is ticking. Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss a second.

📖 Catch up on Episodes 1–3 and read Episode 4 today.

🌟 Mark your calendars for the grand finale at our New Year’s Eve midnight service.

✨ This is more than a story—it’s an invitation to step into the magic.

https://wordmasteracademy.net/cindyella/episode1.pdf

https://wordmasteracademy.net/cindyella/episode2.pdf

https://wordmasteracademy.net/cindyella/episode3.pdf

Episode Four: A Step of Faith

by Terri Main

Cindy pulled open the door to the exhibit hall. She had been to trade shows since she was in grade school. She would be Daddy’s Little Helper in the booth when the company was just him and her after her mother passed. Later, she set up the booth so Kathryn and her daughters had time to do their hair and makeup.

Still, she loved the controlled chaos of the setup activity. Everyone rushed about. Banners were raised. Folding tables were locked into place. There was a prevailing sense of purpose.

But this time it was different. She was no longer anyone’s helper; she was the one in charge. Instead of promoting someone else’s product, she was promoting her own.

The questions swirled through her head.

What if no one likes the program?

What if they ask questions I can’t answer?

What if I just freeze or mumble?

What if they are right, and I am useless?

What if…

She almost turned to Carolyn to say, “Just call it off. I like my cubicle.”

But Carolyn wasn’t there. Her stepmother needed her to set up Kathryn’s booth. “Besides,” she had said to Cindy. “This is your day. This is your opportunity. You have to take this step of faith on your own. Trust your team. You need something; they are more than capable of getting the job done.”

Cindy paused momentarily, straightened up, and began to walk between the booths to the far corner of the hall. Carolyn had arranged for a corner booth. As she crossed the cavernous space, she examined the booths that were being set up. Each booth set off from the others with heavy indigo-blue curtains. Some of the names were familiar to her. Most, however, she had never heard before. This is not surprising. This event was to showcase start-ups and smaller tech firms for investors. Microsoft, Google, and Apple don’t need to court investors.

As she approached booth 52, she saw Angelina standing out in front of the booth, giving directions.

“Just a bit further to the left. A bit higher. There. That’s perfect.”

Cindy peeked around the edge of the booth. Perfectly centered above the table was an oval sign reading DocMatch – Your Health Care Connection.

“Oh, there you are,” Angelina said, whirling around. “How do you like the sign? We just finished it this morning. Even with magic, there are always tweaks to be made. Trying different fonts and different backgrounds. Our first draft had a stethoscope hanging over a computer, but that seemed a bit much.”

“It looks amazing,” Cindy said with conviction. “You’ve done a great job. I would have liked to have been here earlier, but I had to get my stepmother and her daughters prepped for today’s show. I may have to take off if they call and want something.”

“That won’t happen,” Angelina said, shaking her head. “Carolyn won’t let it happen. If she needs something, they will find it, have it delivered, or discover they don’t need it. She is very resourceful.”

“Ouch!” Oscar scurried out from under the table. “That blasted screwdriver slipped and cut my hand.”

“I didn’t know magical people could get hurt,” Cindy whispered.

“Oh, we’re not magical. We are mortal, just like you. Only the FGMs are immortal”. We are the support staff. If we need the magic, we have devices that are charged up with the stuff. But we mostly do things that ordinary humans do with much more interesting tools. Hey, if you ever get tired of the business world, you could join up. Not many techies are comfortable around magic.”

“I’m not sure I am,” said Cindy. “But I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Do it. FGMAs get all the best toys.” Oscar said.

“FGMAs?”

“Fairy Godmother Aides. Now, come around the other side. I need to show you what you have to work with.”

Cindy followed Oscar behind the table. He lifted the tablecloth to reveal a nondescript black cube about one foot on each side.

“That’s your supercomputer.”

“You mean that’s my connection to the computer.” Cindy corrected.

“No, that’s the computer. It has roughly one million times the computing capacity of your laptop.”

Cindy just stared at the box.

“That small box is…”

“Duh… Magic.”

“Yeah right. It takes some getting used to.” She said, thinking about what her friends back at MIT would feel about her using a magical supercomputer given to her by her Fairy Godmother.

Oscar reached into a box and handed her a laptop.

“I have my own laptop.” Cindy pulled it out of the new stylish tote that Anthony had picked out for her.

“That’s cute. But not like this one. It is absolutely secure and has a ethereal connection to the supercomputer. That one would not be able to handle the bandwidth you will be using.”

Cindy frowned. She liked her laptop. She got it in college and had done her own upgrades.

Oscar put his hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry. I know how we get attached to our own equipment. Hey, I don’t use this magic-enhanced stuff for my own projects. I doubt if my computer has an original part in it. This one is just for today. You need a magical laptop to connect with a magical supercomputer.”

For the next two hours, Cindy and her crew set up the table, arranged the goodie bags, and reviewed the marketing materials.

“So, I see you are keeping the team on task.” Carolyn stood on the other side of the table. “I hope you like the chairs. These venues provide those cheap plastic folding chairs. You’re going to be here for 8-10 hours. You need something comfortable to sit in during the slow hours.”

Cindy rushed out from behind the table and threw her arms around the woman. “Thank you so much for all of this. This is literally a dream come true.”

“No problem. Making dreams come true is right in our mission statement,” Carolyn glanced back across the room. “I’d better get back to your family. They have kept me running.”

“I’m sure they have. Better you than me,” Cindy almost felt guilty about her quip, but just almost.

“Good luck,” Carolyn said as she walked away. “Remember, dreams do come true.”

* * *

“Grab those packets. Get those business cards on the table. Adjust that sign. It’s crooked.” Kathryn barked orders to workers she hired from the venue. Carolyn put her hand on Kathryn’s shoulder.

“Take it easy. They know what they are doing. Let them do their jobs. Everything will be fine. Let’s sit down. Have a cup of jasmine tea.” Carolyn handed Kathryn a porcelain steaming cup and poured one for herself.

“How did you know? I love jasmine tea. I was introduced to it by a woman I met in college. She was a kind of mentor. No, that’s not right. That word is so overused. She just came into my life occasionally. She visited the coffee shop where I worked. Sometimes she ordered an exotic latte, but most of the time she chose jasmine tea.

“She came in usually when there was nobody else in the place. I would sit and talk to her about my dreams. She’s the one I told you about who helped me apply to college. Her name was Carolyn, too. Carolyn – something. Funny I can’t remember her last name. I don’t even remember exactly what she looked like.”

Kathryn sighed. “That was a long time ago before I had to face the harsh realities of the real world of business. Remember what it was to be young and idealistic? Simpler times.”

“Were they really simpler or were we simpler?” Carolyn suggested. “Maybe what’s changed hasn’t been our circumstances but our perceptions. In youth, we don’t take the challenges of life so seriously. Or we run toward them instead of away from them. As we get older and more successful, we tend to become more cautious. We improve our products instead of creating new ones. We protect the brand instead of taking the risk of failure.”

“If you mean, I’m not reckless, that’s true. Protecting the brand is the job of a CEO. We have to watch the balance sheets. We can’t afford to take chances.” Kathryn glanced around cautiously, “Just the other day, Cindy came to me with this program she’s working on. Great idea. People can input their symptoms, location, and insurance information and get a referral online to a specialist. She called it DocMatch. I’m not sure about the name. Anyway, it’s a great idea, but it would take millions of dollars to set up the program, buy space on servers, connecting doctors, insurance companies, and payment platforms.

“We don’t have that type of capital and we are known for our financial services software. It would be a huge risk and totally off-brand.”

Kathryn smiled, “You know what she wants to do with it? She wants to provide it free of charge to homeless shelters and free clinics. Silly girl!”

“It sounds like you are a bit proud of her.”

Kathryn glared at Carolyn. “Proud? Not on your life. She’s a dreamer like her father.”

“But you loved her father.”

“Yes, I loved him. He was the light of my life. But he lived in a fantasy world. He didn’t deal with reality. Not even when he got sick. He was working on a project for some nonprofit group. He wouldn’t go to the doctor. He thought he would get better on his own. And he died! And that girl is the same way. They were two peas in a pod.” Kathryn’s voice cracked a bit.

She stood up quickly. “Carolyn, I appreciate your concern, but you are my marketing consultant, not my therapist. Now, let’s discuss where to place these posters for best effect.”

* * *

The day flew by for Cindy. If there was a slow time, she certainly didn’t see it. Karen was running constantly to keep the goodie bags filled and on the table. Most guests were just curious. But that’s common at such events. But a few took a copy of the prospectus and indicated a real interest.

When the crowd thinned a bit Cindy reached into the mini refrigerator Oscar installed under the table to grab a Fresca.

“I got a call from a Carolyn Hatch. She seemed well-connected. She said I should check out this booth.”

Cindy almost jumped up and hit her head on the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, she is —”

Standing in front of her was Sam Prince. He had changed his casual wear to a business suit, but his hair was still rumpled.

“You?” They both said simultaneously.

“So, you are presenting at the conference? I thought you said you weren’t.” Sam said with a playfully accusatory tone.

“I wasn’t lying to you,” she explained quickly. “I wasn’t planning on it, but my – uh – friend convinced me to do a presentation. She put me in touch with some people and threw this together.”

“They’re good people. This is one of the best booths at this event.”

“They are good people,” said Cindy, pointing to the three. “That’s Oscar, my tech support; Angelina is the marketing consultant who put together all these materials. And Karen is my good right hand. She keeps things running smoothly around here.”

“It’s important to have a good team,” agreed Sam. “I always say that half of my success comes from my team. Actually, 80 percent of it comes from my team, but don’t tell them I said that.”

They both laughed.

“So, tell me about your program. Maybe we can do some business.”

“Well, Oscar helped me set up a digital mockup of the program filled with a few thousand sample doctor profiles. Want to see how it works?”

For the next couple of hours, Cindy and Sam talked about programming, business, books, movies, and life in general.

“So, Connie kept flirting with this prospective client on the phone without knowing he was Cardinal Logan from the Arch Diocese.” Sam laughed a huge laugh while Cindy’s crew smiled and cast knowing glances at each other.

Brinnggg!

“It’s my stepmother,” Cindy said, stepping away from the booth. “Hello.”

“This conference is a bust. No one is interested in investing. They just want the free pens. We’re leaving. Meet you back at the hotel in two hours. I changed our reservations; we will leave on the red eye tonight.”

“Oh, my God,” Cindy yelled. “We’ve got to get out of here. I have to leave now. Mrs. Helstrom is leaving. I need to get back to the hotel in two hours. We need to pack this all up.”

Cindy turned to Sam. “I’ve got to leave. We have to pack all this stuff up. My family moved up our departure. I’m so sorry. I had a great time. You probably should check out other booths. You wasted too much time here.”

“I don’t consider it a waste of time at all. Most of these things are deadly dull. Nobody is coming up with anything really new, trying to pass off an upgraded copy of existing tech as innovation. Talking to you about something truly different was a pleasure. I often have business in Portland. Maybe I’ll stop by your offices some time.”

“I would like that. I really would, but I have to go now.” Cindy was torn between spending a few more minutes saying goodbye and fearing what would happen if her stepmother found out she defied her and did her own presentation.

“Go, Get out of here,” said Karen. “We’ll take care of this stuff.”

“Oh, okay,” Cindy said, grabbing her tote and almost running for the door.

Sam shook his head and smiled.

As Karen gathered up the stack of prospectuses, Sam stopped her.

“Here. Let me have one of those. Oh, and I need a card. I may want to give her a call sometime.”

A Step of Faith

Faith is an interesting concept. Most people think about it in emotional terms, as if it is a feeling. Others are more philosophical and consider it a belief in something with or without proof. At a certain level, those perceptions may apply, but true faith does not reveal itself in either thoughts or feelings but in actions.

James articulated it succinctly: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17). Throughout the “Faith Chapter” in Hebrews 11, the writer employs the phrase “by faith” followed by actions taken by various Old Testament patriarchs and prophets.

In today’s episode, Cindy takes a leap of faith. She does not know if anyone will stop by her booth, but one thing is certain: if she does not, her failure is assured.

Stepping out in faith is hard and scary. Anyone who has ever entered a ministry, whether lay or professional, has experienced that moment of doubt when they question whether this is God’s will.

This doesn’t mean people shouldn’t make preparations, explore options, and manage risks up to a certain point. However, there comes a moment when it is necessary to stop preparing and begin acting without any guarantee of success.

Our “Building for the Future / 2025 Vision” includes three main objectives and supporting activities designed to promote a vibrant, interactive community through strategic outreach, improved online engagement, enhanced community involvement, and increased opportunities for collective growth.

These are bold steps of faith, and we invite you to join us. Your end-of-year donations will help make them possible. Click here to donate.

Step out in faith with us today.