Our Story Improv has really taken off! It'll be open all day today so please add-a-line. Have fun!
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Jordyn Esquire perched on the edge of her seat, soaking in the words of Mr. Daniel T. Jacobs like a thirsty sponge. Okay, so he was her law professor and maybe she shouldn't feel the heat rush into her cheeks with every defined syllable he crooned, but she was a woman. And what a man he was! He was tall -- tall like a utility pole, straight and unwavering. In fact, his skin was rough, also pole-like. And he mumbled, and Jordyn thought, that if poles could talk, they would ramble on, like Professor Jacobs did.
Rambled. She sighed. She was sorry this class was only three hours long.
His preaching had captivated her heart months ago, but now, as he passionately expounded on the scriptures in the book of Ruth, she couldn't help but feel that somehow she was being swept into the arid fields where Ruth was gleaning, and hearing the rich laugh of Boaz as he invited, not Ruth, but her, to come and rest herself a while, and enjoy his pleasant company. She blushed, embarrassed at her lack of focus. A question had tiptoed its way into her distracted thoughts: could Mr. Daniel T. Jacobs be the Boaz she had so longed for?
A sudden wave of conflicting emotions crashed over her conscience, until the reverberating tones of a male voice dragged her from the dreamy gleaning fields into the coolness of the lecture hall...
"Jordyn, are you all right? You look quite ill..."
"Um.....uh.....yes......YES! I'm fine," she lied. She asked if she could be excused for a moment and without waiting for an answer, she snatched her things from the well worn desk and rushed out the door. Jordyn didn't notice that Mr. Jacobs had followed her out.
"Good goin, Jordyn," she whispered to herself as her heels clacked down the hall of the Christian college. She doubted Ruth felt so fuzzy-headed laying at Boaz's feet as she herself did sitting under Daniel's teaching. And he'd noticed her distraction! Ugh, how embarrassing!
"Wait a second, hold up!"
Jordyn heard Daniel call her from down the hall. She stopped and turned, waiting on him.
He walked toward her. Not too close, she hoped. It was far easier to look him in the eye when he was ten feet away. That's the trouble with tall people.
"Have you selected your topic for your research paper?" He peered over his glasses. But then he squinted. Then he pushed his glasses back on his nose. "That's better. Your paper. Have you selected the topic yet?"
Jordyn was taken aback. The paper wasn't due for weeks. Why would he need to know now? Why is he so concerned? Did he chase other women out of his class to answer that question? Jordyn was nervous, nervous like she might say the wrong thing, like she do the wrong thing, like she might babble incoherently.
"I picked agricultural practices."
"That's a little broad, don't you think?" His glasses slipped down his face, but that couldn't be helped. He had to look down to talk to her.
She swallowed. "Specifically gleaning and how it builds togetherness."
"Togetherness?"
"I mean, community." She swallowed again. He would read every word she wrote. "The gleaning was the central activity of the village. It's where people came together."
"Together." He smiled. "Look forward to reading it. See you Wednesday."
Then he turned and went back into the lecture hall.
Jordyn felt her legs go wobbly. Jordyn watched Mr. Jacobs walk back into his classroom without even a glance back in her direction.
"Why does he distract me so?" she wondered to herself. "I really need to get refocused here. I need to spend some time alone with Jesus.
Jordyn turned around and walked briskly to her car. She threw her books and things onto the seat next to her and just sat there. Jordyn's eyes closed as she prayed silently. She sat there for a long time and must have fallen asleep because she woke with a start to the sound of someone knocking on her window.
It was Rhonda.
Jordyn did not need her RA in her face again. Rhonda's face was scrunched up like a wad of paper.
Jordyn rolled down her car window. "Hi."
"You can't do that."
"I can't sit in my car?"
"You can't date instructors. You know this. You signed the honor code."
Rhonda's furrowed brow and little black widow's peak made her look evil. But Jordyn shouldn't think that. Rhonda was made in the image of God, even though she looked like she needed a slap.
"I'm not dating anybody, certainly not an instructor."
"Oh really?" Rhonda tilted her head in such a way that Jordyn wanted to pull her hair. That wasn't as bad as a slap, was it?
"Really! I have bigger and better things to for God than that!" Jordyn turned on the car's ignition and pulled out of the parking space. She cranked up Michael W. Smith and gunned her Escort as much as she thought was acceptable at their conservative little Bible College.
After five blocks and countless "cleansing breaths", Jordyn calmed down enough to realize she had carpooled to campus with her roommate Lilly . . . and had just left her stranded. As she headed back she found her Escort not threading through traffic, but sheaves. And a manly voice was saying "Glean in my field only, Daughter."
Wait, no. It was saying "Get a move on, Ditz!" She'd stopped at the green and held up a line of cars.
"Glean in my field only, Daughter."
If there was ever a confirmation for Jordyn that she should lay down her life for the unreached peoples of the world, this was it. The harvest was ready and the workers were few, right? She was going to go, right after graduation, right after she finished her language studies and missionary training. She was on her way, out of this little college town, out from under the watchful eyes of legalistic do-gooders like Rhonda, away from distracting Old Testament professors whose eyes were so distracting. Once she was in the mission field, doing big things for God, she wouldn't have any of this and God could use her to change lives.
Lilly was standing at the corner of Calvin and Knox Streets. Her arms were crossed and Jordyn could tell from a block away that she was angry.
BUILDING A BRIDGE
My favorite thing to hear from a reader is that they were moved to tears while reading my book. I know that if I can reach their heart with emotion, it may be soft enough for the Lord to plant a seed. For that to happen, readers must be able to identify or empathize with the characters. By creating characters who experience the same life issues that our readers struggle with, and showing how the Lord carries them through and teaches them, we are evangelizing. It doesn't matter if the story is a fantasy, historical, or a contemporary piece. The human heart has always been in a state of separation from God and the pain of sin is a universal theme. If a reader forms an emotional connection to a character, she will follow their journey. If she can see herself reflected in that character's sin and regret, fears and doubts, she will also catch a glimpse of herself being loved by the Almighty. When a character encounters Christ, the reader has a brush with Him as well. 
Any interesting stories or anecdotes about the two of us? 
1) Rich
My coffee cup collection is very dear to my heart. I didn't set out to "collect" mugs. It just sort of happened. They each are special for different reasons and make me feel a certain way when I use them.
Hi Elaine! I'm so excited to be interviewing you for my blog. Since being your hostess on COTT, I've known you'd be someone I wanted to keep in touch with. Thanks for taking the time for this! 
The core of The Road to Deer Run is a love story set during the American Revolution. It involves the unexpected discovery of a wounded and dying British soldier on the farm owned by a family of Patriots. The oldest daughter from the farm, Mary Thomsen, discovers him barely hanging onto life. Despite her hatred for the British—the enemy responsible for her brother’s death in the War—Mary’s heart of compassion is stirred and she decides that her Christian responsibility is to provide him comfort in his illness. This of course causes havoc in the household as the family becomes a party to providing comfort to the enemy. Despite the tension between their political beliefs, barriers are slowly broken down between the soldier (Daniel) and Mary as affection begins to bloom. Decisions need to be made as tensions grow and forces that oppose their relationship loom on the horizon, threatening to disrupt everyone’s happiness. 
