Summer Love: Interview with Yvonne Anderson, author of “First Love”

Interview with Yvonne Anderson, author of “First Love” (short story):

Alexis: What inspired you to write this story, “First Love”?

Yvonne: About a year ago, some of my online writer friends discussed the possibility of doing a novella collection with the theme of tiny houses. Because I write speculative fiction, my initial reaction was to say, “That’s not for me.” But as I followed the discussion, I began to think it sounded like fun, so I asked if I could play too. The others said, “Sure, you can write about finding love in a tiny house on Mars or something.”

Tempting as that was, I thought my contribution would fit the collection better if it were contemporary fiction. Searching for an earthbound topic, I remembered the field at the top of the hill behind the place where my husband and I lived for 29 years. I used to think it would be nice to put a little house up there. This was my opportunity to do just that: in my story, I put a tiny house on the edge of that field, then imagined who might want to live there and why.

Alexis: Tell me about your story’s heroine Minda Miller. Describe her looks, personality, and heart. What is her most major character flaw?

Yvonne: Minda is an ordinary middle aged Christian. With a charming husband, one married daughter, an adorable Norwich terrier, and a nice house in the suburbs, she was content with her life until… well, you bring that up in your next question. Character flaw: she tends to be superficial. She figures if something looks good, it probably is good, so she’s more concerned with appearances than the substance beneath the veneer.

Alexis: Tell us about Minda’s husband. What is his name? Why did he, after 30 years of marriage, leave Minda for a girl who was younger than her daughter?

Yvonne: Minda’s husband—or rather, ex-husband, by the time the story opens—is named Leonard. Not Leonard Miller, because after the divorce, Minda took back her married name. I never actually gave him a last name in the story. He’s just Leonard. He had always been drawn to sweet young things, and the girl he ran off with was not his first affair. The older he grew, the older his wife grew (funny how that happens) and the more he dissatisfied he became with her age. The whole scenario is sad, and the worst part is, he’d been a Christian since he was a teenager. Makes me shudder! But he put his fleshly desires above everything else and fell for the devil’s lies.

Alexis: How does her husband’s cheating and scandal affect Minda’s heart?

Yvonne: Minda is deeply hurt, of course. Savagely betrayed. Having fallen head-over-heels for Leonard when they were young, she’d devoted her life to him ever since—and this is how he repays her? She’s vengeful enough to make sure her attorney got every last penny out of the scoundrel that was legally possible. Once that’s accomplished, she resolves to take the money and make a fresh start, to do what she wants instead of styling her life to suit Leonard. That’s when she decides to go back to the rural community where she lived as a child. She buys a piece of property, puts a tiny house on it, and prepares to make a new life for herself.All the while, she’s aware she needs to forgive Leonard, that she’ll never be whole again until she does. She never used to have any trouble forgiving people, but she’d never been seriously offended before. This is different, though. There’s nothing small about this offense, and nothing easy about forgiving it. The inner struggle causes her to re-evaluate her relationship with the Lord.

Alexis: How does this heartbreak affect her faith in God?

Yvonne: Her relationship with the Lord has been casual up to this point, but real, and she has just enough faith to not blame God for what’s happened—she blames only Leonard. No matter how hard she tries, though, she can’t summon the grace to forgive and doesn’t know how to find that grace in the Lord.

Alexis: Where does Minda move to start over? Why did she choose to build a tiny house and settle in there? Does she have kids from her marriage? If so, where are they at this point?

Yvonne: The rural area where she lived until she was ten years old represents her pre-Leonard years, which in her memory were rosy and unencumbered. So when she learns of ten acres listed at a must-sell price, and at the same time stumbled upon a bargain price on a lightly used tiny house, she pounces on both and puts them together. She and Leonard have a married daughter. The couple is on the mission field in Peru.

Alexis: Who was Minda’s first love? What made her fall in love with him? Do they reunite in this story?

Yvonne: Minda met a boy at Vacation Bible School the summer before kindergarten. Though both were only five years old, they formed a close connection in that short week, and she never forgot about him. 

Alexis: Who are Dan and Becca? What role do they play in this story?

Yvonne: Minda bought the property from them. They live in the big house at the foot of the hill upon which Minda’s tiny house sits. Because they’re neighbors, she sees them now and then, but I don’t want to say too much about their roles lest I spoil the story.

Alexis: Describe Dan. Talk about his looks, personality, and heart. What would you say is his most major character flaw? 

Yvonne: Like Minda, Dan is rather average in the looks department. Average height, weight, and like many men his age, he’s gray and balding. He recently retired from the military, where he served as a chaplain. He has a heart for the lost and the hurting, but he sometimes tends to be a bit impatient. He wants to step in and fix things, but some things can’t be easily fixed.

Alexis: What is it about Dan that makes Minda want to know more?

Yvonne: Nothing, really. He seems like a nice enough neighbor, but she’s had it with men at this point. Besides, isn’t he married to Becca? She doesn’t even want to accept his help with her washed-out driveway after a rainstorm. She’d rather let him and Becca live their lives down in the valley and keep to herself up on the hill.

Alexis: What is it about Minda that draws Dan in?

Yvonne: Her unusual name. He once knew another Minda many years ago and has fond memories of her.

Alexis: How does Minda realize that Jesus Christ is her First Love? Explain how that affects the story arc.

Yvonne: Though she’s been praying about her inability to forgive for a long time, she’s not making any progress. But you know, when we pray, God always hears, even when we don’t see an immediate result. The phrase first came up one Sunday when a pastor quoted Revelation 2:4, “thou hast left thy first love”, and all she could think was that it wasn’t she who’d left her first love; Leonard did. It just fueled her anger. Later on, she runs across the same passage during her personal Bible reading. This time, recent experiences cause her to realize that Jesus was her first love. Not Chris, and not Leonard. She’d come to Christ as a teenager, but after meeting Leonard, she elevated him above the Lord in her affections. Realizing that she left her First Love, but He’s forgiven her, fills her with such amazement and gratitude that she finds in Him the grace to forgive Leonard. This changes everything for her.

Alexis: What’s the moral of this story?

Yvonne: We can’t make ourselves be godly, no matter how hard we try. But when Jesus is truly the Lord of our lives, everything else falls into place.

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Yvonne! Do you have any closing comments?

Yvonne: Thank you for allowing me to stop by! Your interview questions were great—definitely not the same old routine. Love it!

~*~

Author Bio:

Yvonne Anderson writes fiction that takes you out of this world.

Usually, that means out of this world and into outer space, or to another planet, as in her acclaimed Gateway to Gannah series (Book 1, The Story in the Stars, was an ACFW Carol Award finalist in 2012).

In addition to this tiny house collection, she’s preparing to launch a new multi-phase speculative fiction adventure, The Four Lives of J. S. Freeman. As with the Gannah series, the story is set on a fictional planet, but the characters are human. Very human. You probably know some of them. 

Look for the first part of Book 1, Stillwaters, coming soon on ebook.

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Book blurb for the Coming Home story collection: Tiny houses are all the rage these days, but what can you do with something so small? Here are seven stories about people chasing their dreams, making fresh starts, finding love, stumbling upon forgiveness, and embarking upon new adventures in tiny houses. Travel with them around the country in this big novella collection. 

Blurb for Yvonne's story, "First Love": Betrayed by her husband and desperate for healing, she can only move forward by going back home.

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Buy Yvonne's book on Amazon

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Connect with Yvonne:
Website ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Twitter

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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Falling in Love with Jesus: He loved me first

Welcome Brandy Heineman to the blog today! She's here to share her story about how she first fell in love with Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. 

Brandy's story reminds me of the song, "When You Walk Through the Water" by Allison Durham which is based on the Bible verses in Isaiah 43, which Brandy quotes in her story.

I hope you will enjoy reading Brandy's story. It is the final post for my blog's Falling in Love with Jesus series. I found it to be very inspirational. I pray that Brandy's story and Allison's song will encourage your heart. 

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He loved me first
A Falling in Love with Jesus story written by Brandy Heineman

Ah, love. The inexhaustible supply of poems, songs, romance novels, and love letters written in just about every language seem to suggest that words hardly do justice to the big, heady thrill ride of falling in love, though we never seem to tire of trying.

When I met my husband, I was not-quite-recovered from a broken heart. I enjoyed the time we spent together, but he had to put his heart on the line first before I came around to loving him back.

As it turned out, our love modeled what it meant for me to fall in love with Jesus.

Michael and I started dating in the summer of 2004. When we started getting serious, i.e., attending church together, our Sunday School teacher shared a thought that I had never heard before when he told us, “The Bible is God’s love letter to mankind.”

I probably nodded in agreement and smiled, liking the way that sounded. I knew John 3:16, of course. God had proved His love for us by sending His Son to die for our sins and reconcile us to Him.

Nonetheless, that was the first time I’d heard it put quite that way. Although I had attended church many times before and often prayed, I did not possess a deep well of Bible knowledge at the time. The idea of the Bible as a love letter sounded good in theory, but if you’d asked me for specifics, I doubt I could have offered any.

That pleasant idea tucked itself away in my memory and waited patiently as Michael and I became members of our church in 2005 and married there in December of the following year. I remember the verse I used on the front of our wedding programs: 1 John 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us.”

In the meantime, I began taking Bible study classes as I was able. I can’t say that I recognized exactly how dry my well was, but God placed the desire in me for more of His word.

That first year and a half of marriage was exhausting in every way imaginable. In roughly chronological order: my car quit immediately after the wedding, I took on a significant increase in responsibilities at work, and my husband survived a layoff only to find himself in a very different professional landscape. In addition, we had three deaths in the family, and a fourth family member nearly died.

Jesus brought us through, but it was hard. Those are the times when you really need a deep well of Bible knowledge, to pull out like a treasured love letter and reread the lines for comfort and hope. To rest in their beauty. To drink in the Living Water.

It took one of those in-depth Bible studies for me to find it, but in Isaiah 43, I saw what our Sunday School teacher had meant about God’s love letter to us. It turns out that words do just fine to describe love when they are spoken by our loving Creator God, to His passion and prize, as in the powerful words of verses 1-2 (quoted from NASB):

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,

And He who formed you, O Israel,

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!”

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.”

And especially the explicit, passionate declaration found in Isaiah 43:4 (NASB):

“Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you…”

I can’t describe how those words affected me the first time I read them. How they still do. If I’d had them for those difficult days—but never mind. They are tucked away in my heart and mind for when they are needed again.

In closing, I’ll offer a thought that occurred to me as I was sifting through memories and thinking of what to write about falling in love with Jesus: that we would, each one of us, live our lives as our love letters back to Him.

~*~

Author bio:

Brandy Heineman loves stories of faith and family history. 

She’s a graduate of Wesleyan College and an author with Elk Lake Publishing. 

She is also a first-generation Southerner who occasionally gets caught saying things like, “Y’all want some pop?” 

Brandy lives in metro Atlanta with her husband, Michael. Find her on Twitter as @brandyhei, or visit her online at brandyheineman.com.

Falling in Love with Jesus: Love Casts Out Fear

Today's Falling in Love with Jesus story is written by Natalie Monk.

She's a multi-talented lady with a heart for Jesus Christ! She expresses her passion for Him in her daily living and His light radiates through her as she interacts with people. I know because I met Natalie in person earlier this year! She's pretty awesome! :)

Enjoy your visit with Natalie now as she shares her story about her first love encounter with Jesus Christ.

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Love Casts Out Fear
A Falling in Love with Jesus story written by Natalie Monk

My first love encounter with Jesus was a little scary.

Not what you expected to hear, right?

Eight years old, leaving a revival meeting service, I’d never had any dealings with the Supernatural, so when I grew overwhelmed with thoughts of God and where I stood with Him, fear swamped me. Nothing major had ever disturbed my “normal.”

My whole life I had heard the message of Christ, how He loved the people of the world so much He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave three days later. But things of God were never personal to me.

Why was I so troubled now?

Something was horribly wrong. With me. With my relationship to God.

I didn’t want to talk about it, but to reassure myself, I tugged on my mom’s sleeve and declared to her that I was “saved.” See, I remembered “asking Jesus to save me” when I was three, because that’s what good boys and girls are supposed to do. I said the words. I did the thing. I was okay, right?

Now I laugh at my desperate grasp at normalcy, suddenly blurting that I was okay. I actually believed myself (or I “would be okay, if everyone would just ignore this weirdness and let things be normal again”), but Momma was smarter than that. I’m sure she noticed my pale lips and fidgety hands. She told me we would talk as soon as she bid the church people goodbye.

My stomach churned while I waited. I’d blabbed, now I’d HAVE to talk.

When we climbed up in my Daddy’s farm truck to head home, I slid onto the front seat and between Momma and Daddy. I was hopeful that once I told them I’d done the “saved” thing when I was three, they’d leave me alone about it and things could go back to normal. Maybe we could get a hamburger or ice cream or something—except if I ate anything right then I’d lose it all over those red cloth seats.

Momma asked me to tell her about when I was “saved.” I didn’t have much to tell except that I’d said the “right” words.

Then Momma had to go and ask the hard questions: Was God working in my heart back then when I was three or did I just say the “saved” words because I thought it was something good to do? Did I realize I was born a sinner and needed a savior (the whole reason Jesus came to earth to save us from eternal death and separation from Him)?

That’s when my façade broke down and tears popped up. I told her I didn’t know those things before, but they sure were true now. I didn’t fully comprehend God working so sweetly in my heart, showing me how much I needed Him and how He loved me and wanted me to know Him. (I understand now this was the conviction of the Holy Spirit.)

Momma, being sensitive to the ways of children and knowing how easy it is to “make a decision” to please others, asked me if I thought I needed to pray right then and give my heart to Jesus or if I could wait.

I told her I could wait. Why, I’m not sure. Maybe I still held out hope that I could ignore all this and feel better soon.

Five minutes later I told her I couldn’t wait anymore. I was so bothered inside at not being right with God. I prayed sincerely and asked God to forgive my sins and come into my heart. I didn’t say perfect words at a fancy church altar. In fact, we’d pulled into a lumber company’s dirt driveway—nothing religious about that.

But God was there. He heard my heart. And the burden He lifted from me was so real, the peace and relief so sweet. He changed me then and has been working in me ever since, drawing, pursuing, and persuading me to be more like Him and love like Him. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m thankful He’ll always be my Loving Guide.

Do you know Him? 

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Author bio:

Natalie Monk writes historical romance stories of laughter, love, and redemption. A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Natalie is currently seeking representation and plotting her third novel. 

Natalie is a homeschool graduate, a piano teacher, portrait photographer, devotional speaker and former post-hole digger. 

She loves sweet tea, book talk, porch swings, and watching musicals and action movies with her family. 

Connect with Natalie:

Website: www.nataliemonk.com 

Twitter: @NatalieDMonk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nataliemonkauthor
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nataliedmonk

Falling in Love with Jesus: The Break that Found Me Love

Who would have thought that a broken heart could result in finding True Love?

Such is the story of Mrs. Shari Loveday! She knows firsthand what it's like to have your heart shattered to what looks like the point of no return and she knows what it's like to have Jesus Christ mend your broken heart and return love to you in a way that lasts for eternity.

Welcome Shari to the blog today as she shares her story of how God created beauty out of her brokenness and redirected her to her First Love (Jesus Christ). Please note: God also sent Jeremiah Loveday to Shari's life and blessed their marriage with children and happiness! See, when God restores, He does it in a holistic matter with more than you could imagine! 

Enjoy your visit with Shari. 

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The Break that Found Me Love
A Falling in Love with Jesus story written by Shari Loveday

I can still hear Him whispering, “Come to Me first.”

I fell to the floor; a literal pain in my heart. I had only just started crying, but my face was now covered in tears. The thought that at any moment someone could walk into my boss’s office and see me on my knees in a broken hovel of anguish couldn’t motivate me to pull it together. I couldn’t stand…or think…or stop the tears from falling. It had hurt so bad when he’d said, “I’m still in love with my first love. I can’t see you anymore.”

The break-up had done just that. It had broken me, and I felt I would never be able to pick up the pieces of my life. To make matters worse, I had to watch him be happy with his new, old girlfriend. Each time I saw them my wounds reopened, and I thought I could physically die from the emotional pain. The week before, it was his dog tags around her neck. The day before, it was the two of them walking hand in hand across campus. On this particular day, he had walked right into my job.

Unable to escape the harsh reality I was faced with, I sought God for help that I knew only He could give me. I begged Him to make it better, to stop the pain. The next day, we got a new book on the shelves at the bookstore. I randomly picked it up and began flipping through it. I didn’t know what I was looking for or what I thought I would find in its pages, but I felt compelled to read it. Not long into the book, I came across a poem titled, "Come to Me First."

Here, God reminded me that He knew what I was going through because I had set Him aside so many more times than I, myself, had been cast away. I had stood Him up and scorned His love for another’s. He too was jilted, and hopelessly in love with someone who was inconsistent and inconsiderate. He begged me to come to Him first with my everything. “Build your life on me," He entreated, “and I will never let you down. Even when the one you love walks away, your life will not crumble because you will have built it on Me. I allowed this heartbreak, so you’d never be broken again."

"Come to Me first," He begged. Those words changed my life.

I began building a real relationship with Jesus. I kissed dating goodbye and said yes to a courtship with Him. I resolved to go to God with each problem, desire, good idea, joy, sorrow, accomplishment, failure…my everything. I built my life on Christ, so that I would never be broken again.

Before this broken moment I had a primarily cognitive knowledge of God. After the break, I came to know Him as the Lover of my soul. He fulfills my life with His tender care of me and never seems to grow weary of me. He waits by my bedside to hear the first words I utter, and He is there once again as I lay down to think my last voluntary thoughts for the day.

My whole life, I searched for a love that transcends everything, but I thought this would be found in a mate. It took a long, confusing search, two major heartbreaks, and a whole lot of frogs to learn that it is only in Him I will find what my soul has sought since its conception.

And here I am, 15 years later, not broken, but whole! “Come to Me First," God is still saying today. “Come to Me first.”

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Author bio:

Shari Loveday is an author, a poet, a teacher, a preacher, and a life coach. She is a sister, a friend, a wife, and a mother. She tries to wear all these hats well, but the role she most focuses on these days is that of a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. 

She has found that mastery in that one area ripples success through all the others.

Shari understands her God given purpose in life to be freeing the mind and hearts of women so that they can be their best selves. She does this through writing, speaking, coaching, dreaming, and living. 

If you ask her why she is here she will say, "To teach women that finding purpose equals power!"

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Connect with Shari:
http://faithwalkinfortoday.com/
www.about.me/theshariloveday