field.
“But it’s not as
good as seminary.”
Jane lifted her
eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Look at it this
way. At the Bible school you studied some pretty basic theological concepts,
some pretty basic intercultural stuff, some pretty basic linguistic skills, and
you learned how to get along with PKs.”
Jane rolled her
eyes.
“Or not how to get
along with PKs. Either way it was a pretty basic education. Kind of the Junior
College version of seminary.”
“So then why are
you teaching there?”
“PhDs are
expensive.” Isaac shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be a drag about your
school. I guess I just figured since you are an adult, and live in town rather
than in the dorms, that you would get it. Considering all of that though, why
are you at Harvest?”
“Because I want to
be a missionary and I didn’t see the point of studying biology and essay
writing. I wanted to focus on my goal.”
“What is your
goal?”
“The ten-forty
window.”
“How do I say
this…” Isaac set his cup down. He was suppressing a smile.
“I know.” Jane
scrunched up her mouth.
“You can’t get
into the ten-forty window with a Bible school degree.”
“I said, I know.”
Jane did her best not to sigh. She had learned a lot in her almost-two-years at
Harvest, including that she needed something besides a Bible school certificate
to get into her ideal mission field.
“But if you knew
that, why did you pick this school?”
“Well, I didn’t
know that when I started, did I? But I need to finish what I started. I’ll get
where God wants me to be. I’m not worried about that part.”
“You look
worried.” Isaac took a drink from his paper cup.
Jane looked down
at her coffee cup. Why had she said she wasn’t worried? Of course she was
worried. “Okay. I hadn’t been worried until Monday. When my clients both died and
then Glenda told me that the Bible school certificate was meaningless, I began
to have some serious doubts about what I was doing.”
Isaac reached
across the table and grabbed her hand. “I can believe it, but listen, we can
straighten out the ministry thing at least—we can figure out how you can serve
these guys in their need, because in reality, this one family in this major
crisis could be the whole reason God has you at Harvest School of the Bible.”
“God has arranged
the last two years of my life so that I could be in your class?”
Isaac’s face lit
up as he smiled. He tried to pull his features into a more somber look, but it
didn’t work. “Would that have been so bad?”
Jane liked the way
his hand felt on hers—rough and strong. A shiver ran down her spine. “I plead
the fifth.”
Isaac let go of
her hand and took a big drink of his coffee. “So can you anticipate any needs
your clients may have in the coming week?”
They brainstormed
household chores that Phoebe and Jake might have until the coffee shop closed
up for the night, and then they parted ways. Jane watched Isaac drive off in
the opposite direction from her. She assumed he wouldn’t have lied about where
he lived, but from the direction he was driving away it did not look like he
had needed to come all the way into town.
The window in
Jane’s apartment that faced the parking lot was dark. Jane checked the clock on
her dash as she parked. It was just after eleven. Sam rarely had the lights out
by eleven, even though Jane slept in the living room.
Her two years in
the cramped quarters of a junior apartment with a girl she met on Craigslist
were beginning to tell on Jane. She sat in her car and stared at the dark
window. Disappointment washed over her like a cold wind. She ought to have been
asleep in that dark room. She needed to be up by five tomorrow.
Her parents had
cautioned her against sharing a junior suite—a space distinguished from a
regular studio by a partition between the “rooms,” but with no real bedroom door.
Her parents had told her not to look for a roommate online either. Her
“But it’s not as
good as seminary.”
Jane lifted her
eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Look at it this
way. At the Bible school you studied some pretty basic theological concepts,
some pretty basic intercultural stuff, some pretty basic linguistic skills, and
you learned how to get along with PKs.”
Jane rolled her
eyes.
“Or not how to get
along with PKs. Either way it was a pretty basic education. Kind of the Junior
College version of seminary.”
“So then why are
you teaching there?”
“PhDs are
expensive.” Isaac shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be a drag about your
school. I guess I just figured since you are an adult, and live in town rather
than in the dorms, that you would get it. Considering all of that though, why
are you at Harvest?”
“Because I want to
be a missionary and I didn’t see the point of studying biology and essay
writing. I wanted to focus on my goal.”
“What is your
goal?”
“The ten-forty
window.”
“How do I say
this…” Isaac set his cup down. He was suppressing a smile.
“I know.” Jane
scrunched up her mouth.
“You can’t get
into the ten-forty window with a Bible school degree.”
“I said, I know.”
Jane did her best not to sigh. She had learned a lot in her almost-two-years at
Harvest, including that she needed something besides a Bible school certificate
to get into her ideal mission field.
“But if you knew
that, why did you pick this school?”
“Well, I didn’t
know that when I started, did I? But I need to finish what I started. I’ll get
where God wants me to be. I’m not worried about that part.”
“You look
worried.” Isaac took a drink from his paper cup.
Jane looked down
at her coffee cup. Why had she said she wasn’t worried? Of course she was
worried. “Okay. I hadn’t been worried until Monday. When my clients both died and
then Glenda told me that the Bible school certificate was meaningless, I began
to have some serious doubts about what I was doing.”
Isaac reached
across the table and grabbed her hand. “I can believe it, but listen, we can
straighten out the ministry thing at least—we can figure out how you can serve
these guys in their need, because in reality, this one family in this major
crisis could be the whole reason God has you at Harvest School of the Bible.”
“God has arranged
the last two years of my life so that I could be in your class?”
Isaac’s face lit
up as he smiled. He tried to pull his features into a more somber look, but it
didn’t work. “Would that have been so bad?”
Jane liked the way
his hand felt on hers—rough and strong. A shiver ran down her spine. “I plead
the fifth.”
Isaac let go of
her hand and took a big drink of his coffee. “So can you anticipate any needs
your clients may have in the coming week?”
They brainstormed
household chores that Phoebe and Jake might have until the coffee shop closed
up for the night, and then they parted ways. Jane watched Isaac drive off in
the opposite direction from her. She assumed he wouldn’t have lied about where
he lived, but from the direction he was driving away it did not look like he
had needed to come all the way into town.
The window in
Jane’s apartment that faced the parking lot was dark. Jane checked the clock on
her dash as she parked. It was just after eleven. Sam rarely had the lights out
by eleven, even though Jane slept in the living room.
Her two years in
the cramped quarters of a junior apartment with a girl she met on Craigslist
were beginning to tell on Jane. She sat in her car and stared at the dark
window. Disappointment washed over her like a cold wind. She ought to have been
asleep in that dark room. She needed to be up by five tomorrow.
Her parents had
cautioned her against sharing a junior suite—a space distinguished from a
regular studio by a partition between the “rooms,” but with no real bedroom door.
Her parents had told her not to look for a roommate online either. Her
Similar Books
