About Us: Why Narnia?

Hi, I’m Susan.  Here are some things you might like to know about me:

• Jesus is my Saviour and Lord.
• I’ve been married to Herb for 35 years.  We’ve lived in Africa, France and the United States.
• We have four wonderful kids (a son and three daughters), three wonderful kids-in-law, and two beautiful grandkids.
• We live on a small farm with about 3 dozen animals, give or take a few.  But that’s another story and another blog.

The story of this blog began 26 years ago in Africa when a kind family sent our missionary family a box of books.  Our son, who had just learned to read, found a paperback copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in the box.  He sat down on the couch and scarcely moved until he’d read the entire book.

That marked the beginning of our family’s love affair with C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.  Herb has read them aloud to our children countless times, first to Jim, Katie and Jenny . . .

. . . and later to Kara, too.  From Africa to the U.S. to France and back to the U.S., Herb has brought the books to life for all of us with different voices for Aslan, Bree, Puddleglum and other memorable characters.  Even after they could read for themselves in both French and English, the kids loved to hear their Dad read The Chronicles of Narnia aloud.

And that is why, nearly a quarter of a century later (awaiting the birth of our first grandchild), I looked into the attic of our new house and knew I wanted it to become Narnia, to bring joy to our grandchildren as Narnia had to their parents before them.

This quote from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader says it better than I ever could:

“I am [in your world],” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

It’s my hope and prayer that our grandchildren, who are already learning to love Jesus, will know him better as they enjoy the stories of Aslan the Lion who also gave his life to save his world.

I hope you enjoy this journey with us!