Reading to Children (Part 2) - Sally Lloyd-Jones

Dennis & Barbara's Top 25 All-Time Interviews

Reading to Children (Part 1) - Sally Lloyd-Jones
Reading to Children (Part 2) - Sally Lloyd-Jones

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript

References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.

Reading to Children

Guest: Sally Lloyd-Jones

From the series: Telling Stories to Children (Day 2 of 2)

Bob: Do you read stories to your children? Do you read Bible stories to them? Sally Lloyd-Jones has a caution for you.

Sally: Whenever we read a story and then we say, “Well, what that story’s about…”—whatever we put on the other side of “about”—that becomes the only thing that story’s about. The minute we do that—it’s terrible / it’s the worst thing you could ever say. I’m passionate about that because of what that does—is, basically, you’ve decided what that story is about / you’ve decided what God might want to say to that child—but what if God wants to say something completely different?

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, December 8th. Our host is Dennis Rainey; I'm Bob Lepine. There is great power in telling good stories. We’ll hear from a great story-teller today, Sally Lloyd-Jones. Stay with us.

And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the Friday edition. We’re having a delightful time this week with a delightful friend.

1:00

Before we introduce her again, we’re in the final weeks of the year. This is a pretty important, pretty strategic time for us as a ministry.

Dennis: It is! I’ll tell you something that delights me—I love hearing from listeners. I heard, recently, from a single mom who said our broadcast gives her hope every day to keep on keeping on. Here’s one from somebody who struggled through the heartbreak of a divorce and a broken family—she said: “It helped me grow in Christ immensely.” And then one other: “Our marriage was falling apart. I started listening, daily, to FamilyLife Today. The information I received gave me the strength to fight for my marriage.”

We have a lot of folks, Bob, who are finding help and hope for their marriage and family. But in order for us to do that, we need listeners to step up and say: “I want to stand with you guys as you guys proclaim the biblical blueprints for a marriage and a family. You’re ministering to marriages and families and leaving legacies, all across the nation and all around the globe.”

2:00

Would you stand with us right now?

Bob: It’s easy to make a yearend contribution. You can do it, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com; or you can call to donate at 1-800-FL-TODAY. There’s a matching-gift opportunity that’s in effect so, when you give your donation, it’s going to be doubled—the impact of your giving will be doubled. You’ll help us reach more people in 2018 and that’s our goal—is to reach more people with practical biblical help and hope. Again, you can donate, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY.

Now, back to our conversation with our guest, Sally Lloyd-Jones. We’ve been talking about holidays; we’ve been talking about family, and fun, and about food. In fact, you don’t think there can be good Christmas food in Great Britain. When you were over there, you thought all the food was horrible; right?

Dennis: “I was trying to find out a way to get across the English Channel to get to France.” [Laughter]

Bob: Have you watched The Great British Bake Off? Have you watched that show?

Dennis: I have not, Bob.

Bob: Have you watched it?

Sally: Yes; everyone’s obsessed!

3:00

Bob: I know, it’s amazing; isn’t it?

Dennis: Bob, I’m concerned about you—you’re watching The British Bake Off!

Bob: The Great British Bake Off is a great reality show. Barbara, you would love The Great British Bake Off.

Barbara: I would? Okay.

Bob: So, make Dennis watch it.

Dennis: No; she wouldn’t; she does not like to cook! [Laughter]

Barbara: I enjoy watching other people cook.

Bob: That’s exactly the point.

Sally: That’s perfectly fine with me!

Dennis: I do want to welcome Sally Lloyd-Jones back to the broadcast. Welcome back.

Sally: Thank you so much.

Dennis: We’re thrilled to have you. She was born and raised in Africa, schooled in England, lives in New York City, but will celebrate Christmas back in England—

Barbara: —eating figgy pudding—we found out.

Dennis: —eating figgy pudding.

Bob: That’s right!

Dennis: She is a great author. She’s written a number of best-selling books, including The Jesus Storybook Bible, Song of the Stars, and one we are going to talk about today called, Found, which is the 23rd Psalm. And then a book about a child’s identity, and his voice in this world their living in. How many books have you written?

Sally: Over 25. I had to count them up the other day.

Barbara: Wow!

Dennis: Yes? That’s amazing!

4:00

Your whole journey started out writing books for children when you were a little girl and you read a book that opened your mind and your heart to a whole new world with books.

Sally: Yes! When I was about seven, I thought books were to learn, to be serious, [and] to do at school. I wasn’t a child that really thrived at school—I was a bit dreamy. I was given this book called The Complete Nonsense by Edward Lear. In England, a lot of people know that book; but they may not in America—he’s not quite so well-known here. But I’d advise everyone to get that book! I’m not getting anything—it sounds like I’m getting referrals—but I’m not! I’m just passionate about it.

The reason I am is that it changed everything. I got thi...