Sally, Ann, and Me

Like many, I fell in love with Sally Lloyd-Jones by way of her marvelous Bible book for children.

I loved her sing-songy use of language, her whimsical spirit that readily jumped off the page, and the way that she made the stories of Scripture come alive for children in fresh and imaginative ways.

What I didn’t imagine is that I would get to sit next to her at dinner any time soon.

In the summer of 2016, I received an invitation to join a group of pastors and artists in a celebration of Eugene Peterson’s life and ministry. Taking place at the Glen Eyrie castle in Colorado Springs, it included a dinner at tables for eight.

To my left was Sally, to my right was Ann Voskamp. Across from me were humans I sadly no longer remember. But when you have Sally and Ann on either side of you, you don’t remember much else because the conversation is like a tennis match between Venus and Serena Williams—always quick-witted.

This past summer I recorded a conversation for Sally’s Jesus Storybook Bible podcast. As you might imagine, it too was not boring.

In it I talked about the time that my son Sebastian spent an evening sitting on his little red wooden truck, leafing through the pages of Sally’s books and letting his imagination light up with images that told the truth joyfully.

I talked about how scary it is to be completely vulnerable with other people. Vulnerability often gets horribly messy, so best, we think ourselves, to hide it or keep it tightly controlled.

But what would it look like for our churches to become places where people's deeply wounded hearts, sad or angry as they may be, might be cared for and where people could ask each other the hard questions—and still be loved?

I also answered a question that everybody gets asked on her podcast: “Where do you see God’s love in your life and in the world?”

I see it in the ways that my wife and I are choosing to be vulnerable rather than self-protective with each other.

I see it in the ways that I become quickly irritated with my children and need to ask their forgiveness—and receive it continually.

I see it in places that I least expect to find it and I thank God for such moments, and also for wonderful people like Sally who remind our hearts of what we so-often struggle to remember to be true.

You can listen to it here (or anywhere that you get your podcasts, including here and here.