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The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast
1KHO 636: | My Call Is To Bring Joy To Children | Sally Lloyd-Jones, Jesus, Our True Friend: Stories to Fill Your Heart with Joy
00:57:11
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- [00:00]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Extra value meals are back. That means 10 tender juicy McNuggets and medium fries and a drink are just $8 only at McDonald's for a limited time only.
- [00:11]
Ginny Earth
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery. Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Earth. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and I am so excited and honored. So, so excited and honored. The author of the Jesus Storybook Bible, which has been a mainstay in our home for well over, is here, Sally Lloyd Jones. Welcome.
- [00:35]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Thank you so much, Ginny, for having me.
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Ginny Earth
I think it's been over a decade. How long has this Jesus Storybook Bible been out?
- [00:42]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah, it came out in 2007, so.
- [00:44]
Ginny Earth
Oh yeah, it's been our whole childhood. So we had our, our whole kid's childhood. Our first child was born in 2008 and his name is written on the inside cover of this one. Our oldest now, he's 17, Sally and our youngest is nine. And she carries this little Jesus Storybook Bible around with her. So it's such a precious and important part of our kids childhood. And you have a new book that is coming out or has already come out. It'll be by the time this podcast goes live. It is out.
- [01:14]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes, it's out. It is already.
- [01:16]
Ginny Earth
Even while we're recording. It's called Jesus our true friend stories to fill your heart with joy. The story of God's great love. And it is a wonderful storybook. Just wonderful. It so reminds me of the Storybook Bible but in a format where maybe you'd read it for bedtime stories or during your story, your story time with your kids. So that I looked into your website, Sally, and realized that you have way more books than these.
- [01:42]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes, quite a few.
- [01:43]
Ginny Earth
Quite a few. People always love to hear the story behind you becoming an author. And you've got an interesting story. Born in Uganda, raised in east and West Africa. You did boarding school. Tell us about it.
- [01:56]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah, so my parents were in East Africa for Shell and they weren't believers, but I was born in a missionary hospital in Uganda, in Kampala. And the surgeon prayed over my mother before he operated because it was a C section. And my parents both noticed that and that kind of moved them that he would pray. I love that personally because I love the idea that this wonderful surgeon was praying over me before I even was born. But that became an important part in their story and I became, you know, I came to faith as a little child and never knew a Time when Jesus wasn't my best friend. So this book, in a way, Jesus, our true friend comes from that early. That was my first experience and I think that's probably true of a lot of people that we, we resonate with Jesus being our true friend. And so anyway, so that's the beginning of my life. And then I was sent to boarding school, which sounds horrific, but it was amazing and magical and probably the combination of being born in a different country and being sent away. When I was little, I was eight, those two things were very integral in making me a writer. I believe, I think that, that I was once speaking with a professor who said it often takes being ch. Put into a different culture or having an early wound. So even though the, you know that. To make a writer. And he said, you know, even though, you know, the, the boarding school was wonderful on another level, that was very hard for an 8 year old to be sent away.
- [03:32]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [03:32]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And it was all God's plan. But I look at those things and think, well, God really did equip me, you know, early from the very beginning. So that maybe that's encouraging for your listeners that it's our whole lives that God uses to equip us for what he's called us to do.
- [03:47]
Ginny Earth
And so many books you've written. What was the very first one, it.
- [03:53]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Was called Handbag Friends about little, little animals that live inside a handbag. Which sounds bizarre, but it was inspired by my niece who was about 2 and she was with her older brother and he just wanted to play sort of trench warfare with and pretend guns and everything. She was this pretty little thing and she would go, she wanted to play with him, but she would go into battle with the pink handbag. And I, I once said to her, what, what do you carry in your handbag? And she looked horrified and said my friends and pulled out all kinds of strange random objects. And it just started something in me and I. That's one of my most favorite books and it's so fun to read to children. It's got a song, it's got an adv. Anyway, that was my very first book.
- [04:36]
Ginny Earth
I do love that, you know, because doesn't everyone relate to that? That you know, are depending on the age and possibly gender of your child. But you know, our, our daughter for a long time, you know, wherever she goes, she's got a bag of toys and there's always little, you know, lions and figurines in their handbags.
- [04:54]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And I mean, as far as they're concerned, that's what we're doing. They see us going around with the bag. Why shouldn't they? Yeah.
- [05:01]
Ginny Earth
If only I could carry my friends with me in my bag.
- [05:04]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
It's so true. But I love. So the range of my work is quite, it's broad and it's. I, I never think to divide my work between Bible and general. I just know that my call is to bring joy to children. So whether it's telling children a story of joy about this little friends that live in a handbag or retelling a Bible story, they're all part of the same. Cool. So I don't really distinguish the different. You know, I just think wherever my. And so therefore God, I used to think God will only be pleased. I can only really pray about a book that is a Bible book for him to help me. That's what I used to think, you know, I can't pray for him to help me with about a handbag friend book, which is so ridiculous. And I, unfortunately, I no longer believe that. But as if there's a hierarchy of what God approves and what he doesn't, you know.
- [05:55]
Ginny Earth
Yeah, yeah. It's about bringing joy to children and joy to families because story time is such a precious time. One of your other best selling children's books, to your point, is called how to Be a Baby by me the sister. So, yeah, a very broad range of just special books for kids. So I was excited to learn that because, you know, occasionally you don't, and maybe often you don't necessarily look into the author. The Jesus storybook Bible was just recommended by everyone and we, you know, we had a little child so we got it and I, I never thought two hoots about it. And then the other day I talking to this woman who is a music artist and also, also a children's book author named Ellie Holcomb, and she brought you up.
- [06:34]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, I love her. I love her. She's a dear friend.
- [06:37]
Ginny Earth
She sure loves you. So, so she brought you up randomly and I was like, oh, I'm actually talking to her in a couple weeks. And, and then I, like I said, I went down the rabbit hole and realized that you have so many more books than you know. I, I've been missing out, basically. Sally.
- [06:53]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, I, I'm excited for you to discover them because they are, you know, they're very, they're fun, but they all, it's what Madeleine l' Engle said. You can't really, if, if redemption is at the center of your heart and forgiveness and joy and all the lovely things that we benefit from believing in God, then it won't but help to come out in your stories whether or not it's a, you know, it's just going to be. There's going to be hope in your stories, I guess.
- [07:21]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
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Sally Lloyd-Jones
Even though you don't, you're not doing any kind of preaching, hopefully in any story you do because that wouldn't be a very good story.
- [07:29]
Ginny Earth
Well, I, I really. They are endearing books, the ones that I have and so I'm excited to go down the rabbit hole and read the other ones. Speaking of Ellie Holcomb and she brought you up the other day. She's a music artist. You do these really special events and I've never, I've never heard of this happening where this author will pair up with a music artist and do events that are sort of catered around the interests of children. Can you tell people about those?
- [07:52]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes. Well, actually we, they end up being so I, in fact Ellie and I and Amy Grant a few years ago, we, we went on a tour bus and everything. That's the most exciting thing to me is that I felt like I was a rock star even though I was with the true rock stars who are so not like what I was being anyway. They just rolled their eyes. But I was so over excited, I couldn't help it. So we, we did some events together and really it's actually, strangely enough, it's not really ending up for children because it's me telling my story of growing up in Africa, going to boarding school and weaving in how all of that tied together to how God ended up calling me as a writer. And then, you know, we weave underneath the reading will come the music and then we'll seamlessly go into a song. And so Ellie would be telling her story and Amy and weaving it together. Well, even though the, the theme would be children, it would be tailored for older than. Well, it would be good for like nine and up. Okay. It wouldn't be good for little ones.
- [08:52]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
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Sally Lloyd-Jones
But it happened organically and it's so, it's so moving when you, when you're reading. This first happened with Andrew Peterson. I, I'm a good friend. He's a good friend of mine and oh, I love him.
- [09:04]
Ginny Earth
So cool. I don't know him however, I've seen him live. I don't know him personally. I've seen him live and was so moved. And our kids learned this song of his. Our two older daughters do music. They're 12 and 15 and they learned. We, we went on this comedy tour earlier this year with some friends, we put on our own tour. We didn't get to go on a tour bikes, we just drove our own cars. But we did this five show comedy tour and the girls played one of Andrew Peterson songs. It's called the Planting Trees and it's in a weird time signature and it's tuned different on the guitar and they took a really long time to learn it. And then our show was too long, Sally, so we had to cut it. Oh no.
- [09:45]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh no.
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Ginny Earth
But I do love his music. Loved seeing him live.
- [09:50]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. And he, he, you. He has a wonderful album called Behold the Lamb of God, which is a Christmas retelling. It was basically what the Jesus Storybook Bible is doing in a concept form of, you know, tracing the story right from the very beginning to when Jesus comes. And he asked me to read the beginning of the Jesus Storybook Bible at the top of his concert at the Ryman. And so I now every year I go to the Ryman and I read this piece of the introduction. And when I say, and at the center of the story there's a baby, the guitars would come in. And when I first heard that, I got goose pimples. And I thought, oh, that's really powerful when you put your reading and it's all quiet and then the guitars come under one particular word. And that's when I started to think, wouldn't that be amazing if I could tell my story but have a musician with me and we weave more of an experience. So it's been really fun. I know you can do it with different musicians. So it's really, wow, very great.
- [10:53]
Ginny Earth
It's really such a testament that you never know what God has up his sleeve.
- [10:58]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Exactly. And it's, you know, if we really believed it would be so much better than what we've got up our sleeve. Wouldn't our lives be simpler? Yeah, but I don't know about you, but I, you know, you struggle to really believe God's good, which is terrible. But that's just our brokenness. And we think, is he really going to be good? No, I think I know better. I think I'm going to be better at knowing what's good.
- [11:20]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. I want to tell you a quick story that's going to kind of come out of left field, but it's related to your books. We actually got kicked out of church.
- [11:30]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh no.
- [11:31]
Ginny Earth
Last year. Which is a sort of shocking and, and embarrassing thing.
- [11:35]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
That's terrible. I'm so sorry.
- [11:37]
Ginny Earth
It is terrible. It's terrible. And I've talked about it some on here because it, you know, it weaves into the conversation organically. And also I think it's important to talk about because sometimes people do have really broken experiences with church and God is still good.
- [11:55]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
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Ginny Earth
And so part of the story is that. Well, this. The main part of the story is that the youth pastor who was hired at the church is a pedophile.
- [12:03]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, my word.
- [12:04]
Ginny Earth
That came out last year and about six months prior, we had sent in letters to the church because something was off with this man in, in a bunch of different interactions that we'd had and, and, and he had wreaked havoc for our family. And, and I would say sorry. Thanks. Now that I've, you know, read a lot and learned a lot more and, you know, I just implore people to, you know, to know. I wish I would have known more about what grooming is. And, and they groom what's called the gatekeeper, so they will wreak havoc for. For your own life to just cause confusion and Anyways, so our family sent letters into this church. It's kind of like a megachurch in our area, in an envelope, like in the mail, in the USPS mail. And each of our family members wrote a letter because this man had kind of like lied about our family to another family in the church and really caused wreak havoc on our community. And so we sent these letter and our kids, you know, who are at the time, you know, 7 to 15, they're, you know, they're saying things like, you know, I lost my friend. These are my only good friends, you know. And every single letter said, please help us. Please help us. And then one of our children, one of our sons, said, this man says he loves me. He makes me feel uncomfortable. He gives me these hugs. He gets mad if I don't hug him back.
- [13:25]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
So.
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Ginny Earth
Ew. So we send these letters in and there isn't much to the story. They said before we proceed further, we need to have a meeting with me and my husband and one of our middle school boy and an unnamed attorney. And we said, well, no, we're not bringing in our child for a meeting with an unnamed attorney, but we'll help with anything else. And my husband had asked that they fired him immediately. And I'd asked that they bring in outside people. And so they offer this meeting. And we said, you know, well, we're not going to bring our child in, but we're available to talk about anything. And then a couple weeks later, they sent a letter through. Through USPS certified mail revoking our membership from the church and said that we were gossiping, which is interesting because like, you don't gossip through private letter. And also that we were spreading false allegations and that they did an extensive, thorough investigation and found that all of their staff was above, you know, you know, with the highest integrity. And these are the kind of words that they used.
- [14:25]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, gosh.
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Ginny Earth
And then six months later, this man gets caught in a sting operation by some YouTubers, some teenage YouTubers.
- [14:33]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Really. Good for them. Good for them.
- [14:35]
Ginny Earth
And he's still in the criminal justice system. He got charged with nine felonies and he's. You know, that's still being played out. But the church, you know, at that point, you would think that they would come back and be like, sincerest apologies. But instead they spread through the community that we were problem causers and that we had gotten kicked out of other churches and that we refused to help with the investigation and limited the scope of it. And I was like, well, that's not what sending letters in is. And, you know, we had offered up anyway. It was such a mess. And I. So what a.
- [15:05]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
What a Wounding terrible and disillusioning.
- [15:08]
Ginny Earth
Yes, yes, it was. And for our kids, you know, really struggling through ostracization and struggling through hope in pastoral staff and disillusionment, I think is a really good word. And so I bring it all up first of all, just obviously to remind parents to be very careful. You know, the people say the church is filled with sinners. And it is. We're all sinners. It matters a lot, though, when it's the pastoral staff.
- [15:38]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, well, yeah, that. I mean, we're all sinners, but that doesn't give. It's not license.
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Ginny Earth
Right, right. And there's different requirements for those who step into those leadership roles. And there is a really important verse about a millstone, better than a millstone hung around your neck and you thrown into the deepest parts of the ocean then that you cause a child to stumble.
- [16:00]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. And there was no humility. It sounds like there was no repentance.
- [16:03]
Ginny Earth
There was no nothing.
- [16:05]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
No concern for you, just defense.
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Ginny Earth
No one even called to tell us, I can make sure that our kids were okay. Knowing that this man turned out to be who he was. And. And he had a. You know, when you. Then when you dig deep. And he deleted a lot of his Internet history, but when you dig deep, it. It was a deep hole. You know, this man was just an evil, disgusting man working with children. So I don't think anyone should ever be kicked out of Church for raising concerns about someone who works with children.
- [16:31]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
I'm so sorry.
- [16:33]
Ginny Earth
Thank you. It's been a thing to work through, and our kids still cry about it. And, you know, I think it will affect their view of church and leadership potentially for their. For their whole life. But I bring it up to say this. We still believe that God is good and there's, you know, so many verses of promise, of redemption, and that God will work all things together for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. So our youngest. Our youngest daughter, she is a reader, and she carries books with her wherever she goes. She's got a little bag, you know, she's got her handbag friends and her handbag books. So she carries around three types of books. She carries around these books called I Survived. She really likes those. And they're about surviving natural disasters in the past. She learned all this history. And she carries around Diary of a Wimpy Kid. She likes those. And she carries around her Jesus Storybook Bible. So at any time, she's got a combination of those books. And she came to me just the other day, Sally. So I brought up the whole story just to say about how powerful. How powerful this book has been in our family, and also the depth of which kids can understand and. And heal and learn from God themselves. And so I just want to read. She came to me the other day. This is on page 83 of the Jesus Storybook Bible, and it's the story of Joseph. And she came to me and she said, because she had sent, you know, her own little letter, 7 years old, to the church, I lost my friend. Please help me. You know, and she said this. She said, mama, I just read this in the Jesus Storybook Bible. But God would use everything that happened to this young prince, even the bad things, to do something good, to forgive the sins of the whole world. And so we. We did end up, you know, God provided. He always provides, and we're in a vibrant community that we didn't even know about that's happened since. And she said, mama, this is what happened with us in the church.
- [18:35]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Wow, that's wonderful. That's. You know, children are very much smarter than we give them credit for, aren't they?
- [18:42]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. Yeah.
- [18:43]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And also God speak. You know, I always just think, you know, we need to trust their heavenly father to be able to reach his children like your daughter, and trust children like your daughter to be able to hear from their heavenly father. And our job isn't really to get in the middle. We just provide the we do our job, you know. And my job was to make sure that I could show that story in the best way I could possibly show it. But it's the power of the gospel that God has used to reach that little girl. And wow, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing and praise God because that is the truth, isn't it? We know the truth. God is not letting death and brokenness and sin have the last word. He never does. Yeah, he's up to such good for us if we can. It doesn't mean we're in a love what's happening when it's really hard and there are terrible tragedies. But if we can know that ultimately he's going to make, as Tolkien says, make everything sad come untrue.
- [19:45]
Ginny Earth
You guys, the holidays are almost here and you know what that means. People to feed, guests to host and a whole lot of cozy moments ahead. I've been getting our home ready with Wayfair and it's amazing how just a few updates make everything feel warm and welcoming again. I grabbed beautiful new dining bench so everyone has a seat at the table, swapped in flannel sheets for the guest room and found the cutest Christmas wreath. All from Wayfair's Black Friday sale. Everything shipped fast, the prices were unreal and it made me actually excited to host this year. Wayfair really is the place to shop for all things home, from sofas to spatulas, rugs to refrigerators. And during their Black Friday event you can save up to 70% off. Plus they have styles you won't see anywhere else so your space actually feels like you. And if you haven't heard, Wayfair now has a loyalty program where you earn 5% back, get free shipping and have access to member only sales. It's totally worth joining, so don't wait. These early deals are already happening. Head to Wayfair.com now to shop Wayfair's Black Friday deals for up to 70 off. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com sale ends December 7th. When I think back on my own childhood, I remember the freedom of the neighborhood and hours spent riding bikes with friends until the streetlights came on. That's what childhood should feel like. Movement, laughter and connection. And that's exactly what our friends at Wound Bikes are helping families rediscover. Womb makes the lightest, smartest and safest bikes on the market. Perfectly designed for kids, not just shrunken down adult bikes. Every detail matters the balance, the brakes, the handlebars, the way the frame fits their growing bodies. You don't just learn to ride with boom. You learn to love the ride. In our own family, we've seen that magic firsthand. Our daughter received a Womb Explore six in that. That stunning magnetic blue. And from the moment we opened the box, we could feel the difference. The packaging was intuitive, the setup was simple, and within a short period of time, she was riding down the driveway with the biggest smile on her face. When kids have a Womb bike, they want to be outside, and that's the heartbeat of what we do. Helping families reclaim time, connection, and joy through real world play. So this holiday season, don't just give a gift. Give them adventure, give them confidence, give them outside. Check out all the holiday deals now@womb.com. that's W-O-M.com. i mean, the story of Joseph is heartbreaking. Yeah, it's probably to me, you know, people talk. I. I've said this before, but someone one time was like, who's your favorite character in the Bible? And I was like, how could anybody pick anybody but Joseph? And then everybody picked different people.
- [22:15]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
I love that. No, you're right. Only. And talk about being accused when he did nothing wrong.
- [22:20]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [22:21]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And being sent to this dungeon and the injustice of it all.
- [22:25]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [22:26]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
But God, actually, all of that was essential to promote him to become prince of Egypt so he could save God's people. I mean, it's. Yeah, it's a beautiful example of what we're talking about, isn't it?
- [22:37]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. Ostracized from his family. But God would use everything that happened to this young prince, even the bad things, to do something good, to forgive the sins of the whole world into. Your point. And really, Sally, this happened before I knew I would ever have a chance to talk with you, before I went down your rabbit hole of author books. You know, and I wonder.
- [22:57]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
I.
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Ginny Earth
And I didn't think, oh, I should email this author and tell her this story, you know, of how powerful this book has been in our. In our young child's life, you know, and she likes it so much. I mean, we have so many books in the house that she has three types of books that she carries around. One's your. Your Bible. You know, I love that.
- [23:14]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
That's such a wonderful story.
- [23:15]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. It's just constantly perusing it and that God was able to speak to her through the words of that page. But I didn't think about emailing you to tell you. I should have and.
- [23:24]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, no shoulds.
- [23:26]
Ginny Earth
You Just wonder how many stories like that exist. Sally.
- [23:29]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, I know. And you know what? How I look at it is when someone does write or I do hear a story, I take it as direct encouragement from God to me to keep going.
- [23:39]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [23:40]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Because it's a great honor. And you know, there's no greater honor than to hear a story like you've just told me because that's holy ground. And I. If I can be part of helping a child like that, then what higher calling could I have? And at the same time, as we know with all of our work that whatever God is we've got on, on our plate, there are days that you just want to give up and you think, why am I doing this? It's so exhausting. And, you know, all of that. So I'm really grateful when I do hear the stories and I just. Part of me feels like again, it's wonderful to hear it. And then I go. And yet it's really between that child and their heavenly Father because he's the one doing the work, you know.
- [24:20]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. It's life changing to live it it and to experience it and to have to have those connections as in your elementary schooler. So one of the things, I mean, I love the books, the newest one is called Jesus our True Friend. So the Jesus Storybook Bible looks, looks kind of like a Bible.
- [24:37]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [24:37]
Ginny Earth
You know, what you would consider the sort of size and shape of what a Bible is. The subtitle is every story whispers his name. And then Jesus our True Friend looks more like a storybook. Stories fill your heart with joy. But the wording, even for adults, like when. Because, you know, I'm like, we went through this too, that sort of disillusionment with church staff. And so when you talk about the extra super holy people and, and I just think it's really relatable at all ages. Can you talk about that part of, of wording it in a way that's so entrancing. I don't know if that's the right word that. So delightful. And what would be the word? It's, it's so.
- [25:24]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
It'S.
- [25:25]
Ginny Earth
It's so meaningful, but it's, it grips children. You know, it's just this different way of wording things and it's so understandable. And yet for the adult, I think, I almost think for the adult, too. It's like you go through church and church can be so churchy and the words you use. And so it's very refreshing. It's all. It also opened your mind. Anyway, Just to even have the idea to write in that way.
- [25:49]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, I think it's kind of how I write. All of my books are playful, and I think that whenever you can bring humor in, it's really good. And I love writing funny books. And of course, the Bible, you know, some people might think there's no humor in it, but it's not true. Anyway. I find these Pharisees, they're so pompous and awful, and we've all come across people like that. And I just. I just love using words so extra super holy. I just thought, oh, that's very fun. I'm gonna do that. And it's just a way to say that's really their identity, is they're better than everyone else, which is so not what Jesus came to bring us. You know, even the Prince of Heaven was stooped down to make himself nothing. And yet here are these extra super holy people puffing themselves up. So that. That contrast is what I'm interested by. And I think it's just using language in a poetic, lyrical way. I love to do that.
- [26:51]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. And it grips the child and the adult.
- [26:54]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. And it's unexpected, isn't it? I think that's the other thing you're coming at. This story that we might know really well, but you're finding. This is my job in terms of writing for children, is to distill the truth down, dumb it down. I always like to tell people that's a very big difference. Because if you dumb down, you basically haven't done the work to really understand the theology. You're just doing it quickly. But if you take the time to really soak yourself in the theology, make sure you've got it all right, and you go through all the complexity of that and come out the other side, then you can distill down and make it simple but not simplistic. So I think there's a lot of work underneath with making it look so easy. Usually you never want it to look hard, but there is a lot of work to. To make sure you're distilling, not dumbing down. And children, of course, know. And if. If I was dumbing down, then no adult would want. Would get anything out of it. So I think it's all to do with the. You know, it's the iceberg under the surface that you don't see.
- [27:53]
Ginny Earth
Right.
- [27:53]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
The book is the tip of the iceberg, but the iceberg underneath the sea is all the preparation. And that's what comes through. Maybe, I think.
- [28:02]
Ginny Earth
Right. Because you can use the Word. Pharisee. Pharisee. Pharisee and sad. You see all you want.
- [28:07]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [28:07]
Ginny Earth
But then when you read it as the extra super holy people, I think that a lot of people might feel like, oh, I've had experience with them.
- [28:17]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Exactly.
- [28:18]
Ginny Earth
And my child would be like, well, I had experience with them.
- [28:21]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [28:22]
Ginny Earth
I sent the extra super holy person a letter in the mail and said, you know, and, and then, and what, and what happened it. I think they can really see themselves in the story then.
- [28:32]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [28:32]
Ginny Earth
Of like the Good Samaritan, who I was, who was I passed by. I was passed by that elder and that pastor, you know, and, and who to help while the people at the gym treat us really nice, you know, or whatever. Like.
- [28:45]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And then it's a double edged sword because then what the Holy Spirit does is also convict us of who have we passed by.
- [28:50]
Ginny Earth
That's right.
- [28:51]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Who have we not wanted to help because it might hurt us. You know, it's this wonderful thing that God does with, with his Word is just, he's so after us, getting everything, living life to the full.
- [29:02]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [29:03]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
That he'll use even that terrible wounding to get you to have more life.
- [29:07]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [29:08]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. And I, I think the other thing behind this new book is Jesus our true friend is just because I'm, I just want people to know what to see. What I, you know, as a believer, what I see the beauty of the gospel, the beauty of this story and the beauty of Jesus. And that's my goal is to, you know, there's so much out there and this is something I was going. That puts us off. Oh, I'm sorry, something's happening here. Okay. It stopped. But I was going to say a wise counselor said to me when I was having a. Yeah. A little bit of an interaction with some extra super holy people who are being awful. And he said that I should say to a, a colleague of mine who was mystified by this, try not to judge Jesus by Christians, judge Christians by Jesus. And I thought that was wisdom because we're all going to be not very good adverts for Jesus because we're so selfish and you know, and some, you know, but I love that perspective. So that, so your horrible experience with this awful person, this awful, you know, situation for your children, it. You don't judge Jesus by that behavior. And that's why I think extra super holy, you know, is, is helpful because it separates them and it makes them seem. Shows them as ridiculous in the sense of, you know, trying to puff themselves up.
- [30:30]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. And to your point, about by going through experiences, like the different types of experiences that we go through. It definitely makes us more empathetic. Yeah. To situations in the future or. Or like you said, that we may already have done. You know, it's like that whole parable where the. The guy is forgiven. You know, he's forgiven a huge debt, and then he goes and rings the neck of someone else who owes him 20 bucks.
- [30:53]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [30:53]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. In the Holy Spirit, I think works in all those ways. And with their own children. It's like. Then you can say, well, remember how you felt when. You know, how did this.
- [31:00]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. And it's amazing.
- [31:03]
Ginny Earth
Yeah.
- [31:03]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. Really. And you wonder. I'm trying to learn in my own life when things are terrible, things happen or not. Doesn't even mean to be terrible. But you have a bad day to even go. Instead of thinking everything, you know, having a. To have the attitude of, I wonder what God's up to. Think that in the middle of the storm. Because that's saying, yeah. I don't have to like this. And this is scary, and this is horrible, but I. I know God's in charge, and I wonder what he's up to.
- [31:33]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. Yeah. This storybook, the Jesus Our True Friend Storybook, is seven good news stories. And they're delightful. The illustrations are delightful. They're great. Isn't that. It was CS Lewis who said something about if a. If a book's good, it's good for any age. Right. You know?
- [31:51]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. He said there's no. No such thing as a book that's only for children.
- [31:56]
Ginny Earth
Right.
- [31:56]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
If it's not for. Yeah, something like that. Otherwise, it's not a good children's book in the slightest.
- [32:01]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. So this one is just wonderful for. For children and for adults. But you talk about good news. Good news, like a herald would send. They would blow the trumpet to let you know in. In the medieval times that the battle is. And the Bible has all these stories that ultimately point to the good news, the good news of Jesus, the good news of the gospel, that God would mend this broken world. So I'd love to just talk about a few of them that are in this book. Jesus, our true friend.
- [32:28]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [32:29]
Ginny Earth
Seven good news stories. They come from a time when Jesus was on earth. They start with the party and they end with a breakfast. So you have the Good Samaritan in there. We've talked about that. What's interesting is there's just always new things you can learn, Sally. So I'd love to talk. Since it starts with the party. Let's talk about that Jesus is at this party, they're going to run out of wine. And I have always wondered, Sally, what's the big deal?
- [32:55]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes, yes.
- [32:57]
Ginny Earth
I have always wondered that. I'm like, well, who cares? You know, is. Isn't it like ending? And anyway, so you explain that in this children's book why you say that might not sound very disastrous. And I thought, well, yes, that's what I've always thought. So can you talk about this party that went wrong and. And what it tells us about the good news?
- [33:17]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah. So the party. So Jesus, first of all, the reason I love this story is it's the first miracle Jesus does when his ministry begins. And what that signals is he doesn't come up, you know, with great big long rules that we've got to keep. He's. He's coming from God to rescue the world. And the first thing he does is restore joy. And that's what it's telling you. He's a joy bringer. And of course, that's so beautiful. And so he comes to us, to this party, and back then, if you ran out of wine, it was the most shameful thing you could possibly. You know, weddings went on for like five days or something and the whole community came, and if you ran out of wine as the bridegroom, it was the most shameful thing you could ever have happen. So, you know, that puts it in the context of this was really going to ruin and all the joy was going to be over, the party would end, everyone would be fed up. And Jesus chooses, you know, Mary comes to him, says, please, you can, you can do something to restore their joy. You can make it, you know, happy again. And Jesus, because he's always thinking of why he's come and why he's come is ultimately to take our place and our punishment. So he's always, when he talks about my time hasn't come yet, that's what he says to Mary. He's really thinking about a future day when he's going to have to die to bring his children back to joy. So the whole. But he does. He. And the other thing is he makes this miracle. He doesn't touch anything. He doesn't say anything. He just says to the servants, fill up those jars with water. And then they become wine. He doesn't go over to them and pray over it doesn't do anything. And it, again, it shows you the power and authority. And when he does a miracle, this is another lovely thing that I learned. He never does a miracle to show Off. He only ever does a miracle to help people and point them to God's love. So he's never, you know, so when Satan tempts him in the desert to jump off a high place and then everyone will believe in you, all of that. He won't do it because that's just naked display of power. That's nothing about what he's about. He's about loving and helping and serving. And so that's another beautiful trait. And it's so not what you expect of the Prince of Heaven. Yeah. So, wow.
- [35:37]
Ginny Earth
The way that you write just allows me to look at things differently in a new light. Even though I, you know, I've read these stories since I was a kid and you talk about, you know, I never considered it really, the party that went wrong and never thought, well, what's Jesus going to do first? And then the fact that the wine was the best wine.
- [35:56]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes. Can you imagine.
- [35:57]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. The inner spot where it feels like it's the biggest disaster, that it ends up being the best wine.
- [36:04]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes, I know. I think that's what I'm hoping to do is. And I've, of course, all these beautiful insights I've learned from, you know, other theologians, and I've been benefited and I. And I've then. I think my work is to then take what moves me like that and that beautiful perspective and that beautiful trait of Jesus and work to bring it to children and make sure they capture that same wonder and beauty.
- [36:34]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. It's these insights, these insights that you think, you know, how could I possibly get insights from a children's book? And then I was like, oh, I didn't know that. And I didn't know that. And, you know, I've never thought of it.
- [36:45]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
My hope is that it will do that for everyone because it's, you know, Robert Frost said, no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. And as I worked on all of these stories, they moved me and I wrote out of that place. And I'm. I think there's some kind of mystery of what happens when you do write out of that place and you tell. So in other words, I think that means you're telling the truth because you're letting it touch you. And Min, you know, you really receiving this beauty. And then in some mysterious way, it does come through the page. And that's so that if I can, if that happens, then I've done my job. I'm very grateful.
- [37:23]
Ginny Earth
Here's another one. Mary and Martha were two of Jesus's best friends. Nobody really Talks like that, Sally. Like, who are some of Jesus's best friends? But when you're a child or when you're just any person, you're like, that's language I really relate to. Like, oh, you know, here's their. The friends. And Jesus is coming over. And actually, this is one of my favorite illustrations. So Jaco illustrated this.
- [37:49]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [37:50]
Ginny Earth
Storybook. And the storybook Bible. And the illustrations are. Are phenomenal. So one of my favorites was on the page of Mary and Martha. So Mary and Martha, they're two of Jesus's best friends, and here comes Jesus. And I think a lot of people relate to this one because a lot of moms listen in and Grandma's listening and we're heading into the holiday season. So this is a busy, crazy season. And you talk about how Mary just goes and hangs out with Jesus and Martha. These are the words you use. Poor Martha was starting to have a bad day. You know, anybody can relate to that, child or adult. And especially, like in the holiday seasons. And you look at the picture, and here is Mary, and she's just calmly sitting on the ground with all these, you know, other men, because the men were the ones that would usually be learning at that time. So know, you explain that in the book. And so she's sitting and. And Martha is just in stride, carrying this huge basket of food, you know, maybe towels over her arm, her hair's flopping everywhere.
- [38:48]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [38:49]
Ginny Earth
It's a great illustration. And you say she was frantically busy, and then she scolds Jesus. I mean, the wording is so good. She told Jesus what to do. She told him he didn't care.
- [39:05]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
I know. It's so shocking, isn't it? I was reading that at a school, and the little boy in the front row, when I said, there was a horrified gasp. Martha had just scolded Jesus and told him he didn't care and told him what to do. And he went, omg. But it is shocking, you know, but poor Martha.
- [39:27]
Ginny Earth
Yes. So can you give us a little. A little word for the. The frantically busy moms and grandmas that might be listening?
- [39:35]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, I would really recommend reading this because I felt so tender for Martha. You know, we all. We all feel. I mean, I've always found that story a bit confusing because I. We're all rather on the side of Martha. It's like, why should. And I'm an older sister, you know, that's why I wrote how to Be a Baby by me. The. Because I feel sorry for older sisters. And I feel like with Martha, she's behaving like an older sister, and the younger sister is getting all the attention and doing nothing. And so I totally understand. But as I. As I searched out, you know, and research the. The story, I started to realize, well, I don't know about anyone else, but I can certainly be a perfectionist. And, you know, she. There was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing. She was doing beautiful things for Jesus. And we can still. We can be doing beautiful things, but sometimes we use our beautiful things to stay away from him and we listen more to our voice of perfectionism. You know, Mary was in there listening to Jesus speak. So Martha was in the kitchen, and who was she listening to? She was probably listening to her own demands for perfection in her head, and Jesus wasn't demanding that of her. And when you think about it, Jesus is in your house. And, yeah, what was she doing? Was she doing like, they needed food, but was she doing too many things? Was she trying too hard to be perfect? Anyway, I just. I just thought. And what was it? What were those things doing? They were drawing. They were pulling her away from Jesus. And he wants us to be close to him. So I think it's not. It's not the what we're doing, it's the why. And if we're doing it as our own way to feel good about ourselves, then that. That's pulling us away from Jesus, who already loves us and we have nothing to do to make him love us. So in terms of our everyday lives, I was thinking, how can we be in the day close to Jesus Christ and it's really being present with him in whatever we're doing, versus the picture of Martha in the kitchen who's not present with Jesus. She's frantic because she's really trying to, in some ways, save herself. She's. She's got us an idea of what will make her pleasing and acceptable. And Jesus sees all the way through that because he. She doesn't need to do anything to make herself pleasing and acceptable. Now, obviously they needed food, so we still have to do what we're supposed to be doing in our lives, but it's why we're doing it and where it's coming from. Is it coming from love or are we full of fear that we've got to meet up to some impossible standard?
- [42:04]
Ginny Earth
The wording is so needed. You wrote Jesus loved Martha. She didn't need to do anything for Jesus to love her. I think the Jesus Storybook Bible was the first time for me. And this book is similar. This, this new storybook that, you know, I really realized through your writing that all of these stories do point to a similar thing. And because you're able to pull it out every single time, what a remarkable thing. Sally.
- [42:31]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, it's again, I, it was a revelation to me when I realized the Bible isn't lots of different unrelated stories, but it's one story and it's the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. When you see the Bible like that, and at the center of that story there's a baby who's going to come. God's going to send not a general or a major or a politician. He's going to send a baby to rescue the whole world. Well, that's, that's a story that you just can't even get your head around. It's so beautiful. And it, you know, I learned that through, well, the ministry of Tim Keller. I was at Redeemer Church for many years, even before I thought about writing a Bible storybook. And in that time I learned about, oh, it's not about how good I am so I can get God to love me, it's about how good God is and how much he already loves me. And it's a worship response out of that. When someone loves you, you want to make them happy when you love them back. And that's where our good works and you know, any good works we might do come from worship, not from earning. We're not earning God's love, we're responding in joy. So I just was like that as a little girl. I knew Jesus was my best friend, but I thought God was sort of like out to trip me up and I wasn't good enough. And I knew I wasn't brave like David and I wasn't going to be able to fight giants. And so as a little eight year old, I thought God must not be pleased with me because I wasn't doing it right. So all of this writing comes from, oh, I want that little 8 year old to know that's not the Bible. Whatever that is. It's not the Bible. That's moralism. And that's why Jesus came, because we can never be good enough. So I wanted children to know, first of all, God loves them. He won't stop loving them. They don't have to do anything to make him love them. He loves them and then that will change everything. If you know you're loved, you know.
- [44:26]
Ginny Earth
Yeah, yeah. And sometimes when we're frantically busy, that's when we might scold Jesus.
- [44:33]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And of course you Know, he's so gracious that in. You know, the psalms are full of scolding of God, aren't they? But they're real. As Tim Kelly used to say, it's nothing wrong. You just. You rage and you have all your stuff, but bring it. Do it with God. Don't do it away from God. So the psalms are full of raging and anger. And what are you doing, God? I hate those people. But he's doing it. The psalmist is doing it with God. And that's the key. Just bring everything to God. He's not going to be shocked by you and what you're saying and all your anger. Bigger than that. But he wants you to come to him and bring it to him and pour out your heart because that's the place that he can help you. So I love that he's not. I love that God isn't. He's not sort of some prude. He's not an extra super holy person in that sense. You know, he's. When he defines himself, Jesus defines himself. He's gentle and lowly. You know, I mean, obviously God is holy, and we never want to. You know, there's a beauty in the holiness. Holiness. Holy is a beautiful word, but not when it's put with extra super. Yeah, that. You know, I never want to make the word holy seem a bad thing because it's not.
- [45:44]
Ginny Earth
Holy is beautiful, but extra super holy. And the rules. The rules, the capital R comes up.
- [45:50]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Quite a bit, too. Yeah.
- [45:52]
Ginny Earth
I just want to read this. This little bit of this story, the Mary and Martha story, because this is a word for mothers or, you know, for. For those who are caring a lot, for those who are really busy during the holiday season, who feel overwhelmed. And Jesus says to Martha, you're like a capsized boat being tossed along and swept by all your worries. What you're carrying is too heavy for you. Why don't you just give me all your worries and troubles? So like we talked about earlier, you're gonna read these to your kids and then be like, oh, I need to read that for myself.
- [46:28]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [46:28]
Ginny Earth
Beautiful stories always pointing back to this good news. And heading into the holidays, it's a great time to grab these books. I am such a. A big fan of giving books as gifts. I like to give books as gifts, and I love to give books as gifts because stories become a part of who you are.
- [46:44]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And.
- [46:44]
Ginny Earth
And the story about our daughter really finding hope in what she read and finding understanding and God using that to do some healing in her own soul. Let's hit one more.
- [46:55]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [46:56]
Ginny Earth
Because this is also just great wording for children. This is about the stone throwers.
- [47:01]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes.
- [47:01]
Ginny Earth
The extra super holy. People find a woman caught sinning and they say, we caught her sinning. They cheered. Such great writing. Cheer just so threw me off.
- [47:18]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
But.
- [47:18]
Ginny Earth
In a good way, you know, threw me off in a good way. Because you relate to that. People who like, are excited when you fall or, you know, we caught her sitting in the chair. But you do go on in this one and you say Jesus loved even the mean bullies and he gave them a chance to be sorry for their sins, but they were too proud to be sorry. You say he hadn't come to punish God's children. He had come to rescue them. So, you know, I think that wording is important too. And our children, they go through hard things. I think they have experiences with mean bullies. I talked to a mom whose daughter had written a kid's book earlier this year, and it's called Can I Sit Here? And it's a story about how she went to a new school. She was young, something like second or third grade, something like that. Sally, like, little, like as an adult, you're like, that's a little kid. They're still losing their teeth, you know. And so she goes to sit at this table. She's new. And all the girls got up and left. They didn't even say a word to her. They all just got up and. And so, you know, kids deal with bullying situations and maybe someone who might be mean to them or maybe they're. They've been mean to somebody else.
- [48:26]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Else. Yeah.
- [48:26]
Ginny Earth
And so there's really hope here for all of us. So can you talk a little bit about Jesus in the stone throwers?
- [48:32]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
And yes, well, it, it came, you know, I think a lot about online bullying as well. And we can all be, you know, as grown ups, we can be bullied in our work. We can be bullied anywhere, but we have resources, you know, we know a little about what to do with them. The bullying and online bullying, of course, is devastating and especially to children. Children. And about a few years ago, my niece, who was 8, was being, was. Was this very vivacious little girl. And overnight she went very quiet. And later we found out she was being bullied, which is heartbreaking, obviously. And I later asked her, why did you go so quiet? And she said, I thought if I stopped being me, I'd stop being bullied, which is so awful, so, so nightmarish. And I, so I decided I needed. Needed. I said, to her, what do you read before you go to work, to school every morning? And she showed me a sort of workbook type of thing, which might have been helpful in another context, but it was making every Bible story into a moral lesson, which I actually think is never helpful. But anyway, it was sort of things like, well, the little boy feeding of the 5,000. He shared his lunch. And so you should share your lunch. In what way is that helpful to a little girl being bullied? It's not helpful. So I, that's why I wrote thoughts to make your heart sing, which Jaco and I, I also did, which is a book of which I wanted her to have, which was telling people what God's telling her, all the wonderful things God says about her instead of what the bullies were saying. So that's always been on my heart. And then when it came to the stone throwers, I couldn't help thinking about her too. And I couldn't help thinking about some of my own experience and the online scary mob, you know, that can just shut people cancel people do anything. And I thought, thought, yeah, they're bullies and bullies are, they're always around. And so I wanted to make sure that children knew, but what was right, what was, you know, I wanted them to see how Jesus handles this and how he so understands what this is like. And the truth that he says to these bullies, this crowd, to these men is he basically says, but haven't you also broken the same rules? Why do you think you're not, you know, these, the trouble with these extra super holy people is they didn't think they needed forgiving. They thought they were perfect and that was the sin of pride and they were sinful and their hearts, hearts were hard. But what it did blow me away when I realized as I was researching that Jesus loves even the mean bullies. And that was convicting to me because it's very easy to other eyes, isn't it? And yes, you get bullied and then you want to do the same thing back. And that's what you don't want. You don't want it to change your heart and your character. So that was, that was just beautiful to see Jesus kindness and also his, his tenderness with the woman who had been. She'd been blamed for something when it wasn't just her. There would have been a man involved anyway. It's just that he just says, where have they all gone, your condemners? And she says, they're nowhere. And he says, well, I don't condemn you, but Go and leave your life of sin and running away from God. So he forgives her and says, now, don't keep running away from God. You go on, but go to run to him. And I just thought his kindness and gentleness and his strength, he won't be bullied. That's the other thing. The one person's not bullied in this is Jesus. He won't be bullied, but he doesn't bully back.
- [51:57]
Ginny Earth
Wow. There is so much to get out of this storybook. Wow. How I loved it.
- [52:01]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
It.
- [52:02]
Ginny Earth
I loved it. It's like balm for your soul is. It's beautiful. Story time with children. I want to read a little bit that I found on your website about this book. You say when I first began writing for children, and, you know, I think, Sally, this is, though this fits in also with the good news of. Of what God can do. You know, you talked about how you never expected that you're going to be at the Ryman.
- [52:24]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
No.
- [52:25]
Ginny Earth
Right. You know. Right. Just never. And that's coming up again.
- [52:29]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yes, Yes. I do it early December in Nashville. And, you know, Andrew invited me once and he's never been able to get rid of me. I come every year. I'm like a bad penny, but it's so lovely. And I'm almost. He said, I'm almost. Well, he did last year. He said I was an official member of the band, which of course, like, you know, me with the tour bus. I'm. I'm a nightmare to these people because I'm. I'm. I go on like I am the rock star. But, you know, I just get so overexcited. It's. Yes. I would never in a million years expect that, that.
- [52:58]
Ginny Earth
Oh, but we can look at a story like yours and say, gosh, what might God do? What might God do with my story? So you say. When I first began writing stories for children, I never dreamed that the books would travel the world from Cambodia to Haiti to Ukraine. I never imagined they would find their way into the hands of professors and prison ministers and singer songwriters and university students, into nursing wards, onto NICU wards in over 80, 80 languages. So you start with this book, this Jesus storybook Bible, the first book that you and Jago ever made together, over 6 million sold, translated into over 80 languages. Then you followed up with thoughts to make your heart sing. You have six board books as well that are simple paraphrases of some of the psalms. And now this Jesus, our true friend. And you say this in every book we have made together, we have Wanted children and in turn, the adults who read these to children. Right. We have wanted children to know the truth of the gospel. Gospel. They don't have to be good for God to love them, but God loved them before they were even born. He loves them with a wonderful never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love. He just can't stop loving them and he won't ever leave them. He came to rescue them so they could join in with his forever happiness. I'm over here kind of crying, but you can't see because we're not on film.
- [54:19]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah, well, that's the beauty of the gospel, isn't it? It. That's why we have. Our hearts have been captured. Yeah. Because that's. Who wouldn't. You know, Tim Kelly used to say, you may not believe the story, but wouldn't you want it to be true? And I love that because there's something in our hearts that there's something about this story that's so disarmingly, ambushingly beautiful that we would never come up with.
- [54:44]
Ginny Earth
Yeah. Yeah. Sally, what an honor to get a chance to talk with you. Such an honor. I'm so grateful.
- [54:49]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Grateful.
- [54:50]
Ginny Earth
I'm so grateful.
- [54:51]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
I'm so grateful. Ginny. Thank you for having me.
- [54:53]
Ginny Earth
If it sold 80, what did it say? How many millions? How many?
- [54:56]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Oh, 80 million. That would be something. No, it's already. Yeah. 80 languages.
- [55:01]
Ginny Earth
80 link. It was 6 million in 80. I flipped the numbers around, but the point is, if you know it's 6 million copies sold. How many stories are there? Like, like from my daughter?
- [55:16]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah, there's.
- [55:17]
Ginny Earth
There's millions of stories that you. That you won't ever hear, but that God is. Is working in the hearts of these children. And so I cannot recommend these more highly. The Jesus Storybook Bible, Jesus, our true friend, is the new one. Stories to fill your heart with joy. The story of God's great love. And then there are so many more. Go check out all the books. I'll put a bunch of links in the show notes. Sally, we always end our show with the same question. The question is, what's a favorite memory from your childhood that was outside ride outdoors?
- [55:48]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, I suppose the thing that comes to mind is when I was very little in. In East Africa, I used to ride my dog. I was probably like four, and I just remember riding him like he was a horse. But I. I don't know if he liked it. But anyway, that's one of my memories.
- [56:06]
Ginny Earth
Which is very random, surprising. I wasn't expecting. Expecting dog at the end of the sentence, dog. It was like the. It was like the sentence in the book. We caught her sinning. They cheered. Yes, silly.
- [56:22]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Thank you.
- [56:23]
Ginny Earth
Thank you for this beautiful work that you do for children and for families.
- [56:27]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Well, Ginny, thank you and thank you for. I couldn't do what I'm doing without people like you being so generous to let people know. So thank you for helping get the book in the hands that I wrote it for.
- [56:37]
Ginny Earth
Ah, it was an honor to be with you.
- [56:39]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Thank you, Jimmy.
- [56:42]
Ginny Earth
Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means half day.
- [57:02]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Yeah.
- [57:02]
Ginny Earth
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [57:06]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only.
- [57:09]
Ginny Earth
Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy, taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile.com what do you think.
- [57:13]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Makes the perfect snack?
- [57:15]
Ginny Earth
Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.
- [57:18]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Could you be more specific?
- [57:19]
Ginny Earth
When it's cravenient. Okay, like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter available right down the street at am, pm or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just.
- [57:27]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
A Second it at a.m. p.m. I'm seeing a pattern here.
- [57:30]
Ginny Earth
Well yeah, we're talking about what I.
- [57:31]
Sally Lloyd-Jones
Crave which is anything from am, pm.
- [57:34]
Ginny Earth
What more could you want? Stop by AMPM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience am, PM too much good stuff.