Through the Wardrobe
The sign on the door read, “Enter only if you want to go into Narnia.” I remember thinking for a split second “I sure do” before joyfully opening the door.
Our son John was about seven years old when he taped that sign to his bedroom door. Inside were characters from the imaginary land of Narnia that C.S. Lewis created in The Chronicles of Narnia. Standing against the walls of John’s bedroom were Narnia figures which he had designed and created from Legos. His pencil on paper portraits of the characters were taped to the wall behind them.
I was thrilled that John relished Narnia and its inhabitants like I did. Having read little as a child, I have gotten to enjoy children’s literature for the first time as an adult. I read Ray’s copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was in my twenties. I couldn’t stop until I had read the other six Chronicles in quick succession.
Many years later I was doing a homeschool unit study on the series. So was a friend of mine. Our family decided to invite their family to join us for an evening in Narnia. We hung a long paint roller extender between some shelves in front of the door and hung coats on them. I had picked up a battery-operated lamppost several years earlier, thinking that it would be a good decoration in our homeschool convention booth. The lamppost made it to only a handful of conventions before it was retired to a bedroom corner. It was handy to have a lamppost just beyond our “wardrobe.”
When our friends arrived at our door, they put on coats from the “wardrobe” and came into “Narnia.”
We had a fun evening, including an English tea. Â Ray and I hosted the evening, but we were only playing the role of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. You can see how elaborate our costumes were. We’re both wearing brown and we’re trying to look like beavers by sticking out our teeth. Do you think anyone recognized us?
God gave us our imaginations. Isn’t it fun?
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to make you stand in the presence of His glory
blameless with great joy,
to the only God our Savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, dominion and authority,
before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24-25, NASB