Sally Lloyd-Jones: “God chose you specifically for your children and your children for you”

New York Times bestselling writer of over 40 books for children, including The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones, encourages Christian parents to see that they’ve been called to be faithful not perfect

Sally, tell us a bit about yourself - where did you grow up and how did you get to where you are today?

I was born in Kampala, Uganda. My dad was working for Shell. I was born in Mengo missionary hospital, though my parents weren’t believers yet. The surgeon prayed over me before I was born. My parents talk about that as one of the links in the chain that brought them to faith. We moved to Nairobi, then back to England, and that’s where I went to school for a little while and attended a Sunday school.

My memory as a little girl was going from Africa – which was freedom and running bare foot – to heavy coats and shoes and serious Sunday school. I always knew Jesus was my best friend – my dad led me to the Lord when I was four – but at that Sunday school, it seemed to my little 6-year-old mind to be all about rules. Then we went to West Africa, but I wasn’t thriving at the school there. I’m so grateful my parents saw that and sent me to a boarding school in the New Forest in the UK when I was eight. It sounds like a bad thing – but it was literally a God send. It was a magical school, and I am sure one reason I became a writer.

Looking back, as we all can, every single piece in our lives prepares us for what God has called us to do

My mother always knew I could write, and then a teacher at that school told me I could, too. Later I studied at the Sorbonne, worked at Oxford University Press in Oxford, and found myself in publishing. I felt I was on the wrong side of the desk – editing, not writing myself. But I didn’t think I was good enough to write. Eventually, I took a job in Connecticut, thinking I’d only go for a year, but I never left.

I became head of the children’s line at a trade publisher who then began a Christian imprint. I’d always resisted the idea that I’d be in Christian publishing all my life, but my boss knew I was a Christian and started giving me Bible stories to edit. I got a name for being able to distil biblical truth, and now I thank God for that, because it’s what led to ……