Book one, Shadows in Tenebray Forest, is dedicated to your grandfather. The
dedication includes a photograph of him as a young man in a World War II
uniform and reads “In memory of my grandpa. He gave me so much straw.” What are
you referring to here?
The straw is
referencing a Russian proverb that appears in the book, “Would I know where I’d
fall, I’d lay some straw there ahead of time.” In other words, if I knew what
parts of life were going to be hard I’d do something in advance to make it a
little easier. At one point a character refers to this and says, “But that
isn’t possible is it? To know what will happen, and even if we did, I doubt
we’d have enough straw. It brings out the theme in the book that perhaps our
lives are intertwining and intersecting all the time and even though we don’t
know what will happen, and even though it seems as though we’d never have
enough straw, perhaps we provide straw for one another in the way our lives
intersect.
I was very
close to my grandfather. He was a WWII vet, but I never heard him talk about it.
When I was in middle school he became very sick with cancer and was given a
very short time to live. His sickness prompted my entire family to go with him
to Europe and retrace his steps during the War.
My
grandfather was in the second wave of soldiers who landed on Normandy Beach on
D-Day. I will never quite comprehend the horror he saw that day. It must have
been like walking into the very pits of hell. And standing there with him as a
kid I remember thinking it was crazy. I mean why run across that beach? Why run
into all that danger? A smart person would have run the other way.
A few days
later we visited Dachau Concentration Camp. I saw for myself the effects of
evil unchecked, unstopped, unopposed. My grandfather’s dying lesson to me was
that there are reasons to run across a beach, there are things worth fighting
for, there are times to run into battle. That lesson changed who I was. The
books I have written are due in part to the fact that as a young man, my
grandfather ran across a beach. So in many ways, he is my straw.
In book one, Shadows in Tenebray Forest the main
characters connect with a woman who was a child during the Nazi occupation of
Poland. The woman tells the girls of a brave and courageous thing she did as a
child to oppose the Nazi regime. Why is it important to teach kids about World
War II and the holocaust?
Let me preface this by saying that
it has to be age appropriate. The goal isn’t to destroy the innocence of
children by presenting them with the most gruesomeness of human history. That
is why for instance the Holocaust Museum in DC has both a main exhibit and an
exhibit for children. Some things are not appropriate for kids. That being
said, we aren’t doing our kids any favors by pretending or teaching them that
evil doesn’t exist and bad things never happen.
History, both the dark side and
light side of history are important because it gives kids a framework for
understanding that evil is real. It isn’t just an idea or a metaphor. We have
to stand up against it. I read a quote at the United States Holocaust Museum
about how the Holocaust wasn’t an accident and I think this is important for
kids to know. It is important to understand that bad things don’t happen by
accident. Rather they happen because of choices, both the direct choices to
inflict hurt or injustice on another person, but also because of the indirect
choices of silence, indifference, apathy.
I tell kids that on a smaller
scale, what happened in history happens every day in their schools, on the bus,
on the playground. We always face
choices of how we are going to treat another human being or how we are going to
respond to how someone else treats another person. What history shows us and
can illustrate for kids is how those choices and their actions are bigger than
themselves. We see this repeatedly throughout history—how someone’s small act
explodes into something bigger. And an understanding of this, that our actions
reach beyond ourselves and have bigger consequences is valuable for a child to
learn.
It also gives kids a framework for
heroism. A hero isn’t simply a gorgeous movie star, but to learn about normal,
everyday people, even other kids who made a difference, who made a crack in
that machine of evil that looms so large opens up what is possible in their
lives.
So certainly, the goal is not to
destroy innocence, but rather to give kids the tools to navigate the realities
of life.
The We Walk Tour is a three-hour mother daughter event. The tour is hosted by GEMS Girls’ Clubs, which is a
dynamic international club program for young girls. For years GEMS has
encouraged girls to find their voices and to become activists for Christ no
matter their age. The tour is an extension of this. It’s really a call for girls to avoid the lure of
indifference and apathy and silence.
The We
Walk Tour challenges girls to stand up for what they believe in,
even when the world does not value their voices. The event will open with great
praise and worship, I’ll be speaking, we’ll have videos, and interactive object
lessons. There is a mom-only session led by two amazing women and I’ll be
leading a girl-only session. There is a craft, a snack, more praise and
worship, prizes and giveaways. It’s a fun and meaningful morning where girls
can better understand that their small acts, in the hands of Jesus, can be the
catalyst for huge change in the world.
The event is on February 8 at Gateway Community Church in
Abbotsford. Tickets are $15 per ticket and can be purchased through House of
James, Blessings Christian Marketplace, Tourism Abbotsford or through at
itickets.com http://www.itickets.com
You can also find information on my website. gemsgc.org/mrm.
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