Hola readers!

Seven or eight years ago, I stepped through a magical wardrobe into Narnia and it changed my life forever. I was young, naive, and just your average tween, struggling with life, trying to grasp the concept of God, heaven and how we get there. I saw a GIF of Mr. Beaver on a friend's blog around that time and instantly was infatuated with the talking animal who wasn't going to smell Peter's hand - it just cracked me up.
I told my Mom I wanted to borrow the movie from our local library and so next time we went to return our gigantic pile of books we'd borrowed, I picked up The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. We watched it that night, me, my mom and my nine year old sister Korin. The whole concept of Narnia was new to us. Up until then I'd never really even heard of C.S Lewis or his magical world but it really changed my young mind.
From then on, I can say I "grew up with Narnia" because it's honestly true. I remember my Mom
reading the books to me and my sister one by one, beginning to end and once we reached the Last Battle I was to the point of tears - both tears of happiness and nostalgic feelings.


And because I hoped heaven would be a lot like Aslan's country.

I never cried when I was younger - not for books anyway, and I was deeply touched by these children's stories that swept me up into a whole new world and taught me about God, heaven, the end times, and so much more in a simple, beautiful way.
I loved Aslan and he helped me understand Jesus a little better, and I loved Caspian as well - I think I secretly had a crush on the movie version...

I even had the chance to see Dawn Treader in theaters (and in 3D none the less) when after a long wait it came out. That is one of my best memories from Narnia to look back on actually because it was such a fun time - I remember I even designed a Narnia fan t-shirt to wear when we went.

But the older I've become, I've realized that Narnia is still amazing, still there for me. I don't want to forget about it like I've forgotten the many other children books I read as a child. I read them to my littlest sister Kailin last year and once again the whole allegory of the stories are mind blowing and so so achingly beautiful. As I picked up our wearing copies and read in the Silver Chair Puddleglum's speech to the witch where he tells her he'd rather believe in Aslan then darkness - even if Aslan wasn't true - or when I read about the donkey dressing up as Aslan and
fooling the dumb animals, or when I made it to the very last paragraph of the story, the apparent end to the chronicles of Narnia, I realized that now as a young adult, the stories still have the ability to speak.

They're more then stories - they're a piece of my childhood, a place where I wandered in with the Pevensies and will continue to wander. It's a place that has taught me even into my adult years the character of God - his immense love for me and how he's good no matter what.
I learned that "nothing ever happens the same way twice".  I learned about amazing forgiveness as Aslan forgave Edmund for his betrayal, and I learned that we can't change ourselves - only God can - as Eustace was "cured" by Aslan from being a dragon.
Yes, Narnia has impacted my life forever, and I can't wait until I'm Lord-willing a mommy someday in the future and my own tiny daughter sits on my lap and  I can read her the Narnia classics, take her where I walked, and share with her a journey that is one of the best out there.