May 16, 2025 • 47 mins
Do you know the name Charlotte Mason? Friday on a "Best of Chris Fabry Live," Leah Boden describes the teaching style of this 19th Century educator. Charlotte believed children learn through the use of stories and her method can help home school teachers captivate students with what she calls "living books." We'll also talk about C.S. Lewis and the use of imagination. Don't miss our next Chris Fabry Live.
Resources mentioned:
The Angel Orphan: Charlotte Mason Finds Her Way Home
Chronicles of Wonder: The Story-Formed Life of C. S. Lewis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:05):
Welcome to our Friday edition of Chris Fabry Live! The
program from the heart to the heart for the heart.
And boy, do I have a heart filling conversation for
you today. Anyone interested in homeschooling will be invigorated by
the discussion straight ahead. Anyone with a love of C.S.
Lewis and reading and Narnia and Tolkien will also benefit
(00:28):
from across the pond. It's our great pleasure to welcome
Leah Bowden to the studio today. You'll find out what
is stirring her heart on this edition at the radio
Backyard fence. So let's get going first with a thank
you to Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical. Tricia McMillan
is our producer in the chair today. Our program is recorded,
(00:50):
so we're not going to be taking your calls. However,
since it's Friday. That's right. It's time for the fabulous
Faber Friday Sci. Here's what it does. Number one, we
oxygenate your blood. Two, we get your endorphins going. Three,
we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
(01:10):
call it the five love languages. We also stimulate your
vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And don't you
dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation. Taking four
seconds of air through your nose. Hold it for seconds.
And then as you release that air through your mouth,
push on the left side of your rib cage to
get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide. Give a
(01:32):
sigh today if you have no idea who Charlotte Mason
is and why her life and teaching are important to
us today, give a sigh for all things Lewis, for
Jack and Warnie and the Kilns, for his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien,
for Jack's love of books, love of stories in the
way the losses of his life led him to lose
himself in those stories and eventually find himself and his
(01:55):
purpose in the greatest story ever Told Today's Fabulous Fabric
Friday Size, brought to you by Charlotte and Jack. And
a teacher named Leah who has traveled a long way
to join us today. All rights reserved. Void where prohibited. Well,
as I mentioned, today's conversation is recorded. Don't call us today,
(02:15):
but I hope you'll stay here and enjoy the conversation
that is straight ahead that we aired during the NRA
convention 2025. But I, I want to tell you right now,
the way that we come to you, the way that
we are able to have Leah Bowden on the conversation
at the back fence is because there are people who
(02:37):
get involved and who give a gift to Chris Fabry live.
We can't do what we do without you. I say
that a lot, and it's true. And one way to
do that is become a back fence partner. You get
my back fence post every Thursday. I send out a video.
Ryan puts it together. Um, whether I have my Carhartt
shirt on or not, I'm not going to promise. But
(02:59):
I'll have some shirt on. I can can tell you that.
But we kind of pulled back the curtain and we
let you know some of the things that are going
on behind the scenes. Sometimes it's a guest who sticks around.
We do a video with them. It would be really
encouraging to get a gift from you each month. So
go to the website. chris.org. Or you can call us
(03:22):
at 8669538669532279. Thanks for being a back fence partner. Leah
Bowden is wife to Dave and mother to four children.
With more than two decades of experience in church leadership,
she has devoted herself to youth, children's and family work
(03:42):
within the church and for the local education authority, and
want to find out what that means. She's a respected speaker,
podcast host, and coach who passionately shares the transformative beauty
of the Charlotte Mason approach to childhood, motherhood, and education.
She's the author of modern. Miss Mason lives with her
(04:02):
family in West Midlands, England, and I am pleased Moody
Publishers has released this very month. The angel orphan Charlotte
Mason finds her way Home Tales of boldness and Faith,
book one and then book two, Chronicles of Wonder. The
story formed life of C.S. Lewis, and we're going to
(04:23):
talk about both of them. But first, let's welcome Leah Bowden. Leah,
thanks for being here today.
S2 (04:28):
Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
S1 (04:31):
Who in the world is Leah Bowden?
S2 (04:33):
Who in the world? Indeed. It's me. I'm here. And, um, yeah, well,
I as you just described, a bit of my family setup.
I have four kids. Uh, my husband, Dave and I
have been serving Jesus for a long time, and our
whole kind of life mission together is to, uh, really
(04:54):
do what we can to support and encourage the next generation.
So that looks like writing. It looks like working in education.
It's for us as a family. It's looked like home
educating for many, many years. We are live in the
West Midlands. We have a dog, we live by a park.
S1 (05:10):
And what's your dog's name? You got to tell us
your dog's name.
S2 (05:13):
Po. He's one year old. He's a miniature schnauzer and
he is absolutely amazing.
S1 (05:20):
And you named him after an American author, right?
S2 (05:24):
Yeah, you got it right. First time people come up
with all sorts of things. Like. What is he named? Yes.
You're right, well done, well done.
S1 (05:31):
Well, University of Virginia. And you had kind of a
hard life and a hard story. You did Annabel Lee
and the and the Raven and all that. Okay, there's
so much we can talk about. Lee. I'm so excited
about this. Okay, so when I read this about you, uh,
the local education authority that you work with. Local education authority,
what does that mean?
S2 (05:50):
So this was kind of when my children were younger.
I worked, um, for. Yeah, basically the government authority that
run the school system in the wider area. And, but
my particular role was working with children who didn't quite
fit the system, and they were often on the edge
of being, um, what we call permanently excluded from the
(06:12):
school system. So it didn't work. Um, and so my
role was working with the children and the families to
really to really get to grips with, kind of get
to grips with what's going on here. How can we
how can we help? Did a lot of mentoring. Um,
I mean, some of it was pretty heartbreaking. Um, and
I got to do whatever I could, uh, walk alongside
(06:36):
these children to help integrate them into or better integrate
them into their, you know, educational world and then do
that with their families as well. So I did that
for a while before. Then I ended up being home
full time home, educating my children. So it was an
interesting switch.
S1 (06:55):
You want to help those who are homeschooling, but you
also want to help those teachers. And a lot of
that is this story idea, the living the living books, right?
S2 (07:06):
That's right. So, I mean, you know, the one person
I've written about, Charlotte Mason, she was this British revolutionary
educationalist who had in a time where Victorian Britain were
kind of seeing children as being seen and not heard
and ticking the boxes of arithmetic and writing and getting
(07:27):
them through the system. Charlotte Mason saw children as being
she used this phrase born persons, which basically is they
are created by God. They come into the world not
as an empty vessel for us, you know, wise adults
to fill them, but God knows them. He he made
them ready to contribute and to be a part of
(07:51):
his world, and therefore we get the privilege of being
on the front row of this great unveiling, as I
like to describe it, of seeing our children come to
life depending on what we bring around them. So we
get to facilitate their world. And I think we all
know this really, that actually children need wonderful stimulus. They
(08:12):
need to see and experience and hear incredible things. And
one of those tools was the kind of books that
they get to read. And so she had this great
emphasis on what she called living books. And these were
resources that actually very much story driven, written by a
passionate author who knew their subject well. Um, they, you know,
(08:37):
page turners, things like wanted books that you wanted to
move on with and actually could pause and tell somebody
else about afterwards. Um, so that's been a big passion
of mine, is not only introducing those books to my children,
but now writing them as well.
S1 (08:51):
Yes, I can tell. And I'm so excited because maybe
today is the first time someone is listening and saying,
I haven't heard about the angel orphan. Charlotte Mason I
haven't heard about Chronicles of Wonder, which is basically the
story of Jack, of C.S. Lewis and Warnie and all
all that he experienced. So we're going to plumb the
(09:12):
depths of that today here at the back fence with
Leah Bowden. Bowden you can find out more about her
at the website. Chris Fabry Livorno. Livorno more straight ahead
here on Moody Radio. This is Chris Fabry live on
(09:36):
Moody Radio. Don't call us today. Our program is recorded,
but I have a fantastic guest for you. Leah Bowden
from across the pond in the UK is right here.
She lives in West Midlands, England. And she has written
among all of her books two new ones, book one
and book two in the Tales of Boldness and Faith series.
(09:58):
And the first one is the angel orphan Charlotte Mason
finds her way home. The second is Chronicles of Wonder.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis, and these are
great for young readers. Children of teenagers, perhaps, but they're
also great because I'm a I'm an adult and I'm
reading them for the first time. Fantastic. We're going to
(10:20):
get into Charlotte here in just a second. You got
to tell me about Dave. How did you meet Dave,
and how did you know that he was the one?
S2 (10:27):
Um. Dave is fantastic. We're both. We're both actually authors.
So we fight over who's bringing a book out this year. Um,
he and I met serving in youth ministry, and, um,
he we ran this. This is a funny story. You'll
like this. We ran a youth camp, and, um, for
(10:47):
a whole week. We were really good friends. We were
getting closer as friends. And he is a funny guy.
Everyone knows him as the funny guy. He's got a
great sense of humor, and he decided for a whole
week to ask me to marry him every single day.
We weren't even dating, and he just was like, this
is just funny. And I and I would just reply with, oh,
of course I will, Dave. Of course. And this was
(11:08):
just like in jest, never knowing that I would spend
the rest of my life with him. So we did that.
And then his little way of getting getting in. I
was going on a mission trip to Orkney. So this
is the very north, you know, go drive through Scotland.
Keep going, keep going, get to John O'Groats and then
get on a boat and go even further. And he
(11:30):
heard I was going on this mission trip and very
last minute, like days before he called the pastor who
was running it and said, can I get on this trip?
And he we sat next to each other all the
way up to Orkney and, um, yeah, this is where
we got into the conversation is do you think we'll
ever be more than friends? And initially I just was like,
(11:51):
I'm not sure, Dave. I'm not sure he tells the
story quite different. Um, but that was the beginning of
our blossoming relationship. And, uh, yeah, we were, I think
from then we were married something like 18 months, two
years later. Okay. And we've been married 25 years this year.
S1 (12:09):
25.
S2 (12:09):
Yeah.
S1 (12:10):
Okay. So so when he first asked you in jest,
in a way, and it probably wasn't asking in jest.
S2 (12:16):
From.
S1 (12:16):
His perspective, but when he did that, were you late
teenagers at that point?
S2 (12:22):
Yeah. So he's a little bit younger than me. Uh,
so he was. Yeah. Late teens, early 20s between the
two of us. Yeah. So, I mean, I was, um,
I just spent a year in the States on a
discipleship program, and I'd come back fresh into England, all
full of, like, I know a lot more stuff nowadays.
And he was, um, he was helping run this camp.
(12:45):
And it was that summer. Yeah. When we really kind
of became really good friends and fell in love.
S1 (12:50):
So I've heard this said about, uh, singles, you know,
if you wonder if you want to be married. But
how do I find the right person to do whatever
God has you to do fully? And then look around
at there's somebody who's running with you, alongside you that
maybe that that's the person.
S2 (13:09):
Absolutely. I was just saying this to my one of
my teenage daughters recently. That is exactly how it was
for me. You know, I was so, just so caught
with seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness,
and all these things will be added unto you. And
that is really what I was doing. I was seeking
(13:29):
first God. And I remember getting to a place where
where I thought I was going to be on the
mission field, I thought I was going to be. I remember, uh,
leaving this discipleship program thinking, I'm going to go to China.
I'm going to go serve Jesus. But I may be
alone for the rest of my life. And that is okay.
And it's interesting, isn't it? How in that summer, me
(13:50):
being totally fixed on, I'm just going to run hard
and fast after Jesus and all he has for me.
He brought this, this man along who was going to
change my life forever. And he was the right choice
and the best choice. And our life has been full
and fun and fruitful and interesting ever since.
S1 (14:08):
Well, if you mentioned China, you probably read Hudson Taylor's
spiritual Secret then.
S2 (14:13):
So my son is called Micah Hudson. Um, and yeah.
And he, you know, he Hudson Taylor comes from Barnsley,
which is a city in West Yorkshire, which is where
I'm from. I'm from Wakefield in West Yorkshire. So I
have a lot of there's a connection there with Hudson Taylor.
Really important. Yeah.
S1 (14:32):
Were there any other books that you read that were
formative in in your faith journey? Things that you know
of John Stott or Mere Christianity. Lewis. Yeah. What other
books did you read?
S2 (14:44):
You know, I loved mission stories, so I read Jackie
Pullingers Chasing the Dragon. On repeat, I read, um, that
Nikki Cruz books, brother Andrew's books, all those. I just
read them. Yeah. Again and again. I also love when
I was younger, I loved the Patricius and John Sinjohn,
(15:04):
her books treasures of the snow and. Yeah, all the
whole series, actually. But I just loved missionary stories. That's
what I loved reading about. And I, um, and I
was a really shy, quite a very I didn't understand
introversion back then. I was called a shy person, shy girl.
And I just saw this boldness in these people who were, um,
(15:28):
just stepping out into these unknown places, um, for the
purpose of seeking first the kingdom of God and showing in,
in word and deed Indeed what the gospel can do.
And I was just fascinated by that. Um, yeah. And
still am today. I just think it's it's what an
incredible way to live.
S1 (15:49):
Isn't it interesting, then, that that that trajectory of your
own life, especially being captivated by stories, that that is
what God has you doing now for other parents, for
teachers to be kind of the steward of these young
lives and the steward of stories.
S2 (16:08):
Yeah, it is amazing. And, you know, it's interesting how
I felt like I had this mission call on my life.
And I interpreted that as going to China, going to Africa,
going to, you know, you name it. And I think
because that was what was the pattern of what we saw,
we saw missionary equals going to some far off country.
(16:32):
And I remember my husband and I moving into an
area in Coventry, in the city where we live, and
we were part of a house church movement, and we
were part of a group of incredible people who were
just like said, right, we're going to serve Jesus in
this town. And we got jobs there and we moved.
You know, we just like living out of each other's
pockets for a while. And it wasn't easy. But I
(16:53):
remember God saying to me in that time, the missionary
call on your life, these are the streets that you're
going to do it in. It's here, it's in England.
And the same feeling I remember first starting to write
this series, starting to share, um, research and begin to
kind of, you know, C.S. Lewis and Charlotte Mason and
the other stories. These people I almost walked alongside them,
(17:17):
had this journey with these people through history and this this,
I mean, you know, you're a writer as well. This
idea of your books going to places where you will
never go. It still feels like a mission, like a
mission call. Like, I don't get to see where these
books go. I don't get to see the children that
will read these and the hands that these will land
in and in the shelves that they will sit in
(17:39):
other countries where they'll go. But God does. And what
an incredible thing to be able to do that to.
And every time I write a book, I do, you know,
dedicate it to the Lord and say, okay, it's in
your hands now. Wherever this is going to go. And
I see that as, as part of this mission call
that I don't get to right now in this season.
(17:59):
I'm not all over the world doing, doing whatever, but
I am doing this, and I'm going to do this well,
and I'm going to faithfully serve God in this way.
And that's really been incredible and such an encouragement to me.
S1 (18:11):
You know, the other thing that happens is your story
will go into a book. A story hits a heart
in a way that, you know, a spoken story can
do the same thing, but not quite the way that
words on a page can. Because I can control words
on a page. I can read quickly or I can
(18:34):
read slowly. I can go back and read it again.
And that process is what you want to come alive
in in kids, right?
S2 (18:42):
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And it's Dave. And I often say
this when we're speaking somewhere or he's preaching, he'll have
presented something and he'll have somebody come up to him
at the end. He'll say, I love it. I loved
it when you said this. It meant this to me.
And he's going, I didn't even say that. Like, I
don't remember even saying that. You never really know what
(19:03):
the Holy Spirit's going to reveal to people. And yeah,
I think when you start to hear feedback from your books,
when you start to get reviews, good reviews, hopefully, um,
it is interesting what stands out to people and the
the elements of the story or the little lines that
you've put in there. You know, some people miss them,
other people, it you know, it really catches their heart.
(19:24):
And and I love that. It's so it keeps it interesting.
S1 (19:27):
I, I think even the bad reviews. I have a
friend who's, you know, a widely read author sold a
lot of books And he said, if you get a
bad review online or whatever, don't, um, don't be too
discouraged because what it means is your story is getting
out there further than it would if you were just
(19:48):
reading it at home. That's true. Your own kids? Yeah.
And so when you get that bad review, a lot
of times it's from somebody with a different worldview and
that you can rejoice in that in the sense that
it's getting other places that you can't walk and talk.
S2 (20:03):
Yeah, I like that. That's a helpful perspective. You don't
always feel that at the time, do you? But that
is a really helpful. Yeah.
S1 (20:11):
So how did Charlotte Mason come across your radar?
S2 (20:16):
So in the early 2000, uh, my husband and I
started researching, um, home education. I'd spent a year in
Saint Louis, Missouri, and and various places. But I'd done
this discipleship year, and they they had this, uh, home
school is kind of like an arts center, like a
(20:39):
place where homeschoolers could go and do arts. And I'd
never heard of homeschooling before. And I remember meeting somebody
who was explaining to me what they did, and I
was like, home schooling. What on earth is that? I
didn't have a framework for that. I'd never met anybody homeschooled.
I didn't know, um, that it was a possibility. And
(21:00):
I remember I was I was single at the time,
but that's where this kind of seed was sown. And
so Roland married and and had, um, our first daughter.
And we were just going the normal way. The route
of all UK families. Do you kind of enroll your
child in school at a certain age? And, and I
(21:21):
just remember starting that process and feeling. Hang on, I
don't think I wanted this. This is not what I.
This doesn't feel like the right thing to do. So
I was a lot further ahead and had that process before.
Dave hadn't been involved with that. Those thoughts in my head.
So we had to do this journey together, obviously. And
so we were researching. I think the first thing I
(21:44):
put into probably Yahoo back then was, is homeschooling legal
in the UK? And turns out it was. And so
I started this big journey of research and finding out
what's out there. And I came across this, this name,
Charlotte Mason. I was trying to find British resources and
British information, and quite ironically, Charlotte Mason had been brought
(22:08):
back into the forefront of educational minds by Americans because
the homeschooling movement in the States had really kind of
picked up late 70s and 80s. And so I'm grateful
for that. I'm grateful for people who had, um, discovered
her work and brought it back up into the forefront of,
of our thinking. And so her, her, her books were republished,
(22:32):
people were blogging about her. And so I just kind
of discovered her and just completely, um, so, um, myself
really in her work, in her writing related so much
to what she was talking about, how she how she
viewed children, how she, uh, communicated education. And I just
(22:57):
loved it. I fell hook, line and sinker. People often
say to me, did you try other pedagogies and, you know,
kind of curriculums? And I said, no, no, I just
I found her and have spent the last two decades
being a student of her work and a practitioner of
her methods. And, um, yeah, the result is, you know,
(23:18):
all these kind of things that I'm doing now, which
is amazing.
S1 (23:21):
So the first book then is about her. You title
it the Angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds Her way home.
Tales of boldness and faith. Now I know why boldness
and faith are really important to you. But you're telling
her story in the same way that she taught, uh, children.
And that is grab them with the story, bring them
(23:44):
into life so that they identify with it so that
basically they are participating in that story as they read. Right?
S2 (23:52):
Exactly. Yeah. You're good, aren't you? You know, you know
your stuff. Yeah. That is exactly what I'm doing. I mean,
so these are living books and the series is called
Tales of Boldness and Faith. And. Yeah, Charlotte's story is
there are a couple of, um, biographies that were written
(24:12):
for adults. One is pretty academic, really. Um, and there
isn't really anything out there for, for children. So there's
thousands of children all over the world who are either
being home educated or they're in Charlotte Mason style schools
who will hear her name bandied around and feel the
impact in their life, and see the patterns and the
rhythms in their families that are influenced by her work,
(24:35):
but they don't know who she is. Um, and so
I really wanted to kind of break into that and say, hey,
let me introduce you to the person who has caused
your mother to be. So, you know, as driven as
to be outside all the time or reading great books
or whatever it is. And so I that's what I
wanted to do was, um, in this fictionalized biography. So
(24:57):
I've taken her story and my all my years of
learning and introduced her then to, to this middle grade
audience in the only way I know how, which is
through a living story. And so the narrative is hopefully
gently moves you through. It flows through her story and, um,
hopefully will be a memorable encounter as you either as,
(25:19):
as parents read it aloud to kids or they read
it themselves.
S1 (25:22):
Which you've done the same thing with C.S. Lewis, and
that book is this book Two Chronicles of Wonder? Book
one is the angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home.
We're going to talk more about that and more about
the fictionalized biography I love it. And as you can tell,
we're going to talk more with Leah Bowden. Go to
the website chris.org. You can find out more right there
(25:46):
about our featured resources. Chris Fabry live. This is a
best of conversation with Chris Fabry Live. Don't call us today.
(26:09):
We're talking with Leah Bowden at the radio backyard fence.
Before we get back to the conversation, I want to
remind you about the work that the folks at Carenet
are doing. They don't call themselves pro-life. Yeah, they're absolutely
for that unborn child, but they're also for the biological mother,
the biological father, and everybody who's in the equation, everybody
(26:32):
in the orb of those people who are making the
decision at a really difficult time. We have an unexpected pregnancy,
unplanned pregnancy. What do we do here? And clarinet wants
to help everybody choose not just life, but abundant life.
And the thing that I love about their ministry is
(26:52):
that a lot of women and men come to carenet
because of this unplanned pregnancy, because of something that they
see in their life, that they, you know, make this
hard decision. And what they wind up finding is that
there is a God who loves them and cares for
them and wants them to have abundant life for themselves.
(27:15):
So I want to encourage you to click the connect link.
We have a green button for you at the website.
Chris Fabry lives to see what's going on with Carenet. net.
I think it'll encourage you. Somebody you know will need
the Ministry of Care net. Maybe you click the green
care net button at Chris Fabry lives. The angel orphan
(27:36):
Charlotte Mason finds her way home and chronicles of Wonder.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis. Those are our
featured resources. Leah Bowden is with us. Leah, let me
before we jump to CS, tell me more about Charlotte.
Why did you title this the Angel orphan?
S2 (27:53):
So part of Charlotte's story was that her both her
parents passed away before she was, well, around about the
age of 16. They both died quite similar around a
similar time, actually around within a year of each other.
And so she, um, was an older teenager, but she
was was orphaned. And for me, an inspiring part of
(28:18):
her story was despite all that, she had, um, kind
of experienced and walked through even in those younger years. Um,
she kept forging this path that she knew God had
for her, which was to provide an education for all.
And she did everything that she did for the children's sake. Um,
(28:40):
she was a an apprentice teacher at the age of 13.
So her father was a Quaker. Her mother was a Catholic. Um,
but we can see in her story it almost became
it started as an assumption and an obvious path, but
became a calling that she was dedicated to. I mean,
she never married, never had her own children. And the
(29:01):
and you can see I've been, um, dug through her archives.
I've read letters. I have seen her own possessions in,
in the Army Museum in the Lake District and branded
on a lot of this stuff. It's so interesting how
we do that nowadays, but it lots of her furniture
had this wooden branding on saying for the children's sake.
(29:23):
And she carried this mission through which. Oh, it's so
good all the way through. And I was looking through
a book, um, which was full of tributes after she died.
And a student of hers because she trained teachers and governesses, uh,
described her as having the face of an angel. And
(29:43):
how she just was a light, and she'd walk in
a room. She was a light. She wasn't. She was
quite small in stature. She was quite, um, wasn't a loud,
vivacious person, but she carried an authority about her. And
she was described as having a face of an angel.
So I just when I was first writing the book,
I thought, yeah, angel, orphan. I love that that image
(30:04):
of her, that you've got this light, even though she is, um,
had to endure loss and walk a lot of her
journey on her own.
S1 (30:14):
Um, so the fictionalized biography then is designed to draw
the reader in in such a way that they walk
through the story, just like all good stories are, that
they they pull you in and you feel like you're
part of them, right?
S2 (30:30):
Absolutely. I spent many years reading these style of biographies
to my children, and they were written in the 30s, 1940s,
and they were stories of missionaries and scientists and explorers.
And I absolutely loved them. And I remember one time
sat around the table and we'd just been reading about
(30:50):
George Mueller, Mueller from Bristol, and we'd read the story
of him looking after orphans and them having no food
at all, and they all got on their knees and prayed.
I think they woke up one morning. There was nothing
to eat and they just they got around the table.
They all prayed. The orphans, the staff, everybody. And the
story goes, you might know it, but a baker was
(31:12):
going past on his cart and he had some bread left.
And so he knocked on the door and said, hey,
do you guys need some bread? and there was the bread,
and then the milkman went past, knocked on the door.
He had some milk left on his car. And and
so these orphans, they were there on their knees. They
knew we have nothing to eat. The only thing we
know to do is to pray. And God provided for them.
(31:34):
So we'd read this story as a family, and I
remember sitting around the breakfast table and one of my
children just saying how grateful we were. You know, that
that that saying grace before our meal and talking about
being thankful. We take for granted that we've got cereal
in the cupboard and bread in the, you know, and
milk in the fridge. But he was I remember him
(31:55):
reiterating like, wow, at some point a child my age
had to get on their knees and pray for what
I have on the table today. And so that that
compassion and empathy that that story brought up in him
made it even more of a driver for me to
continue to read those stories. But at this stage in life,
(32:16):
then I want to contribute to that. for children. I
want to bring these stories to life for them. So
the fictionalized aspect is really me taking a bit of
creative liberty around filling out this story. And so I
remember some of the early readers of the, the books. Um,
one was messaging me that she'd read it aloud to
her kids and she one particular part, she said, did
(32:39):
this actually happen? This is great. My my kids were
captivated by that. And my answer, which will be my
answer always was like, well, it could have. Yes, yes.
So that was fun. And that's just what I'm going
to keep saying.
S1 (32:54):
There's somebody listening who says, you got to tell me
the name of the book. Okay, I'm going to tell you.
The angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home, as
well as Chronicles of Wonder, the story formed life of C.S. Lewis.
There's a book three in the Tales of Boldness and
faith comes out a little later in the in the year.
But the very same thing happened to me when I
read as a teenager, Hudson Taylor and then about George Mueller.
(33:18):
You know, I read about them. And then I came
to Moody Bible Institute and I started reading about D.L.
Moody and very much with Taylor and Mueller. It was
we're going to pray and let God do what he
wants in his timing. Right. And Moody was it was
very much, you know, if if you have money, I've
got the faith to ask you for it.
S2 (33:37):
I love that, you know I love that.
S1 (33:39):
And I held that intention for a long time and
then realized it was the same God who was working
through the personality of Moody as he was through Taylor
and Mueller.
S2 (33:50):
Brilliant. I mean, you have to just say you present
ourselves to God, don't we? Here I am. This is
who you've made me to be. Use me. And we
can't compare ourselves to other people. I think God's doing
that in them and that in them. I just love
that this is what we learn from reading stories of
those who have gone before us, men and women of faith.
(34:10):
They're just people like you and I. But they said, God,
my life is in your hands. What do you want?
What should shall we do today? What are you doing?
And how can I be involved?
S1 (34:18):
Okay, so if you can do this fictionalized biography, then
I can ask you a question. What do you think
Charlotte Mason would say to us today? With the proliferation
of information and the internet and social media and phones
and tablets and all of this. You know, what is
the future of the book now? We want to get
(34:39):
kids to read again. But what would she say about
all of the technology that we have?
S2 (34:44):
Yeah, I've been asked this a lot, and in fact,
I have been in conferences where I've had little seminars
and gatherings of parents discussing this. So I'm actually in
the thought that she would take what we have and
the advancements we have and use it for good. So, um,
I in a lot of her writings, she talks about progress.
(35:08):
She talks about, um, learning from, you know, the thought
and the scientists and the whoever God is speaking through
and using in this day and age, but then being
discerning about what we do with it. So, for instance,
within the Charlotte Mason philosophy, um, there's a big emphasis
on nature study. And so I'll say to people, you know,
(35:32):
that means you can use an app to identify a
flower that you don't know about. You know, in her
day and age, she would have had to find a
book or, you know, look it up and spend or.
S1 (35:45):
A bird, or you can get an app that has
a bird, you know, to let the bird call, and
you can find out what it is.
S2 (35:52):
The Merlin app. If I'm allowed to say a particular one,
I'd highly recommend that one. Absolutely brilliant. And I and
so I, I have a seminar I've done about ten
ways that technology can support a Charlotte Mason education, because
I think that we have to look at the good
of how we are progressing and moving forward, and not
(36:12):
be blind to the fact that our kids are growing up,
you know, in a they are natives of this digital
world where the the migrants, where the ones shifting and
changing and having to, like, figure it all out. But
they're natives to this, so it's natural for them. But, um, books,
I mean, you know, I think e-book reader, uh, sellers
(36:34):
and creators will tell we thought they were going to
take over. We thought people would stop buying books and
they haven't. We're still reading. We're still flicking through the pages.
We're still going into libraries and bookshops. Yes, it is
adjusting and changing, but so I think that it's, it's
an and, uh, you know, it's kind of a taking
(36:55):
the good seeing how what we have today can contribute.
But it's all about for really understanding Charlotte Mason's basic principles.
So she had her main principles were what do you
believe about children and what do you believe about education?
So we look at a child. They are created by God.
(37:15):
So she used this language. They are born persons. So we,
uh we because we see them in that way. That's
the way that we then live around them and treat
them as created by God rather than, you know, kind
of lesser citizens in the world and having to dumb
down everything. And she said, how do you view education?
We see it as a science of relationship. So it's
(37:39):
education is all about how the child relates to God,
relates to the stimulus, the knowledge that is around them
and how they tie all those things together. Um, and
knowledge is big and wide and spacious, whereas often education
is seen as this fine line that you've got to
tick boxes and you might not get it right.
S1 (38:02):
How have I not heard of Charlotte Mason?
S2 (38:04):
I don't know.
S1 (38:05):
You're going to find out if you go to the website.
Chris Fabry live.org. Click through today's information. You'll see the
angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home, as well
as Chronicles of Wonder. The story formed life of C.S. Lewis.
You'll find both right there at Chris Faber's Archive.org. And
can I also mention a book that I see on
(38:26):
my screen right here? Parallel Faith walking Alongside Others on
Their Journey to Christ by Dave Bowden. We got him
in there. We got him in there.
S3 (38:34):
Did he pay you, Chris? No, he emailed you.
S1 (38:37):
There is just a little bird who told me about that.
S3 (38:40):
So it's a great book. It's a really great book. Yep.
S1 (38:43):
This is Chris Fabry live More Straight Ahead with Leah Bowden.
Thanks for joining us today at the Radio Backyard Fence.
So pleased to have Leah Bowden with us today again
at the website Chris Fabry lives. We have the two
(39:06):
new books that have come out, Chronicles of Wonder. Wander.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis and the angel
orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home. Anybody who is
interested in children and teaching children and education, these are
great books for them to get into. Don't tell them
it's about education though. These are great stories, but I
(39:27):
am enamored, have been enamored with Lewis and the thing
that this book did that your book about C.S. did
was take me into his early life and the the attic,
where he and Warnie would grow up. His mother had
died at an early age. And you kind of wrap this,
you kind of wrap all of the longing and the
(39:47):
struggle of Lewis and his brother with the distance of
their dad, and you kind of paint that picture to
begin the book, don't you?
S2 (39:55):
I do, yeah. It's, um, it's a it's kind of
there's a lot of sadness in those early years. But
then you also because of that, you see the importance
of those that childhood wonder and whimsy, and him and
his brother making up stories in the attic and having books.
(40:17):
And that story formed life. Um, and, you know, a
lot of his life, our life is informed by those
things that happen in childhood and early childhood. And losing
his mother was just traumatic. And the impact then on
his father, um, sending them then off to boarding school and,
(40:37):
you know, being angry and not coping with that obviously himself. Again,
that impact and then impacting the relationship between, um, C.S.
Lewis and his dad. You see all that then begin
to kind of form this line in his early adulthood
and having to work through all those things. It's so clear.
S1 (40:59):
And reading was his escape. It was it was a way.
Even when he went away to boarding school. And life
was tough there with the teachers and with the other
other pupils. Um, this was the place where if he
couldn't go to the attic, he could open the book. Right?
S2 (41:14):
Absolutely. Yeah. And I think it's interesting that there are children,
you know, still who will find that escape in a story.
And stories are so important. And, and then C.S. Lewis
going on to write these incredible stories for children that
were full of mystery and whimsy and imagination and that
(41:36):
a child could lose. I mean, how many children do
you I wonder who have lost themselves in Narnia? It's incredible.
The impact of C.S. Lewis astounds me every day. I was, um,
I think I was I was reading something on, on
social media and somebody had seen a they were in
a wardrobe. That was it. They'd seen a wardrobe, and
(41:58):
they immediately equated the wardrobe to Narnia. It was just
a wooden wardrobe. And I mean, what kind of impact
is that that even you can't even look at an
old vintage wooden wardrobe without thinking of C.S. Lewis and Narnia.
And that is what he left with us. This, you know,
this childhood wonder. And he said, didn't he, that if
a a book, a children's book can't be enjoyed by
(42:20):
a 50 year old, then you know, what's the point
of reading it? It has to be enjoyed by children
and adults alike. That's the kind of stories we should
be putting out into the world. Um, again, I just
so appreciate things like that.
S1 (42:33):
So all of the the fictionalized biography, all of the
fiction is based on real life and your imagination, your conjecture.
Here's one sentence that jumped out at me. So they
you're talking about Jack and Warnie. They took their sadness
to the corners of the attic and to each other.
S4 (42:52):
Mhm. And I read that and I was like, yeah, that's.
S1 (42:55):
And then you see him doing that later on in
life because he kind of goes away from the faith
of his childhood and then comes back to it later
on and how important other people were. You know, Tolkien
and others to to inform him. Right.
S2 (43:12):
Absolutely. He took his sadness into so many different places
and some dark places. And, um, we're I'm grateful that
he had significant people who, you know, if we want
to mention my husband's book again, parallel Faith, who who
walked alongside him. Dave even mentions this story in his book.
(43:33):
We both loved Lewis. Um, but who walked alongside him?
Faithful to share the gospel, faithful to listen to his, um,
his workings out. Weren't afraid of his questions. Weren't afraid
of his intellectualism, of everything. You know, his mind was
so caught up with all the different avenues he'd been
(43:55):
reading about and going down and, and were faithful to
walk alongside him and have and bash out those hard things,
those hard conversations, which then led him back to truth.
And that is beautiful.
S1 (44:07):
Yeah, you don't squander the pain either, because pain is
part of that story. And what he experienced during the
war and the loss of his friend Patty. You write
about that, and then Joy coming into his life and
then losing her and then the the last days. You
go all the way through his life that mining that
pain and being a steward of pain that informs the reader,
(44:32):
you know, the child reader as well as the adult,
doesn't it?
S2 (44:36):
It really does. And in this whole series, it's interesting. Um,
there are so many common themes that come through. I
didn't realize until you kind of get to the final
edit and stand back and look at them all, but
the character, both Charlotte and Jack, I call him Jack
all the way through. Um, Charlotte and Jack both were.
(44:56):
They suffered displacement. You know, they were displaced early in
life and children do have to deal with moving house,
moving country changes in their family life. And how can
we help them? What guides them through that of being?
First of all, recognizing, hey, this is hard when you
have to move for Jack's sake, move to a different country.
(45:17):
You've just lost your mum. You've got to go to
boarding school, you're completely on your own. And he goes
through that various various stages like that. And same with
Charlotte's story. The displacement is this theme in there. Grief
is a is a strong theme. It sounds like a
you know, you think, gosh, this is a children's book.
Is this really a happy thing? But actually, I didn't
want to cover over those things. And hopefully I deal
(45:39):
with them delicately but truthfully, that these are real things
that happened in these people's lives. But we see the
hope of Jesus through it all. We see, um, the
healing through relationship, through, uh, church community, through actually them, uh,
diving into the scriptures and and committing themselves to a journey. Um,
(46:03):
but that doesn't make them immune to pain.
S1 (46:08):
Well, I can't tell you how excited I am about
this project. And, uh, if you go to the website, Chris. Org,
scroll down, you'll see the Angel orphan about Charlotte Mason
and Chronicles of Wonder about C.S. Lewis books one and
two in the Tales of Boldness and Faith series by
Leah Bowden, our special guest. Leah, you keep writing, you
(46:31):
come back and see us again, and maybe you can
bring Dave and Poe with you. Next time.
S3 (46:37):
I'll do my.
S2 (46:37):
Best. I'll definitely bring Dave. He'd love.
S3 (46:39):
That. Thank you. It's been great.
S1 (46:42):
God bless you. Thank you for listening today to the
conversation at the back fence. Remember, Chris Fabry Live is
a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Welcome to our Friday edition of Chris Fabry Live! The
program from the heart to the heart for the heart.
And boy, do I have a heart filling conversation for
you today. Anyone interested in homeschooling will be invigorated by
the discussion straight ahead. Anyone with a love of C.S.
Lewis and reading and Narnia and Tolkien will also benefit
(00:28):
from across the pond. It's our great pleasure to welcome
Leah Bowden to the studio today. You'll find out what
is stirring her heart on this edition at the radio
Backyard fence. So let's get going first with a thank
you to Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical. Tricia McMillan
is our producer in the chair today. Our program is recorded,
(00:50):
so we're not going to be taking your calls. However,
since it's Friday. That's right. It's time for the fabulous
Faber Friday Sci. Here's what it does. Number one, we
oxygenate your blood. Two, we get your endorphins going. Three,
we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
(01:10):
call it the five love languages. We also stimulate your
vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And don't you
dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation. Taking four
seconds of air through your nose. Hold it for seconds.
And then as you release that air through your mouth,
push on the left side of your rib cage to
get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide. Give a
(01:32):
sigh today if you have no idea who Charlotte Mason
is and why her life and teaching are important to
us today, give a sigh for all things Lewis, for
Jack and Warnie and the Kilns, for his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien,
for Jack's love of books, love of stories in the
way the losses of his life led him to lose
himself in those stories and eventually find himself and his
(01:55):
purpose in the greatest story ever Told Today's Fabulous Fabric
Friday Size, brought to you by Charlotte and Jack. And
a teacher named Leah who has traveled a long way
to join us today. All rights reserved. Void where prohibited. Well,
as I mentioned, today's conversation is recorded. Don't call us today,
(02:15):
but I hope you'll stay here and enjoy the conversation
that is straight ahead that we aired during the NRA
convention 2025. But I, I want to tell you right now,
the way that we come to you, the way that
we are able to have Leah Bowden on the conversation
at the back fence is because there are people who
(02:37):
get involved and who give a gift to Chris Fabry live.
We can't do what we do without you. I say
that a lot, and it's true. And one way to
do that is become a back fence partner. You get
my back fence post every Thursday. I send out a video.
Ryan puts it together. Um, whether I have my Carhartt
shirt on or not, I'm not going to promise. But
(02:59):
I'll have some shirt on. I can can tell you that.
But we kind of pulled back the curtain and we
let you know some of the things that are going
on behind the scenes. Sometimes it's a guest who sticks around.
We do a video with them. It would be really
encouraging to get a gift from you each month. So
go to the website. chris.org. Or you can call us
(03:22):
at 8669538669532279. Thanks for being a back fence partner. Leah
Bowden is wife to Dave and mother to four children.
With more than two decades of experience in church leadership,
she has devoted herself to youth, children's and family work
(03:42):
within the church and for the local education authority, and
want to find out what that means. She's a respected speaker,
podcast host, and coach who passionately shares the transformative beauty
of the Charlotte Mason approach to childhood, motherhood, and education.
She's the author of modern. Miss Mason lives with her
(04:02):
family in West Midlands, England, and I am pleased Moody
Publishers has released this very month. The angel orphan Charlotte
Mason finds her way Home Tales of boldness and Faith,
book one and then book two, Chronicles of Wonder. The
story formed life of C.S. Lewis, and we're going to
(04:23):
talk about both of them. But first, let's welcome Leah Bowden. Leah,
thanks for being here today.
S2 (04:28):
Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
S1 (04:31):
Who in the world is Leah Bowden?
S2 (04:33):
Who in the world? Indeed. It's me. I'm here. And, um, yeah, well,
I as you just described, a bit of my family setup.
I have four kids. Uh, my husband, Dave and I
have been serving Jesus for a long time, and our
whole kind of life mission together is to, uh, really
(04:54):
do what we can to support and encourage the next generation.
So that looks like writing. It looks like working in education.
It's for us as a family. It's looked like home
educating for many, many years. We are live in the
West Midlands. We have a dog, we live by a park.
S1 (05:10):
And what's your dog's name? You got to tell us
your dog's name.
S2 (05:13):
Po. He's one year old. He's a miniature schnauzer and
he is absolutely amazing.
S1 (05:20):
And you named him after an American author, right?
S2 (05:24):
Yeah, you got it right. First time people come up
with all sorts of things. Like. What is he named? Yes.
You're right, well done, well done.
S1 (05:31):
Well, University of Virginia. And you had kind of a
hard life and a hard story. You did Annabel Lee
and the and the Raven and all that. Okay, there's
so much we can talk about. Lee. I'm so excited
about this. Okay, so when I read this about you, uh,
the local education authority that you work with. Local education authority,
what does that mean?
S2 (05:50):
So this was kind of when my children were younger.
I worked, um, for. Yeah, basically the government authority that
run the school system in the wider area. And, but
my particular role was working with children who didn't quite
fit the system, and they were often on the edge
of being, um, what we call permanently excluded from the
(06:12):
school system. So it didn't work. Um, and so my
role was working with the children and the families to
really to really get to grips with, kind of get
to grips with what's going on here. How can we
how can we help? Did a lot of mentoring. Um,
I mean, some of it was pretty heartbreaking. Um, and
I got to do whatever I could, uh, walk alongside
(06:36):
these children to help integrate them into or better integrate
them into their, you know, educational world and then do
that with their families as well. So I did that
for a while before. Then I ended up being home
full time home, educating my children. So it was an
interesting switch.
S1 (06:55):
You want to help those who are homeschooling, but you
also want to help those teachers. And a lot of
that is this story idea, the living the living books, right?
S2 (07:06):
That's right. So, I mean, you know, the one person
I've written about, Charlotte Mason, she was this British revolutionary
educationalist who had in a time where Victorian Britain were
kind of seeing children as being seen and not heard
and ticking the boxes of arithmetic and writing and getting
(07:27):
them through the system. Charlotte Mason saw children as being
she used this phrase born persons, which basically is they
are created by God. They come into the world not
as an empty vessel for us, you know, wise adults
to fill them, but God knows them. He he made
them ready to contribute and to be a part of
(07:51):
his world, and therefore we get the privilege of being
on the front row of this great unveiling, as I
like to describe it, of seeing our children come to
life depending on what we bring around them. So we
get to facilitate their world. And I think we all
know this really, that actually children need wonderful stimulus. They
(08:12):
need to see and experience and hear incredible things. And
one of those tools was the kind of books that
they get to read. And so she had this great
emphasis on what she called living books. And these were
resources that actually very much story driven, written by a
passionate author who knew their subject well. Um, they, you know,
(08:37):
page turners, things like wanted books that you wanted to
move on with and actually could pause and tell somebody
else about afterwards. Um, so that's been a big passion
of mine, is not only introducing those books to my children,
but now writing them as well.
S1 (08:51):
Yes, I can tell. And I'm so excited because maybe
today is the first time someone is listening and saying,
I haven't heard about the angel orphan. Charlotte Mason I
haven't heard about Chronicles of Wonder, which is basically the
story of Jack, of C.S. Lewis and Warnie and all
all that he experienced. So we're going to plumb the
(09:12):
depths of that today here at the back fence with
Leah Bowden. Bowden you can find out more about her
at the website. Chris Fabry Livorno. Livorno more straight ahead
here on Moody Radio. This is Chris Fabry live on
(09:36):
Moody Radio. Don't call us today. Our program is recorded,
but I have a fantastic guest for you. Leah Bowden
from across the pond in the UK is right here.
She lives in West Midlands, England. And she has written
among all of her books two new ones, book one
and book two in the Tales of Boldness and Faith series.
(09:58):
And the first one is the angel orphan Charlotte Mason
finds her way home. The second is Chronicles of Wonder.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis, and these are
great for young readers. Children of teenagers, perhaps, but they're
also great because I'm a I'm an adult and I'm
reading them for the first time. Fantastic. We're going to
(10:20):
get into Charlotte here in just a second. You got
to tell me about Dave. How did you meet Dave,
and how did you know that he was the one?
S2 (10:27):
Um. Dave is fantastic. We're both. We're both actually authors.
So we fight over who's bringing a book out this year. Um,
he and I met serving in youth ministry, and, um,
he we ran this. This is a funny story. You'll
like this. We ran a youth camp, and, um, for
(10:47):
a whole week. We were really good friends. We were
getting closer as friends. And he is a funny guy.
Everyone knows him as the funny guy. He's got a
great sense of humor, and he decided for a whole
week to ask me to marry him every single day.
We weren't even dating, and he just was like, this
is just funny. And I and I would just reply with, oh,
of course I will, Dave. Of course. And this was
(11:08):
just like in jest, never knowing that I would spend
the rest of my life with him. So we did that.
And then his little way of getting getting in. I
was going on a mission trip to Orkney. So this
is the very north, you know, go drive through Scotland.
Keep going, keep going, get to John O'Groats and then
get on a boat and go even further. And he
(11:30):
heard I was going on this mission trip and very
last minute, like days before he called the pastor who
was running it and said, can I get on this trip?
And he we sat next to each other all the
way up to Orkney and, um, yeah, this is where
we got into the conversation is do you think we'll
ever be more than friends? And initially I just was like,
(11:51):
I'm not sure, Dave. I'm not sure he tells the
story quite different. Um, but that was the beginning of
our blossoming relationship. And, uh, yeah, we were, I think
from then we were married something like 18 months, two
years later. Okay. And we've been married 25 years this year.
S1 (12:09):
25.
S2 (12:09):
Yeah.
S1 (12:10):
Okay. So so when he first asked you in jest,
in a way, and it probably wasn't asking in jest.
S2 (12:16):
From.
S1 (12:16):
His perspective, but when he did that, were you late
teenagers at that point?
S2 (12:22):
Yeah. So he's a little bit younger than me. Uh,
so he was. Yeah. Late teens, early 20s between the
two of us. Yeah. So, I mean, I was, um,
I just spent a year in the States on a
discipleship program, and I'd come back fresh into England, all
full of, like, I know a lot more stuff nowadays.
And he was, um, he was helping run this camp.
(12:45):
And it was that summer. Yeah. When we really kind
of became really good friends and fell in love.
S1 (12:50):
So I've heard this said about, uh, singles, you know,
if you wonder if you want to be married. But
how do I find the right person to do whatever
God has you to do fully? And then look around
at there's somebody who's running with you, alongside you that
maybe that that's the person.
S2 (13:09):
Absolutely. I was just saying this to my one of
my teenage daughters recently. That is exactly how it was
for me. You know, I was so, just so caught
with seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness,
and all these things will be added unto you. And
that is really what I was doing. I was seeking
(13:29):
first God. And I remember getting to a place where
where I thought I was going to be on the
mission field, I thought I was going to be. I remember, uh,
leaving this discipleship program thinking, I'm going to go to China.
I'm going to go serve Jesus. But I may be
alone for the rest of my life. And that is okay.
And it's interesting, isn't it? How in that summer, me
(13:50):
being totally fixed on, I'm just going to run hard
and fast after Jesus and all he has for me.
He brought this, this man along who was going to
change my life forever. And he was the right choice
and the best choice. And our life has been full
and fun and fruitful and interesting ever since.
S1 (14:08):
Well, if you mentioned China, you probably read Hudson Taylor's
spiritual Secret then.
S2 (14:13):
So my son is called Micah Hudson. Um, and yeah.
And he, you know, he Hudson Taylor comes from Barnsley,
which is a city in West Yorkshire, which is where
I'm from. I'm from Wakefield in West Yorkshire. So I
have a lot of there's a connection there with Hudson Taylor.
Really important. Yeah.
S1 (14:32):
Were there any other books that you read that were
formative in in your faith journey? Things that you know
of John Stott or Mere Christianity. Lewis. Yeah. What other
books did you read?
S2 (14:44):
You know, I loved mission stories, so I read Jackie
Pullingers Chasing the Dragon. On repeat, I read, um, that
Nikki Cruz books, brother Andrew's books, all those. I just
read them. Yeah. Again and again. I also love when
I was younger, I loved the Patricius and John Sinjohn,
(15:04):
her books treasures of the snow and. Yeah, all the
whole series, actually. But I just loved missionary stories. That's
what I loved reading about. And I, um, and I
was a really shy, quite a very I didn't understand
introversion back then. I was called a shy person, shy girl.
And I just saw this boldness in these people who were, um,
(15:28):
just stepping out into these unknown places, um, for the
purpose of seeking first the kingdom of God and showing in,
in word and deed Indeed what the gospel can do.
And I was just fascinated by that. Um, yeah. And
still am today. I just think it's it's what an
incredible way to live.
S1 (15:49):
Isn't it interesting, then, that that that trajectory of your
own life, especially being captivated by stories, that that is
what God has you doing now for other parents, for
teachers to be kind of the steward of these young
lives and the steward of stories.
S2 (16:08):
Yeah, it is amazing. And, you know, it's interesting how
I felt like I had this mission call on my life.
And I interpreted that as going to China, going to Africa,
going to, you know, you name it. And I think
because that was what was the pattern of what we saw,
we saw missionary equals going to some far off country.
(16:32):
And I remember my husband and I moving into an
area in Coventry, in the city where we live, and
we were part of a house church movement, and we
were part of a group of incredible people who were
just like said, right, we're going to serve Jesus in
this town. And we got jobs there and we moved.
You know, we just like living out of each other's
pockets for a while. And it wasn't easy. But I
(16:53):
remember God saying to me in that time, the missionary
call on your life, these are the streets that you're
going to do it in. It's here, it's in England.
And the same feeling I remember first starting to write
this series, starting to share, um, research and begin to
kind of, you know, C.S. Lewis and Charlotte Mason and
the other stories. These people I almost walked alongside them,
(17:17):
had this journey with these people through history and this this,
I mean, you know, you're a writer as well. This
idea of your books going to places where you will
never go. It still feels like a mission, like a
mission call. Like, I don't get to see where these
books go. I don't get to see the children that
will read these and the hands that these will land
in and in the shelves that they will sit in
(17:39):
other countries where they'll go. But God does. And what
an incredible thing to be able to do that to.
And every time I write a book, I do, you know,
dedicate it to the Lord and say, okay, it's in
your hands now. Wherever this is going to go. And
I see that as, as part of this mission call
that I don't get to right now in this season.
(17:59):
I'm not all over the world doing, doing whatever, but
I am doing this, and I'm going to do this well,
and I'm going to faithfully serve God in this way.
And that's really been incredible and such an encouragement to me.
S1 (18:11):
You know, the other thing that happens is your story
will go into a book. A story hits a heart
in a way that, you know, a spoken story can
do the same thing, but not quite the way that
words on a page can. Because I can control words
on a page. I can read quickly or I can
(18:34):
read slowly. I can go back and read it again.
And that process is what you want to come alive
in in kids, right?
S2 (18:42):
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And it's Dave. And I often say
this when we're speaking somewhere or he's preaching, he'll have
presented something and he'll have somebody come up to him
at the end. He'll say, I love it. I loved
it when you said this. It meant this to me.
And he's going, I didn't even say that. Like, I
don't remember even saying that. You never really know what
(19:03):
the Holy Spirit's going to reveal to people. And yeah,
I think when you start to hear feedback from your books,
when you start to get reviews, good reviews, hopefully, um,
it is interesting what stands out to people and the
the elements of the story or the little lines that
you've put in there. You know, some people miss them,
other people, it you know, it really catches their heart.
(19:24):
And and I love that. It's so it keeps it interesting.
S1 (19:27):
I, I think even the bad reviews. I have a
friend who's, you know, a widely read author sold a
lot of books And he said, if you get a
bad review online or whatever, don't, um, don't be too
discouraged because what it means is your story is getting
out there further than it would if you were just
(19:48):
reading it at home. That's true. Your own kids? Yeah.
And so when you get that bad review, a lot
of times it's from somebody with a different worldview and
that you can rejoice in that in the sense that
it's getting other places that you can't walk and talk.
S2 (20:03):
Yeah, I like that. That's a helpful perspective. You don't
always feel that at the time, do you? But that
is a really helpful. Yeah.
S1 (20:11):
So how did Charlotte Mason come across your radar?
S2 (20:16):
So in the early 2000, uh, my husband and I
started researching, um, home education. I'd spent a year in
Saint Louis, Missouri, and and various places. But I'd done
this discipleship year, and they they had this, uh, home
school is kind of like an arts center, like a
(20:39):
place where homeschoolers could go and do arts. And I'd
never heard of homeschooling before. And I remember meeting somebody
who was explaining to me what they did, and I
was like, home schooling. What on earth is that? I
didn't have a framework for that. I'd never met anybody homeschooled.
I didn't know, um, that it was a possibility. And
(21:00):
I remember I was I was single at the time,
but that's where this kind of seed was sown. And
so Roland married and and had, um, our first daughter.
And we were just going the normal way. The route
of all UK families. Do you kind of enroll your
child in school at a certain age? And, and I
(21:21):
just remember starting that process and feeling. Hang on, I
don't think I wanted this. This is not what I.
This doesn't feel like the right thing to do. So
I was a lot further ahead and had that process before.
Dave hadn't been involved with that. Those thoughts in my head.
So we had to do this journey together, obviously. And
so we were researching. I think the first thing I
(21:44):
put into probably Yahoo back then was, is homeschooling legal
in the UK? And turns out it was. And so
I started this big journey of research and finding out
what's out there. And I came across this, this name,
Charlotte Mason. I was trying to find British resources and
British information, and quite ironically, Charlotte Mason had been brought
(22:08):
back into the forefront of educational minds by Americans because
the homeschooling movement in the States had really kind of
picked up late 70s and 80s. And so I'm grateful
for that. I'm grateful for people who had, um, discovered
her work and brought it back up into the forefront of,
of our thinking. And so her, her, her books were republished,
(22:32):
people were blogging about her. And so I just kind
of discovered her and just completely, um, so, um, myself
really in her work, in her writing related so much
to what she was talking about, how she how she
viewed children, how she, uh, communicated education. And I just
(22:57):
loved it. I fell hook, line and sinker. People often
say to me, did you try other pedagogies and, you know,
kind of curriculums? And I said, no, no, I just
I found her and have spent the last two decades
being a student of her work and a practitioner of
her methods. And, um, yeah, the result is, you know,
(23:18):
all these kind of things that I'm doing now, which
is amazing.
S1 (23:21):
So the first book then is about her. You title
it the Angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds Her way home.
Tales of boldness and faith. Now I know why boldness
and faith are really important to you. But you're telling
her story in the same way that she taught, uh, children.
And that is grab them with the story, bring them
(23:44):
into life so that they identify with it so that
basically they are participating in that story as they read. Right?
S2 (23:52):
Exactly. Yeah. You're good, aren't you? You know, you know
your stuff. Yeah. That is exactly what I'm doing. I mean,
so these are living books and the series is called
Tales of Boldness and Faith. And. Yeah, Charlotte's story is
there are a couple of, um, biographies that were written
(24:12):
for adults. One is pretty academic, really. Um, and there
isn't really anything out there for, for children. So there's
thousands of children all over the world who are either
being home educated or they're in Charlotte Mason style schools
who will hear her name bandied around and feel the
impact in their life, and see the patterns and the
rhythms in their families that are influenced by her work,
(24:35):
but they don't know who she is. Um, and so
I really wanted to kind of break into that and say, hey,
let me introduce you to the person who has caused
your mother to be. So, you know, as driven as
to be outside all the time or reading great books
or whatever it is. And so I that's what I
wanted to do was, um, in this fictionalized biography. So
(24:57):
I've taken her story and my all my years of
learning and introduced her then to, to this middle grade
audience in the only way I know how, which is
through a living story. And so the narrative is hopefully
gently moves you through. It flows through her story and, um,
hopefully will be a memorable encounter as you either as,
(25:19):
as parents read it aloud to kids or they read
it themselves.
S1 (25:22):
Which you've done the same thing with C.S. Lewis, and
that book is this book Two Chronicles of Wonder? Book
one is the angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home.
We're going to talk more about that and more about
the fictionalized biography I love it. And as you can tell,
we're going to talk more with Leah Bowden. Go to
the website chris.org. You can find out more right there
(25:46):
about our featured resources. Chris Fabry live. This is a
best of conversation with Chris Fabry Live. Don't call us today.
(26:09):
We're talking with Leah Bowden at the radio backyard fence.
Before we get back to the conversation, I want to
remind you about the work that the folks at Carenet
are doing. They don't call themselves pro-life. Yeah, they're absolutely
for that unborn child, but they're also for the biological mother,
the biological father, and everybody who's in the equation, everybody
(26:32):
in the orb of those people who are making the
decision at a really difficult time. We have an unexpected pregnancy,
unplanned pregnancy. What do we do here? And clarinet wants
to help everybody choose not just life, but abundant life.
And the thing that I love about their ministry is
(26:52):
that a lot of women and men come to carenet
because of this unplanned pregnancy, because of something that they
see in their life, that they, you know, make this
hard decision. And what they wind up finding is that
there is a God who loves them and cares for
them and wants them to have abundant life for themselves.
(27:15):
So I want to encourage you to click the connect link.
We have a green button for you at the website.
Chris Fabry lives to see what's going on with Carenet. net.
I think it'll encourage you. Somebody you know will need
the Ministry of Care net. Maybe you click the green
care net button at Chris Fabry lives. The angel orphan
(27:36):
Charlotte Mason finds her way home and chronicles of Wonder.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis. Those are our
featured resources. Leah Bowden is with us. Leah, let me
before we jump to CS, tell me more about Charlotte.
Why did you title this the Angel orphan?
S2 (27:53):
So part of Charlotte's story was that her both her
parents passed away before she was, well, around about the
age of 16. They both died quite similar around a
similar time, actually around within a year of each other.
And so she, um, was an older teenager, but she
was was orphaned. And for me, an inspiring part of
(28:18):
her story was despite all that, she had, um, kind
of experienced and walked through even in those younger years. Um,
she kept forging this path that she knew God had
for her, which was to provide an education for all.
And she did everything that she did for the children's sake. Um,
(28:40):
she was a an apprentice teacher at the age of 13.
So her father was a Quaker. Her mother was a Catholic. Um,
but we can see in her story it almost became
it started as an assumption and an obvious path, but
became a calling that she was dedicated to. I mean,
she never married, never had her own children. And the
(29:01):
and you can see I've been, um, dug through her archives.
I've read letters. I have seen her own possessions in,
in the Army Museum in the Lake District and branded
on a lot of this stuff. It's so interesting how
we do that nowadays, but it lots of her furniture
had this wooden branding on saying for the children's sake.
(29:23):
And she carried this mission through which. Oh, it's so
good all the way through. And I was looking through
a book, um, which was full of tributes after she died.
And a student of hers because she trained teachers and governesses, uh,
described her as having the face of an angel. And
(29:43):
how she just was a light, and she'd walk in
a room. She was a light. She wasn't. She was
quite small in stature. She was quite, um, wasn't a loud,
vivacious person, but she carried an authority about her. And
she was described as having a face of an angel.
So I just when I was first writing the book,
I thought, yeah, angel, orphan. I love that that image
(30:04):
of her, that you've got this light, even though she is, um,
had to endure loss and walk a lot of her
journey on her own.
S1 (30:14):
Um, so the fictionalized biography then is designed to draw
the reader in in such a way that they walk
through the story, just like all good stories are, that
they they pull you in and you feel like you're
part of them, right?
S2 (30:30):
Absolutely. I spent many years reading these style of biographies
to my children, and they were written in the 30s, 1940s,
and they were stories of missionaries and scientists and explorers.
And I absolutely loved them. And I remember one time
sat around the table and we'd just been reading about
(30:50):
George Mueller, Mueller from Bristol, and we'd read the story
of him looking after orphans and them having no food
at all, and they all got on their knees and prayed.
I think they woke up one morning. There was nothing
to eat and they just they got around the table.
They all prayed. The orphans, the staff, everybody. And the
story goes, you might know it, but a baker was
(31:12):
going past on his cart and he had some bread left.
And so he knocked on the door and said, hey,
do you guys need some bread? and there was the bread,
and then the milkman went past, knocked on the door.
He had some milk left on his car. And and
so these orphans, they were there on their knees. They
knew we have nothing to eat. The only thing we
know to do is to pray. And God provided for them.
(31:34):
So we'd read this story as a family, and I
remember sitting around the breakfast table and one of my
children just saying how grateful we were. You know, that
that that saying grace before our meal and talking about
being thankful. We take for granted that we've got cereal
in the cupboard and bread in the, you know, and
milk in the fridge. But he was I remember him
(31:55):
reiterating like, wow, at some point a child my age
had to get on their knees and pray for what
I have on the table today. And so that that
compassion and empathy that that story brought up in him
made it even more of a driver for me to
continue to read those stories. But at this stage in life,
(32:16):
then I want to contribute to that. for children. I
want to bring these stories to life for them. So
the fictionalized aspect is really me taking a bit of
creative liberty around filling out this story. And so I
remember some of the early readers of the, the books. Um,
one was messaging me that she'd read it aloud to
her kids and she one particular part, she said, did
(32:39):
this actually happen? This is great. My my kids were
captivated by that. And my answer, which will be my
answer always was like, well, it could have. Yes, yes.
So that was fun. And that's just what I'm going
to keep saying.
S1 (32:54):
There's somebody listening who says, you got to tell me
the name of the book. Okay, I'm going to tell you.
The angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home, as
well as Chronicles of Wonder, the story formed life of C.S. Lewis.
There's a book three in the Tales of Boldness and
faith comes out a little later in the in the year.
But the very same thing happened to me when I
read as a teenager, Hudson Taylor and then about George Mueller.
(33:18):
You know, I read about them. And then I came
to Moody Bible Institute and I started reading about D.L.
Moody and very much with Taylor and Mueller. It was
we're going to pray and let God do what he
wants in his timing. Right. And Moody was it was
very much, you know, if if you have money, I've
got the faith to ask you for it.
S2 (33:37):
I love that, you know I love that.
S1 (33:39):
And I held that intention for a long time and
then realized it was the same God who was working
through the personality of Moody as he was through Taylor
and Mueller.
S2 (33:50):
Brilliant. I mean, you have to just say you present
ourselves to God, don't we? Here I am. This is
who you've made me to be. Use me. And we
can't compare ourselves to other people. I think God's doing
that in them and that in them. I just love
that this is what we learn from reading stories of
those who have gone before us, men and women of faith.
(34:10):
They're just people like you and I. But they said, God,
my life is in your hands. What do you want?
What should shall we do today? What are you doing?
And how can I be involved?
S1 (34:18):
Okay, so if you can do this fictionalized biography, then
I can ask you a question. What do you think
Charlotte Mason would say to us today? With the proliferation
of information and the internet and social media and phones
and tablets and all of this. You know, what is
the future of the book now? We want to get
(34:39):
kids to read again. But what would she say about
all of the technology that we have?
S2 (34:44):
Yeah, I've been asked this a lot, and in fact,
I have been in conferences where I've had little seminars
and gatherings of parents discussing this. So I'm actually in
the thought that she would take what we have and
the advancements we have and use it for good. So, um,
I in a lot of her writings, she talks about progress.
(35:08):
She talks about, um, learning from, you know, the thought
and the scientists and the whoever God is speaking through
and using in this day and age, but then being
discerning about what we do with it. So, for instance,
within the Charlotte Mason philosophy, um, there's a big emphasis
on nature study. And so I'll say to people, you know,
(35:32):
that means you can use an app to identify a
flower that you don't know about. You know, in her
day and age, she would have had to find a
book or, you know, look it up and spend or.
S1 (35:45):
A bird, or you can get an app that has
a bird, you know, to let the bird call, and
you can find out what it is.
S2 (35:52):
The Merlin app. If I'm allowed to say a particular one,
I'd highly recommend that one. Absolutely brilliant. And I and
so I, I have a seminar I've done about ten
ways that technology can support a Charlotte Mason education, because
I think that we have to look at the good
of how we are progressing and moving forward, and not
(36:12):
be blind to the fact that our kids are growing up,
you know, in a they are natives of this digital
world where the the migrants, where the ones shifting and
changing and having to, like, figure it all out. But
they're natives to this, so it's natural for them. But, um, books,
I mean, you know, I think e-book reader, uh, sellers
(36:34):
and creators will tell we thought they were going to
take over. We thought people would stop buying books and
they haven't. We're still reading. We're still flicking through the pages.
We're still going into libraries and bookshops. Yes, it is
adjusting and changing, but so I think that it's, it's
an and, uh, you know, it's kind of a taking
(36:55):
the good seeing how what we have today can contribute.
But it's all about for really understanding Charlotte Mason's basic principles.
So she had her main principles were what do you
believe about children and what do you believe about education?
So we look at a child. They are created by God.
(37:15):
So she used this language. They are born persons. So we,
uh we because we see them in that way. That's
the way that we then live around them and treat
them as created by God rather than, you know, kind
of lesser citizens in the world and having to dumb
down everything. And she said, how do you view education?
We see it as a science of relationship. So it's
(37:39):
education is all about how the child relates to God,
relates to the stimulus, the knowledge that is around them
and how they tie all those things together. Um, and
knowledge is big and wide and spacious, whereas often education
is seen as this fine line that you've got to
tick boxes and you might not get it right.
S1 (38:02):
How have I not heard of Charlotte Mason?
S2 (38:04):
I don't know.
S1 (38:05):
You're going to find out if you go to the website.
Chris Fabry live.org. Click through today's information. You'll see the
angel orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home, as well
as Chronicles of Wonder. The story formed life of C.S. Lewis.
You'll find both right there at Chris Faber's Archive.org. And
can I also mention a book that I see on
(38:26):
my screen right here? Parallel Faith walking Alongside Others on
Their Journey to Christ by Dave Bowden. We got him
in there. We got him in there.
S3 (38:34):
Did he pay you, Chris? No, he emailed you.
S1 (38:37):
There is just a little bird who told me about that.
S3 (38:40):
So it's a great book. It's a really great book. Yep.
S1 (38:43):
This is Chris Fabry live More Straight Ahead with Leah Bowden.
Thanks for joining us today at the Radio Backyard Fence.
So pleased to have Leah Bowden with us today again
at the website Chris Fabry lives. We have the two
(39:06):
new books that have come out, Chronicles of Wonder. Wander.
The story formed life of C.S. Lewis and the angel
orphan Charlotte Mason finds her way home. Anybody who is
interested in children and teaching children and education, these are
great books for them to get into. Don't tell them
it's about education though. These are great stories, but I
(39:27):
am enamored, have been enamored with Lewis and the thing
that this book did that your book about C.S. did
was take me into his early life and the the attic,
where he and Warnie would grow up. His mother had
died at an early age. And you kind of wrap this,
you kind of wrap all of the longing and the
(39:47):
struggle of Lewis and his brother with the distance of
their dad, and you kind of paint that picture to
begin the book, don't you?
S2 (39:55):
I do, yeah. It's, um, it's a it's kind of
there's a lot of sadness in those early years. But
then you also because of that, you see the importance
of those that childhood wonder and whimsy, and him and
his brother making up stories in the attic and having books.
(40:17):
And that story formed life. Um, and, you know, a
lot of his life, our life is informed by those
things that happen in childhood and early childhood. And losing
his mother was just traumatic. And the impact then on
his father, um, sending them then off to boarding school and,
(40:37):
you know, being angry and not coping with that obviously himself. Again,
that impact and then impacting the relationship between, um, C.S.
Lewis and his dad. You see all that then begin
to kind of form this line in his early adulthood
and having to work through all those things. It's so clear.
S1 (40:59):
And reading was his escape. It was it was a way.
Even when he went away to boarding school. And life
was tough there with the teachers and with the other
other pupils. Um, this was the place where if he
couldn't go to the attic, he could open the book. Right?
S2 (41:14):
Absolutely. Yeah. And I think it's interesting that there are children,
you know, still who will find that escape in a story.
And stories are so important. And, and then C.S. Lewis
going on to write these incredible stories for children that
were full of mystery and whimsy and imagination and that
(41:36):
a child could lose. I mean, how many children do
you I wonder who have lost themselves in Narnia? It's incredible.
The impact of C.S. Lewis astounds me every day. I was, um,
I think I was I was reading something on, on
social media and somebody had seen a they were in
a wardrobe. That was it. They'd seen a wardrobe, and
(41:58):
they immediately equated the wardrobe to Narnia. It was just
a wooden wardrobe. And I mean, what kind of impact
is that that even you can't even look at an
old vintage wooden wardrobe without thinking of C.S. Lewis and Narnia.
And that is what he left with us. This, you know,
this childhood wonder. And he said, didn't he, that if
a a book, a children's book can't be enjoyed by
(42:20):
a 50 year old, then you know, what's the point
of reading it? It has to be enjoyed by children
and adults alike. That's the kind of stories we should
be putting out into the world. Um, again, I just
so appreciate things like that.
S1 (42:33):
So all of the the fictionalized biography, all of the
fiction is based on real life and your imagination, your conjecture.
Here's one sentence that jumped out at me. So they
you're talking about Jack and Warnie. They took their sadness
to the corners of the attic and to each other.
S4 (42:52):
Mhm. And I read that and I was like, yeah, that's.
S1 (42:55):
And then you see him doing that later on in
life because he kind of goes away from the faith
of his childhood and then comes back to it later
on and how important other people were. You know, Tolkien
and others to to inform him. Right.
S2 (43:12):
Absolutely. He took his sadness into so many different places
and some dark places. And, um, we're I'm grateful that
he had significant people who, you know, if we want
to mention my husband's book again, parallel Faith, who who
walked alongside him. Dave even mentions this story in his book.
(43:33):
We both loved Lewis. Um, but who walked alongside him?
Faithful to share the gospel, faithful to listen to his, um,
his workings out. Weren't afraid of his questions. Weren't afraid
of his intellectualism, of everything. You know, his mind was
so caught up with all the different avenues he'd been
(43:55):
reading about and going down and, and were faithful to
walk alongside him and have and bash out those hard things,
those hard conversations, which then led him back to truth.
And that is beautiful.
S1 (44:07):
Yeah, you don't squander the pain either, because pain is
part of that story. And what he experienced during the
war and the loss of his friend Patty. You write
about that, and then Joy coming into his life and
then losing her and then the the last days. You
go all the way through his life that mining that
pain and being a steward of pain that informs the reader,
(44:32):
you know, the child reader as well as the adult,
doesn't it?
S2 (44:36):
It really does. And in this whole series, it's interesting. Um,
there are so many common themes that come through. I
didn't realize until you kind of get to the final
edit and stand back and look at them all, but
the character, both Charlotte and Jack, I call him Jack
all the way through. Um, Charlotte and Jack both were.
(44:56):
They suffered displacement. You know, they were displaced early in
life and children do have to deal with moving house,
moving country changes in their family life. And how can
we help them? What guides them through that of being?
First of all, recognizing, hey, this is hard when you
have to move for Jack's sake, move to a different country.
(45:17):
You've just lost your mum. You've got to go to
boarding school, you're completely on your own. And he goes
through that various various stages like that. And same with
Charlotte's story. The displacement is this theme in there. Grief
is a is a strong theme. It sounds like a
you know, you think, gosh, this is a children's book.
Is this really a happy thing? But actually, I didn't
want to cover over those things. And hopefully I deal
(45:39):
with them delicately but truthfully, that these are real things
that happened in these people's lives. But we see the
hope of Jesus through it all. We see, um, the
healing through relationship, through, uh, church community, through actually them, uh,
diving into the scriptures and and committing themselves to a journey. Um,
(46:03):
but that doesn't make them immune to pain.
S1 (46:08):
Well, I can't tell you how excited I am about
this project. And, uh, if you go to the website, Chris. Org,
scroll down, you'll see the Angel orphan about Charlotte Mason
and Chronicles of Wonder about C.S. Lewis books one and
two in the Tales of Boldness and Faith series by
Leah Bowden, our special guest. Leah, you keep writing, you
(46:31):
come back and see us again, and maybe you can
bring Dave and Poe with you. Next time.
S3 (46:37):
I'll do my.
S2 (46:37):
Best. I'll definitely bring Dave. He'd love.
S3 (46:39):
That. Thank you. It's been great.
S1 (46:42):
God bless you. Thank you for listening today to the
conversation at the back fence. Remember, Chris Fabry Live is
a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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