One of our Christmas traditions is to celebrate Advent. We do different things for this including reading books, listening to radio dramas, using a Jesse Tree, and more. Every year we try to choose something a little different. This year I was excited to have my own personal celebration of Advent using this book, Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season by Heidi Haverkamp.We are huge fans of The Chronicles of Narnia. My girls even have a Narnia themed bedroom! C.S. Lewis has so beautifully captured the essence of childhood imagination in his series. I was very excited to relive this novel as I also focused my heart for Advent.
28 devotions carry you through the novel alternating between excerpts from the novel and Scripture for the entire Advent season. They are thought provoking and intentional, yet easy to read. I originally thought I would use this with my girls as it is advertised as a family devotion, but as I began reading myself I felt it was better suited for middle school or older. My oldest would have gotten something out of it as she is in 6th grade, but I think most of this would have gone over my youngest two daughters' heads. They are avid readers and comprehending literature far above their grade levels, but I still felt they would have found much of this devotional a bit boring.
I am a bit cautious with this author because her denomination's view of Scripture differs greatly from mine. I think it is important to recognize authorship and how that impacts the view of the devotions written. I did not come across anything which was concerning to me specifically in this title, but when it comes to devotions I prefer to read authors who I know hold the same view of the Word of God as I do.
I do think some interesting aspects of the book was the inclusion of information for having a Narnia night at church and working through the study as a church family. Most devotions do not structured to include your entire church family and I found this rather intriguing.I also do not think this need be a devotion strictly for Advent. It could be read anytime of the year in an effort to draw closer to God.
After reading through it, I do not think I will use this with our family in the future.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
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