Interview with Author Diana Klyen

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Family, hobbies, how long you’ve been writing, etc.

I am Diana Kleyn, born Diana Sommer in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and was a member of the Maranatha Free Reformed Church there. I am the eldest of seven children: I have one sister and five brothers, the youngest of whom is presumed drowned on a trip to northern Canada in 1999. I met my husband, Chris (who is, incidentally, the youngest of eight) while attending Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. No, I didn’t meet him at college, but at church, which is the present Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation there. I taught grades 2/3 for three years in Jordan Christian School (which was then the Netherlands Reformed Christian School in Jordan Station, Ontario) before we were blessed with three boys. Two are now in college and one is in high school. Naturally, my writing takes a back seat to being a wife and mother. I’ve been interested in literature and writing for as long as I can remember, but I’ve been actually writing for about fifteen years.

2. When and how did you first get the idea to put together The Lord’s Garden series?

After five volumes of Building on the Rock, we decided it would be a good idea to start a new series. Both sets of books are collections of stories for children. As far as we know, they are true stories. Dr. Beeke has a good collection of antiquarian children’s books from which I pull the stories. I update the language, sometimes add or delete bits, and add my own words of advice or warning for the readers.

3. What made you decide to focus on the topics you chose for each book?

For each issue of The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, I submit about two pages of stories along with some “words from my heart” for the children. We then organize these stories into books. In the first series, we published the books as we collected enough for each book, until we had four books for the first edition of Building on the Rock. These books were then reprinted with additional stories for the second edition. By the time we began planning The Lord’s Garden series, we had enough for several books, so we organized them by topic: conversion stories, answers to prayer, stories showing evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, etc.

4. How did you go about choosing the specific stories you used for the books?

The stories I choose for the BSGT should be about God’s work in a person’s life, whether that is spiritual, or answering a prayer for a physical need. I try to avoid stories that are about very unusual occurrences because I want the children to learn how God normally works. Also, I don’t often use stories in which the child dies. I would rather choose stories that portray children living their Christian faith because I don’t want children to think that if they are saved as young children they will most likely die young. I want them to learn that being a child of God is a great blessing and that no one is too young to serve God.

5. What was the process like for writing the chapters? (i.e.: Did you choose a Scripture verse first, and then find a story to go with it? Or vice versa?)

Actually, the story was written first, and then I found a Scripture verse to go with it. My goal is to motivate my readers to read the Bible.

6. What was the greatest challenge of creating these books? Greatest blessing?

My greatest challenges in creating these books are actually my family’s needs as well as my health and that of my husband. Besides raising three boys – the eldest of which has Asperger’s Syndrome – I have had lupus nephritis for about eight years. At the beginning of my “lupus journey” I was very ill. I had to have heavy doses of steroids, and when that didn’t stop the damage to my kidneys, I underwent chemo treatments. I am now on a lifelong dose of immune suppressant to control the lupus. I am always tired, sometimes just tired, and sometimes very tiredJ. I need a lot of rest. On good days I’m up for about eight hours, spending part of that time in bed or in my chair; on bad days I’m in bed for most of the day. I have many more bad days than good days. I also suffer from migraines for days at a time.

My husband has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for about two years and Fibromyalgia for about a year and a half. The onset of his MS was sudden and it progressed rather quickly. He had some bizarre symptoms which confused doctors at first. Complicating it is the pain of the Fibromyalgia. He is very limited in what he can do and tires easily. We are very thankful that we love each other, since we are both home together!

Despite all of this, we try to serve God cheerfully, though, to be sure, there are times of discouragement. We talk often with our boys about God’s love and care in the midst of trials and suffering.

The greatest blessing in creating these books is knowing that God helps me in my writing. Receiving feedback that the stories are being blessed is the greatest reward I could ask for.

7. Do you have a particular favourite story from the books?

I especially love the stories that display a simple, childlike faith, such as the two stories about Johnny in volume One, and A Godly Woman, A Picture of God, and The Wounded Soldier’s Return in the second volume. God is honored by simple, complete trust. Faith is not complicated: we make is complicated. This God-honoring simplicity is rewarded by God.

8. Can you tell us a little bit about the soon-to-be-released third book in the series?

The first book is Taking Root, the second is Bearing Fruit, and the third is Sowing the Seed. This third volume is a collection of stories about the many ways God has at His disposal to spread the gospel. There are stories about children telling others about Jesus in their precious simple ways, stories in which a few words or a seemingly feeble effort is blessed by God for someone’s salvation. It is meant to encourage children who belong to Jesus that they are not too young to be used in God’s kingdom, and to encourage children who don’t yet belong to Him that they are never too young to be welcomed by the Savior.

9. Do you hope to continue with more volumes in the future?

Oh, yes! We are already working on the fourth volume, and I’m quite sure there will be a fifth. As long as the Lord blesses me with enough strength I will continue this work. Besides doing these stories, I like to do a “project.” My last project was Reformation Heroes which Dr. Beeke helped me complete. I am asking God to show me what He wants me to work on next.

10. What is your overall hope/aim/prayer for these books in terms of impacting children’s lives?

My prayer for these books is that children are led to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want them to know that God is sincere when He calls sinners to salvation. Also, that coming to Christ is an urgent matter that should not be put off.