“For a Christian grandparent, [reading these books] would give them the opportunity to explore God in a low-key way, but enough to point a child towards God without being preachy,” Carmen said.
Key points:
- “God has taught me a lot through writing these books.”
- “The whole issue about being generous, kindness, grace, all those things are key.”
- Listen to this episode of the ‘GrandParenthood’ podcast in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Alongside her role as a grandmother, Carmen is the author of the Molly Greenwood Adventures series. What began as a handful of vivid dreams became six published books.
“[Molly is] a nine-year-old girl and she lives in the most amazing palace with a wonderful kind king. But Molly’s life didn’t start in a palace, it started in an orphanage. And while they’re there, Molly is challenged by the king to go on different missions to amazing worlds and places and make the kingdom better.”
“God has taught me a lot through writing these books.”
Faith shaping story, story shaping faith
“My faith does shape these books, quite definitely,” Carmen said. “And not only that, but as I’ve been writing, Molly has shaped my faith… God has taught me a lot through writing those books.”
She explained that while the stories are allegorical, they’re not overtly religious. “Think Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. They are allegories, but they’re very subtle, very low key. So you won’t find any mention of God inside the pages or in the story. I like to think of them almost like a parable.”
Carmen also shared about a difficult time in her own journey. “About two years before I wrote Molly’s Big Decision, I had a bit of a meltdown… I call that my crisis of faith. I thought, if I understood God well, then I don’t want to believe in a God that I can fully understand. I need a God who’s bigger than I am. So, yeah, it just laid to rest some of those questions I had.”
“The whole issue about being generous, kindness, grace, all those things are key.”
Books grandparents can share
“One of the things about Carmen’s books [is] we can’t guarantee that our kids follow us in the same footsteps… What these books can do is allow Mum and Dad to say, when they see it, “oh, that’s okay, you can read this”. And yet the kids will read these things in a very different way and will capture things that maybe Mum and Dad may not be seeing at that point in time.”
Carmen added that grandparents she’s spoken to are “looking for clean, wholesome books… particularly looking also, I’ve heard, for books that have a really good, interesting plot… They don’t want sassy stuff. They don’t want characters speaking back at parents and people in authority… They’re fed up with the toilet humour.”
Listen to this episode of the ‘GrandParenthood’ podcast in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Generosity, faith and modelling to grandkids
Later in the conversation, Carmen reflected on lessons from her own life that worked their way into her writing — including around money and generosity.
“God, really, He doesn’t need our 10%. My goodness, He’s God. It’s us who need to learn how to be generous and how to say thank you and to give Him not just 10%, but… 100%. You know, our whole life, everything we own, we don’t really own, it’s all borrowed.”
Ian reflected: “The whole issue about being generous, kindness, grace, all those things are key. And I think they come out in Molly’s adventures. They certainly come out in even talking to Carmen because she demonstrates that as well.”
Listen to this episode of the ‘GrandParenthood’ podcast in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Feature image: CanvaPro
Get daily encouragement delivered straight to your inbox
Writers from our Real Hope community offer valuable wisdom and insights based on their own experiences!
Subscribe + stay connected with all
our latest stories
More from Guests and Artists
