A Picture Book About Time, Love, and Being Grand
By R. Bronte Brown
FMF: Longing
My Gran: The Grandest in the Universe grew out of a longing I’ve felt at every stage of family life. As a child, I knew the freedom of being fully present. As a parent, I experienced the intensity and exhaustion of raising children. As a grandparent, I discovered a gentler joy, one rooted in time, patience, and deep love.
This story reflects my memories of childhood, raising my own children, and now watching my grandchildren grow. Each stage carries its own kind of joy and its own kind of loss. Childhood passes. Children grow. Grandchildren leave, and the house grows quiet again.
In today’s fast-paced world, time with family often feels rushed and fragmented. This book imagines a space where time slows down, where generations overlap, and where love is not measured by clocks or schedules.
At its heart, this story explores how families both fulfill us and awaken longing, a longing for what has been, what is fleeting, and what endures beyond time. For me, that longing ultimately points heavenward, toward a love that is complete, unhurried, and eternal.
Theme:
This story explores the classic omnipotence paradox through a child’s conversation with God, revealing God's nature in a clear, relational way.
Philosophical Question:
If all things are possible for God, then can God create a rock so big that it is impossible for Him to pick up?
Scripture Reference:
Hebrews 6:17-20 –
“…God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of promise, the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus entered as a forerunner for us…”
Reflection / Takeaway:
The two unchangeable things: His purpose rooted in truth, and that God cannot lie. He gave an oath to anchor our souls to hope, to Him.
This story is on submission and may not be reproduce, sold or used in any commercial avenue.
Rhonda Brown Faith-forward Picture Book Parable
1335 Montana Drive WC 450
Conway, AR 72034 On Submission
leighbrontebrown2@gmail.com
Word Press: https://brontebrown2.com/
https://x.com/RhondaLBrown2
Age Range: 5-8 years old
Faith-based/ Inspirational/ Read Aloud
A Riddle in a Paradox: A Conversation with the Father of Light
By Rhonda Bronte Brown
A father’s love guides us, helps us feel significant.
Some children grow up wrapped in hugs.
Some hear bedtime stories every night.
And some children wonder what love is supposed to feel like.
This story is for them.
Page 5
A father’s love guides us, helps us feel significant.
Some children grow up wrapped in hugs.
Some hear bedtime stories every night.
And some children wonder what love is supposed to feel like.
This story is for them.
Page 6-7
One day, a quiet boy named Tom was thinking big thoughts:
thoughts about family, thoughts about love, thoughts about truth.
Some thoughts felt confusing.
Pages 8-9
“Hello, Tom,” said a deep, gentle voice.
Tom looked up. “Do I know you?”
“Not yet,” said the man. “But you have heard of Me.”
Page 10-11
Tom studied Him for a moment.
“Oh, you’re God, the one everyone talks about.”
“Yes.”
Tom took a breath. “I have a question.”
“I like questions,” God said.
“Is it true that you can do anything?”
“Yes,” God replied. “I created the heavens and the earth.”
Pages 12-13
Curiosity tugged at Tom’s heart. “Is there anything You can’t do?”
“Yes.”
Tom’s eyes widened. He was not expecting that answer.
“How can both be true?” Tom asked.
“It is called a paradox.”
Tom looked puzzled.
“That means two surprising things can both be true,” God added.
Page 14-15
“Here’s a riddle for you,” said God.
“Imagine I made a rock so big that it would be impossible to pick up.”
Tom thought big. He stretched his arms wide.
“Humongous, bigger than a mountain, bigger than the moon.”
Pages 16-17
God laughed, the kind of laugh that made Tom feel safe.
“Yes. And one more: a solid rock,” God said. “A bedrock.”
Tom blinked. “What’s a bedrock?”
“A bedrock is a strong rock with no cracks, a rock to build on.”
Tom nodded.
“It is a rock of truth,” God said. “Like Me.”
“Why a bedrock?”
Pages 18-19
“Because I spoke truth when I made the world,” God explained.
“Truth is what the world stands on.”
Tom was quiet. “So you cannot lie?”
“I cannot.” God’s voice grew quiet.
“Lies slip through like water on sand.”
Pages 20-21
“They wash things away, even the things the heart wants to keep,” He said.
Tom thought for a moment.
“So truth keeps lies from taking root,” Tom said softly.
“Yes,” God replied. “Truth stands strong.”
Pages 22-23
Tom looked up.
“How can I know it is really You?”
“I am always here,” God said gently. “But it is your choice to see Me.”
Tom thought for a moment.
“Why do I decide?”
Pages 24-25
“Because love must be freely given,” God said.
“I did not make you like a tree, rooted in one place.
I made you with a heart, to come close or turn away.”
Pages 26-27
“And when you follow truth,” God added gently,
“your heart stands safe, built on the solid rock of what is real.”
“I feel safe with You.”
Pages 28-29
Tom looked down, thinking.
“So the riddle wasn’t really about the size of the rock.”
“It was about your heart,” God said,
“and what you choose to build upon.”
“It’s up to me,” Tom said.
“Always,” God replied.
Tom smiled.
2 responses to “FMF Jan 2026”
Love these! They’re wonderful! ✨
[…] My Gran is the Grandest in the Universe […]
Looks like you were able to fix the glitch.
My Gran: The Grandest in the Universe grew out of a longing I’ve felt at every stage of family life.…
That was my fault…It had an error in the title and would not let me correct it, so it is…
brontebrown2 
Thanks for sharing! Joining you from FMF #23 this week.
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The rest of the story is uploaded. I decided to post the whole story.
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