Question for the Culture
Roderick E. Ashley
Children's Author and Veteran
Why Roderick Was Selected for Archive 008
Roderick E. Ashley was chosen because I wanted to understand the reasoning behind creating a children's book series centered on the power of love, faith, forgiveness, and how we treat one another.
So much of what we consume focuses on adults becoming better versions of themselves. Growth. Healing. Transformation. Learning the lessons we wish we had known earlier.
But far less attention is given to the people intentionally investing in children before those lessons have to become corrections.
That is what interested me about Roderick and the Emmanuel series.
He is thinking about the children who will eventually lead families, build communities, make decisions, raise children of their own, and shape whatever comes next. Instead of waiting until adulthood to talk about love, empathy, resilience, forgiveness, faith, and having a moral compass, he is trying to introduce those conversations much earlier.
And his answer reinforced something I still deeply believe.
There are wonderful people who put faith at the center of who they are and allow it to shape how they serve other people. People who are still thinking about the next generation. People who understand that love is not simply something we say. It is something we teach, model, practice, and leave behind.
What stayed with me most was how often Roderick came back to the kids.
"The kids, man. The kids. It's about these kids."
That told me everything.
Archive 008 reminded me that sometimes investing in the future looks like giving a child language for love, faith, forgiveness, and resilience before life forces them to learn those things the hard way.
The Question
What are you intentionally giving this generation that you wish someone had given yours?
His Answer
“A relationship with God is where everything starts.”
With the Emmanuel series, I'm intentionally trying to help create an avenue and pave the way for kids to start building that moral compass at an early age, and incorporating God in it as well.
Growing up, we went to church with our families. As kids, we don't always understand what might be going on in church. Some kids get it because their family is also practicing that at home. But some kids' parents aren't.
I used to be that kid, not understanding that a relationship with God is where everything starts.
I see it when I serve with the kids. I see it on social media. I see it in the streets. I see these kids growing up without any guidance, and I want to catch them at a young age.
I want them to understand that making the right decisions is okay. I want them to understand that loving unconditionally is okay. I want them to understand forgiveness, kindness, and looking out for the next person.
It starts there.
This first series is the basis of what God really is: the loving, the caring, the forgiving, the patience, and the understanding.
The next series is going to be about resilience, never giving up, and putting kids in situations, whether it's trying out for a basketball team, not being able to pass a test, or school projects not going the way they want them to go.
I want kids to start learning scripture early, so that when hard times come, they know to lean on God and on the Word.
I'm hoping that with this series, it gives them that blueprint.
I also want to let these kids know that we're not perfect. In these books, the kids are going to make mistakes. They're going to mess up.
But it's how you bounce back. It's what you do to get back on track. It's what you do to make that right with the Father.
Then, when they get older, they're able to implement these morals and lessons in their families. It's just building that in them, lighting that flame in them.
Through this Emmanuel series, I'm just hoping that I can be an integral part of their lives.
Maybe one day they'll be reading it to their kids and say, 'This is how I learned. This is where I started.'
The kids, man. The kids. It's about these kids.
I want them to be excited. I want to give them stories that they're excited to hear.
And not just a grandparent, but just having somebody to lean on spiritually. You need somebody to be able to turn to when you don't understand things, who can break it down for you, who can be that spiritual advisor, that guidance that you need to get through life.
Because it's His word.
About Roderick
