Story Warren

Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation

The Warren & The World Vol 10, Issue 38

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A friend in northern New York posted photos of a tree in their yard over the past week or two, each one with fewer and fewer leaves—a countdown, of sorts, to the end of the season. A friend in Minnesota thanked me for sharing a flaming maple from my drive home today, so that she gets to enjoy a second autumn, now that hers is nearly over. I on the other hand reveled in her golden maples weeks before anything in my neighborhood had even begun to pale. Another friend, in Australia, is sharing photos of the fresh green sprigs growing on her camellias. The internet and long-distance relationships can be fraught, but there’s a beauty in sharing experiences across the country and around the world—in which we see time and seasons as rhythms and patterns, rather than fleeting moments.

Around the Web

Shaken to Bear Fruit

Tim Challies reflects on what we do with our pain.

  • The strange machine along the streets of Madrid seized my attention.
    Its long arms reached out and wrapped themselves around the trunk of a tree. Its motor vibrated those arms at high speeds so they could shake the tree violently. Its net sat suspended just beneath the lowest branches.
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The Story of Us by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Kevin & Kristen Howdeshell

I got to read this book last month and was gobsmacked by its beauty.

  • The Story of Us tells the full redemptive story of Scripture in poetic form, using the classical 4 elements of earth, air, fire, and water.
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Ordinary Chores, Extraordinary Love: Imaging God’s Care for Us

I’ve been thinking about ordinary days lately, and Seth Lewis’ post rings true.

  • There’s more to chores than meets the eye.
    This lesson was driven home to me with force one week when my wife was out of town, and I assumed full responsibility for keeping our three children intact and alive, clean and on schedule.
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5 Ways to Help Your Children Grow in Gratitude This Thanksgiving

Gratitude is a growth area for all of us, and Amanda Idleman gives some thoughts on helping the kids in your life grow in it this year.

  • I have a ten-year-old son, and I’ll be perfectly honest in that it seems that gratitude does not come naturally to him at this age. During this stage of his life, he definitely takes center stage in all his thoughts and communications and doesn’t hold back his opinion. While I love that I always know exactly what he is thinking, I do see that he needs some guidance when it comes to breaking out of that self-focused bubble and seeing how his words and actions affect the people around him.
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Around the Warren

More Than Many Sparrows

Ian Anderson explores how the pictures the Lord gives us show us his love.

  • Several years ago, my sons and I built the birdhouse that now hangs on our deck. We waited for the locals to find and use it, but for one reason or another they didn’t. One season a family was started on the rafters of the deck—some kind of finch, I think—yet the house remained unused.
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Reading Aloud: Enjoying the Present Together

Rebecca Levake considers how readalouds bring us to a presence in the present.

  • Our family recently finished reading aloud The Green Ember series by S.D. Smith (or “Bunnies Go to War,” as we affectionately refer to the saga). As we journeyed through the stories, we often had lively discussions as we shared opinions, asked questions, and made predictions. But the night we turned the last few pages of this epic tale, we took the art of lively discussion to a whole new level, with a truly unexpected result.
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Something to Do with Your Kids

You know I love an activities list for the month. Here’s November’s.

Something to Watch

I burst out laughing when I watched this.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

Carolyn Clare Givens
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