We’re halfway through the month. Time for the panic-shopping and last-minute planning. Time to confirm those holiday traditions again—whose version of the pie are we eating this year?—and dust of Luke 2 and Matthew 1. May your December be full of tireless hope.
Around the Web
18 Games For The Car (Or Any Kind of Travel)
Meredith Bartolo Pappas suggests some games for travel.
- With holidays approaching, long travel days might be in your future. Though traveling can be exciting, it can also be a drag with children in tow, long lines in airports, or traffic on the road.
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Unbreakable by Rebecca Barone
Janie at Redeemed Reader recommends a middle grade novel about cracking the Enigma code.
- Unbreakable makes the complicated story of unlocking the Enigma code accessible for young readers.
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when Christmas is hard
Mandy at life. faithful. writes for those suffering during this season.
- This season can be hard. When you’re broken or hurting, the celebrations and decorations can just make you hurt more. The Christmas carols remind you of everything and everyone you’re missing. The lights bring tears to your eyes. The bright packages just make you think of the one person you can’t buy a gift for this year.
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Oh Holy Night
Laura Story writes of a favorite Christmas hymn.
- I remember as a young girl riding in the backseat of my parents’ station wagon as we drove the all-too-familiar two-hour trek to my grandparents’ house for Christmas. My dad usually worked at the hospital on Christmas Eve so we would rarely get on the road before dark. As we navigated the twists and turns of those North Georgia mountain roads, we could see the stars so clearly from the rear-facing bucket seats.
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Around the Warren
He Loves You Even More Than I Do: A Letter to My Children
Kathryn Butler writes truth for her children.
- My beloved ones,
For nine months, your world began and ended with the contours of my womb. You tested your limbs in a confined sea that moved within me, a space I owned but would never see. Daily you explored. You shifted as patches of light reached you in muted amber. My heartbeat lulled you to sleep.
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Christmas Hymn Magic
Rebecca Levake reminds us of the wonder of this season’s music.
- Have you noticed the way that Christmas music blurs the line between the sacred and the secular? When December rolls around it is not at all uncommon to hear Bing Crosby crooning classics like “White Christmas” or “I’ll be Home for Christmas” on Christian radio stations, and over on secular stations all kinds of artists belt out their own take on tunes that proclaim the birth of Christ and the glorious message of “Joy to the World, the Lord has come!”
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Something to Do with Your Kids
Need some last-minute decor? Try these cool Christmas wreaths!
Something to Watch
You’ve never seen the Nutcracker quite like this.
Carolyn Clare Givens is a displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her literary cat, Lord Peter Wimsey. She's the author of The King's Messenger and Rosefire and in her free time helps run Bandersnatch Books.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 22 - June 21, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 21 - June 14, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 20 - June 7, 2025
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