January is named for Janus, the god of doorways. He had one face that looks back and one face that looks forward. Whatever your thoughts on resolutions or whatever your goal-setting or word-choosing for 2023, may this month be one of looking back at what has come and God’s faithfulness to bring you here, and looking forward to what will be.
Around the Web
Hope and Hardship
Jamin Still paints hope in hardship.
- If someone were to ask me, “What is it you’re trying to do with your creative work?” I think I would say, “I want to give hope, but acknowledge hardship.”
Growing up in the church, I hated the pat answers to life’s complicated questions. (Think, “Everything happens for a reason,” or “One day it’ll all make sense.”) These answers weren’t necessarily wrong, but they were often accompanied by a failure to acknowledge or engage real bewilderment or doubt being experienced in the present.
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8 Ways to Build a Better Relationship with Your Kids This Year
Catherine Segars explores how you can continue to grow your relationship with your children.
- How can you eat better, sleep better, exercise better, work better, play better, spend better, save better, serve better, worship better, and pray better? Those are very good questions to ask at the beginning of a new year.
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Tiny Cedric’s Twelve Tiny Tips for New Year
Sally Lloyd-Jones shares tips for navigating the New Year.
- Look at poor Tiny Cedric, smothered by a big falling pile of books. Is that how you feel at the start of this year? Are your resolutions tumbling down all around you?
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Yes, You Should Read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter
Sarah Mackenzie recommends a sometimes under-rated book in the Little House set.
- Some books are just better than others.
When a book is this good, I’m compelled to make a whole podcast episode about it.
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Around the Warren
The Relief and Conflict of the Reading Life
Grace Hill explores the dissonance of a rich reading life.
- I’ve always felt a bit disoriented in the world, a quiet dissonance fizzling between the inside life of my mind and the outside world. My inside world hums along to a most mysterious and enchanting cinematic melody, while the outside culture blares tepid insurance-call-hold music on repeat.
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4 Gorgeous Christian Allegories
Théa Rosenberg reviews four allegories she loves.
- When it comes to allegories, people have Opinions. Some readers find them unbearably cheesy, which is, I guess, understandable: few things grate on the nerves like a story that’s too handholdy—the kind that tells us what we’re supposed to think about every element of the story. And allegories can certainly come across as handholdy. There’s no dodging it: every allegory mentioned in this post features characters whose names explicitly tell you what they’re meant to represent within the story.
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Something to Do with Your Kids
I always think January is for penguins and snowmen. We take down the elves and the sleighs, but we still get the cheerfulness of winter. So here’s a guide for making a penguin from a rock.
Something to Watch
This is a delightful little short film.
Thanks for reading. We’re on your side.
–The Story Warren Team
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 40 - December 2, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 39 - November 25, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 38 - November 18, 2023
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