I had dinner with a group of ladies that all worked together until a few years ago. Some retired, some moved on to other jobs. I’ve lived here almost a decade now, and most of these women have known me that long. We’ve walked together through highs and lows, and though we don’t see one another regularly, we make sure to keep connected. That’s community, isn’t it?
Around the Web
The Most of P. G. Wodehouse by P. G. Wodehouse
Hayley at Redeemed Reader reviews a classic.
- An excellent introduction to P. G. Wodehouse via his short stories and one delightful novella.
Read more
The Unexpected Secret to Growing Happier as you Grow Older
Ann Voskamp considers growing older.
- After I pass the lane for Appalachian Outhouses, there’s a flashing portable marquee sign about fires up ahead and watch for visible smoke, and then I turn past Turkey Cove Baptist Church and Possum Lane, and a billboard that reads Jesus will set you free from your sins, before I park on the side of a mountain to hear a word from God Almighty.
I’m about to depart from my forties.
And when you’re about to depart, you want God to part all the noise and come make a holy visitation.
Read more
The Wilderness of the Little Years
Marshall Segal encourages parents of young children.
- The little years of parenting are a wonderful and sometimes unbearable wilderness.
Nighttime can be a series of uncivil wars — getting children fed and bathed (and sometimes re-bathed), then getting them into the right bed, at the right time, with the right bedtime story or song (only after finding that beloved stuffie), then keeping them in that bed until they fall asleep (and repeating all of the above when one wakes up at 1:00 or 2:00 or 3:00), and then frantically getting as much sleep as you can before the artillery and bloodshed begin again.
Read more
2 Ways Anxiety Affects Parents
Sissy Goff has a word for anxious parents.
- In my thirty-plus years of counseling, I’ve never seen parents feel as much pressure or as much like failures as they do today. I’ve never had as many parents in tears in my office. And I’ve certainly never seen as many parents who live in a perpetual state of worry.
Read more
Around the Warren
Sometimes Creation Speaks for Us
Ashley Anthony reminds us of the wonders that God made.
- We pulled a plastic case from the fireplace mantle, our special home for three Monarch butterfly eggs we’d received from a friend. The pencil-tip sized eggs stuck to each milkweed leaf, the Monarch mother’s way of keeping her babies out of harm’s way. We studied each one, all of us wondering how we might best take care of them.
Read more
Fantastic Fantasists
A.C.S. Bird shares picture books that point us to the unseen world.
- In some previous stage of my theological thinking, I conceived of the spiritual realm as an arena essentially separate from the materiality of daily life. More recently, influenced by the writings of N.T. Wright among others, I have come to realize the significance of the existing Creation as part of God’s eternal grand design.
Read more
Something to Do with Your Kids
We’re getting to the time of year when weather becomes more varied and interesting. Here’s a great weather tracking activity for the family!
Something to Watch
Have you ever wondered what British place names can tell you about the history of the isles? The map men have you covered.
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 30 - September 16, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 29 - September 2, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 28 - August 19, 2023
Leave a Reply