How is your February going? Where I live, we’re in daffodil season, and my allergy-suffering friends are beginning to struggle. As someone who grew up in Michigan, the concept of sunny February days is an odd one to me, but I don’t mind it too much. I would have loved to have a real winter, but I’ll take an early spring, too. I wish I could have it both ways.

Around the Web

Getting to Stop by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Simeon Swinger considers what it means to stop.

• This winter I was literally stopped in my tracks, in the woods, on a snowy evening, by mitral valve disease and found myself slowed down from my usual 45-year-old pace of classroom music teaching.At first this seemed like a hardship to me, something I would have to endure.  I’d have to drop some calendared events, and I’d have to wind down my running activities.  
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Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur

Hayley at Redeemed Reader reviews a new YA novel.

• Sarah Arthur’s YA fantasy novel Once a Queen imagines a world like ours where stories come to life, but individuals have to return to reality.
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Prayers for the Stay-at-Home Mom

Alicia Searl has a prayer for the stay-at-home moms.

• Dear Stay-at-Home Mom,
  I see you leaning over the dishes with misty eyes just wishing someone would notice you, anyone. The everyday mundane tasks seem pointless at times. You get up and do the same thing, over and over. It goes a little like this…You trudge to the kitchen, baby on hip, to pour a cup of coffee you will never get to finish.
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The Beauty of ‘Gospel Awkward’

Trevin Wax explores the beauty in the mess of faith.

• The life of discipleship begins not with doing but with being. We are to be with Jesus.
  I love the description we find in the Gospel of Mark. When Jesus chose the disciples, it wasn’t first to preach the gospel and cast out demons but simply to “be with him” (Mark 3:14). Proximity comes before power.
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Around the Warren

Books for Black History Month, pt. 2

A.C.S Bird recommends another set of books for Black History Month.

• Stories of those who have suffered injustice and resolved to reverse it inspire awe and admiration. Likewise worthy of respect are those who create profound art from sorrow and loss. In his treatise Art and Faith, painter Makoto Fujimura references artists who draw upon their own suffering to create works of deep significance.
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Any Day Now: An Adventure Story

Henry Lewis takes us on an adventure.

• Ben stood at the head of the trail. He stood there facing all the troubles and sorrows that might accompany a man on his long journey through life. Ben stood there a good while pondering his future, filled with grand adventures and heroic battles, and of course, normal affairs of life like meals and lodging and such. Yes sir, Ben was a most thoughtful fella. 
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Something to Do with Your Kids

February can be a challenging season, what with grey days and bluster. If you’re looking for something for indoor activities, here are some suggestions for tweens.

Something to Watch

Destin is lighting matches with a bullet in slo-mo. Like you do.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

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Carolyn Clare Givens

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.

Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)

• Beauty for All - January 5, 2026
• The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 38 - October 11, 2025
• The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 37 - October 4, 2025