The temperatures have chilled this week, and we look ahead to even chillier days coming. My warmest, coziest sweaters are all getting their full use, and I’m bundling up under blankets to sleep. May you stay warm on the coldest days, my friends.

Around the Web
Taking My Children Out of the Box
Sally Clarkson and Nathan Clarkson share their story of finding their way as parent and child—uniquely themselves.
- Thirty years ago, I was exhausted to my toes. A respiratory virus had slowly moved viciously through our family, leaving us tired and ragged.
Every night had left me caring for a different child and the sleeplessness had left me listless and drained.
Somehow, three-year-old Nathan had avoided the dreaded plague, and for a moment, I believed against hope that all might be well, until, suddenly, he started to cough.
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The Quiet Time Kickstart
Tim Challies reviews a book to start the year.
- We are all people of habits. To some degree, we are always battling to establish good habits while battling to supplant bad ones. This is true of us in many different areas of life and most certainly true in our spiritual lives.
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How Are Children a Gift from the Lord?
Amanda Idleman explores the ways children are a gift.
- Psalm 127:3 declares, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Recently, this verse has been on my mind. I’m trying to really grasp it and apply it in ways that are stretching and life changing.
We are foster parents and this journey has led us to say ‘yes’ to loving kids in ways that I never imagined I’d have capacity for. Everything I’ve ever believed about what makes an ideal family has been challenged by our journey. Maybe you’ve been faced with a parenting crossroad that has left you also feeling like God was calling you out into very uncertain feeling waters.
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Newbery Buzz #3: Ferris
Hayley at Redeemed Reader is helping us get to know the books in the Newbery conversation this year.
- it’s no secret I love Ferris. In fact, I loved it so much I spent one newsletter last fall talking about it! I’m going to unashamedly steal some of what I wrote then and incorporate it into our discussion.
I finished listening to Ferris by Kate DiCamillo while doing the dishes. I almost cried, several times.
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Around the Warren
Just the Right Time
Sarah Dixon Young discovers that the right time can surprise you.
- As a home educator, I have one of those closets in my house.
You know the one I mean. It’s the closet that won’t shut and is the black hole of everything homeschooling.
Puzzle pieces, math manipulatives, parts of speech sorting activities, and dice all go to the closet to die. (Pun intended.)
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Cinderella and the Fairy Crocodile, part 2: The Middle
Isabel Chenot continues her tale.
- An instant after the wildebeest rushed out of the courtyard, one of the starry points of the upper heaven pierced through the clouds. It grew brighter and larger and nearer, till out of its brightness stepped a glowing lady with gold hair and a filmy dress.
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Something to Do with Your Kids
Need a fun activity for a chilly winter day? Try these one-of-a-kind candles made using ice cubes and wax.
Something to Watch
Rob Words introduces us to English As She Is Spoke—a mysteriously hilarious guide book to speaking English…sort of.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side.
–The Story Warren Team
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 5 - February 15, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 4 - February 1, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 3 - January 25, 2025
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