//Cue best radio voice// And we’re back!

In case you’ve forgotten how you wound up here (possible, since it’s been a little over a month of radio silence), The Warren & the World is Story Warren’s weekly newsletter, providing a round-up of our favorite things from around the web as well as a review of what was on our site over the past week. We’re glad you’re here, but if you decide it’s not for you, there’s an easy unsubscribe button at the end of this email. We’d hate to see you leave, but we don’t want to spam you any more than you want to receive spam. Or eat it.

Around the Web:

The New Year for Your Children

Christina Fox at the Gospel Coalition has a great encouragement for parents as the new year begins. I know I’m ten days late, but it’s a great post.

Amid all the talk about resolutions and goals, we won’t hear about the importance of speaking the gospel into the hearts of our children, pouring love into them, and leading them down the path that leads to life.

You should read the whole thing. It’s good. Read more.

The Town Where Americans Still Write Checks, and Other Notes on Rural Economics

Diana Clarke writes rather beautifully about some of the realities of living in a small town.

When I got a flat tire and called AAA, the woman at the call center couldn’t find my location on the map, though I described it in detail, named the numbered route and cross street. The local mechanic she connected to called me back and asked if I lived locally. Yeah, I told him—I’m in that gas station parking lot just past the grocery store, near the fairgrounds—and he found me, no trouble at all.

This was beautiful. Read more.

Battling Against the Never-Ending Mommy Wars

Helen Coronato talks about resisting the mommy wars. I think there are good lessons here.

Mention mommy wars to any parent on the planet and they’ll likely map out the opposing sides they most closely resonate with: breastfeeding versus bottle, co-sleeping versus crib, working versus stay–at-home, public school versus homeschool, helicopter versus free range. Players in the “us versus them” war change, and as long as we continue to take the bait the battle will range on. But exactly who is baiting the otherwise rational, articulate, adult women?

Alexander and Bucephalus

I love getting to go behind the scenes of the creative process. In this post, our own Zach Franzen shows you the process he used for his illustration, featured today at Story Warren! Read more.

In Just a Minute on the Internet

The folks at LifeHack present a great infographic representing a minute on the internet. It’s good. Check it out.

Around the Warren:

Welcome Back: New Schemes, New Teams, New Stories & Dreams

S.D. Smith provided the introduction for a little relaunch of Story Warren.

We are very excited about things to come here at Story Warren. A conference. Books. And a shift in the orientation of the site. It’s this last one we can talk about now.

New contributors, and a focus on doing, not just talking about, creativity. Read more.

Alexander and His Horse

For the launch of our Friday Story Warren Shorts feature, Zach Franzen takes a classic James Baldwin story and puts a fresh face to it.

One day King Philip bought a fine horse called Bucephalus. He was a noble animal, and the king paid a very high price for him. But he was wild and savage, and no man could mount him, or do anything at all with him.

It’s a fun one to read aloud! Read more.

Something to Try with Your Kids:

Don’t know what it’s been like out your way, but it was cold and snowy ’round these parts this week. In that spirit, Parents.com offers 20 activities to do with your kids in the snow (sorry for the annoying ads sprinkled throughout):