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!

An Announcement:

Story Warren Presents Andrew Peterson & Randall Goodgame in Concert

You may have heard about our Family Conference on June 21st? Well, that evening, back at Church At Charlotte, we’ll be hosting a concert featuring the aforementioned Messrs. Peterson and Goodgame. Get more details here.

Around the Web:

8 Things I Want My Toddler to Thank His Mother For (In 20 Years)

Carl Laferton writes about Mother’s day at the Gospel Coalition:

My son has just turned 2—he delegated to me the task of buying a Mother’s Day card and writing a message on it. I’m coaching him to say, “Thank you mommy” and “I love you mommy” (though it will come out, at best, as “Thar Thaw Momeeeee” and “I yubba oo Momeeeee”).
But what do I hope he will say thank you for, in 20 years, as he looks back on having grown up with a Christian mother?

Some wonderful thoughts here. Read more.

Loneliness and the Pursuit of Friendships in Motherhood

Nikki Daniel writes about being a mom and feeling isolated:

As a pastor’s wife, I hear one complaint about motherhood over and over again: loneliness. As my pastor, my husband hears me share about one thing over and over again: loneliness. Let’s face it, friendships are very difficult to maintain when you have children at home because extra time is hard to find.
I’m not writing this article because I have boocoos of friends in the midst of being pregnant and raising two young boys. I’m writing because I don’t. I’m writing because the gospel defines every area of life, including this one. I’m writing because we can develop friendships in the midst of this lonely stage of life.

I love the heart of this post. Read more.

Role Playing and Education

Josh Leland writes over at the Circe Institute about the role of role play in education. 80s moms are sure your kids will be kidnapped.

But this is not a post arguing whether or not we should participate in anything that imagines or alludes to magic, though that is an interesting debate. I would like to explore, rather, the general concept of roleplaying, which often holds negative connotations: when we hear “roleplaying” we generally assume it is sexual in nature, or else it is some weird thing that people who aren’t well-adjusted socially might participate in. Up until a few weeks ago, all of my responses to the word “roleplay” would have been sarcastic, dismissive, or mocking. But I’ve found that roleplaying is far more important and necessary than I ever would have thought.

Helpful thoughts if you’re engaging the subject. Read more.

News Diet

Andrew here: This article has been working on me all week. It’s a good opportunity to evaluate what you’re consuming information-wise and to evaluate whether you’re being wise with that time. It’s a PDF, so I’m linking you to the download page.

In the past few decades, the fortunate among us have recognized the hazards of living with an overabundance of carbohydrates (obesity, diabetes) and have started to shift our diets. But most of us do not yet understand that news is to the mind what sugar is to the body. News is easy to digest. The media feeds us small bites of trivial matter, tidbits that don’t really concern our lives and don’t require thinking. That’s why we experience almost no saturation. Unlike reading books and long, deep magazine articles (which requires thinking), we can swallow limitless quantities of news flashes, like bright-colored candies for the mind.

A long article, and a little (or a lot) hyperbole prone, but really good challenge. Read more.

Around the Warren:

Against the Moral Imagination

Josh Bishop writes a challenging post about Moral Imagination.

In his excellent essay, “Enchanting Children,” David Mills writes that the imagination is “the faculty that controls what we, and especially children, think the world is like.” In other words, one of the primary functions of the imagination is to control how we see—how we image—the world.
A moral imagination, then, is one that allows us to see the world in moral categories.

Great post. Read more.

Great Teachers Teach Themselves

Mr. Boekell delivers a fantastic quote from Buechner.

True.

Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct

Helena Sorensen introduces a fun one from Mo Willems

Mo Willems doesn’t pull any punches. He just comes right out and says that Goldilocks shouldn’t be breaking and entering, that pigeons should, under no circumstances, be allowed to drive buses, and that it is very unwise to lose track of knuffle bunnies. This may be his most endearing quality. He refuses to pander or patronize. He speaks to children with a cool frankness that we generally reserve for adults. He treats them as intelligent, sensible beings, but he also remembers that children have a capacity for wonder and mystery that few adults possess.

Read some more!