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!
Around the Web:
Why You Need to Believe the Impossible
Kris Camealy writes at her blog a post inspired by a book titled Playdates with God, in which the author writes, "When did my imagination become so small that I stopped expecting the impossible?" She's tired, she's wrung out, and she's realizing on a walk through the yard, all the impossible things right there around her.
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The shimmery haze reveals tiny insects a whirl of steady activity. When I step to the right, with one foot down the hill, they disappear from view. I play this game for a few moments, stepping up and down the hill. They are visible, then invisible.
Visible, invisible.
As she wanders, she realizes that the God she's been looking for has been there all along. Read more.
Where Stories Come From
Our friend and author Sally Lloyd-Jones takes a look at where stories come from.
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Where do stories come from? Does the writer invent them? Or discover them?
I’m certain it’s the latter. As least if they are living stories, true stories. (True–whether or not they are factual.)
It was that blog from a couple of weeks ago that got me thinking about the promise that God will supply all we need–and that the word “supply” means basically: God is leading us in a dance.
Sally goes on to ask what it might look like to follow—and let God lead. Read more.
Restless till We Rest in You
I love Church history. I recently got into a discussion about it with a friend who had found it boring when she studied it in school. We come from different faith traditions and she said, "Perhaps you were taught differently. To me Church history was just one Heresy after another." I thought later how sad it was that she hadn't been taught the richness of the history of the Church–the voices of the men and women through the ages who have shaped and impacted how we worship today. One in particular that I love to read and study is Augustine of Hippo. At The Cripplegate, Mike Riccardi writes about Augustine's source of joy.
- In that famous opening paragraph of the Confessions, he declares, “You have made us, O Lord, for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” That is to say, God has so designed human beings that the deep longings and desires for happiness and joy that are built into the very fabric of our souls are only met and satisfied by Him. We, like Solomon, will pursue satisfaction in everything under the sun, but unless we recognize that true happiness is only found in God, we too will be striving after the wind.
I can't help but think of C.S. Lewis' thoughts on sehnsucht. Read more.
3 Ways to Prepare Your Teenager for Adulthood
There's no foolproof way to parent. Anyone who has had more than one child will tell you that there's not even one foolproof way to parent within a family. Every kid has a unique personality and a unique set of challenges to face. However, some advice is helpful–particularly when it comes from Scripture. At Crosswalk.com, Brian Croft writes about a tradition he and his wife have of taking their 13-year-olds on a special day trip, and he shares some of the things he talked about with his son.
- There is, however, another purpose for these trips: to celebrate each child is growing up to be a man and likewise our daughters into women. Becoming a teenager can be a scary prospect (for both child and parent), and this often mutes both parent and child from obvious changes taking place. Yet we want it to be something we all would celebrate. We also want to communicate the responsibilities that come with this different life stage as well as some of the developmental aspects of it. Therefore, these trips are also designed for us to have very intentional conversations about life as men and women. Many of these conversations had been already taking place for quite a while, but it provides an atmosphere to delve into them a bit more and reaffirm what has already been said.
Around the Warren:
Serious Business
Jonathan Rogers shares of his brief career as an art student—in which budding genius may have been nipped by an imposing teacher.
- The teacher wasn’t much taller than the eleven-year-olds in the class, but she was an imposing presence nevertheless. Her eyes somehow flickered back and forth between heavy-lidded indifference and an artistic wildness that I have since decided was mostly affectation. But it made an impression on me at the time, I don’t mind telling you.
“If you’re here because you want to paint pretty pictures for your mama…” she began, then she paused for effect. Her gaze fell on me; she could see on my face how much I loved my mama, and it disgusted her. “If all you want is to make pretty pictures for your mama, I’d suggest you leave this class right now and go get yourself a camera.”
As always, Dr. Rogers brings wit and wisdom. Read more.
“…without literature pure theology cannot endure…”
Martin Luther writes of the connection of art and faith. Paul Boekell puts it into a piece of art.
Introducing "Tales of the Restoration"
Laura Peterson introduces us to Tales of the Restoration, the conclusion of the story of Hero by David and Karen Mains
- Although he is only mentioned once or twice in the other books, several stories in Tales of the Restoration focus on the journey of Little Child, Hero’s younger brother. L.C. has grown up in the care of Mercie in Great Park and is now ready to make Crossing alone to the Enchanted City (now renamed Bright City) and join his brother in the work of the Restoration. The Crossing through the garbage dump where minions of the Enchanter still lurk is dangerous, but Little Child overcomes the trials and makes it to Bright City.
Looks like a great read — read the whole review!
A Poem Advising Bad Children To Not Be So Bad
Split infinitive in the title and all, we present a fun little poem from Hilaire Belloc:
- I call you bad, my little child,
Upon the title page,
Because a manner rude and wild
Is common at your age.The Moral of this priceless work
(If rightly understood)
Will make you—from a little Turk—
Unnaturally good.
Something to Do with Your Kids:
Over at the Artful Parent, they've got instructions for some fun paper / leaf sun catchers. A good one to try this time of year!
Read more.
And Something to Watch
This film is breathtaking—sometimes because of the beauty and sometimes because you're getting a first-person view of a mountain biker riding a knife's-edge ridge on the Isle of Skye. But, oxygen deprivation and all, it's worth it:
Thank you for reading. We're on your side.
- Tumbleweed Thompson Comes Home - October 15, 2024
- Mice that speak and the language of imagination - July 26, 2017
- The Warren & the World Vol 4, Issue 40 - October 8, 2016
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