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!
Two Books for $0.99!
S. D. Smith’s beloved fantasy adventure, The Green Ember, is only $0.99 on Kindle today and The Black Star of Kingston is FREE.
Get The Green Ember here: http://bit.ly/TGE99C-SWNL
Get Black Star here: http://bit.ly/TBSOKFree-SWNL
Additionally, if you pick those up, you can get the audiobooks from Amazon for $1.99. Not bad!
For more, go to Sam’s Facebook page here: S. D. Smith: Author of The Green Ember.
Sorry! Wrong Link Last Week
Around the Web
Tea and Civility
- Tea is such a simple ceremony, it surprises me how little it’s practiced in our day. And I don’t mean the little Yogi motto dangling over the edge of a mug or the Starbucks version at the drive-though window. I mean the act—and art—of sitting down with another person (or even alone) to a well-appointed tea tray where thoughtfulness and care have attended even the most basic of preparations. I mean taking tea, not consuming it on the fly, as we’re all tempted to do in this over-booked, over-caffeinated world of ours. To take tea is to receive something; it is a gift of mindfulness, gentleness and grace.
How Parents And Teachers Can Nurture The ‘Quiet Power’ Of Introverts
- When Susan Cain wrote Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking in 2012, it was a big success. The book made the cover of Time magazine, spent weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list and was the subject of one of the most-watched TED Talks, with more than 13 million views.From that grew The Quiet Revolution, a company Cain co-founded that continues to produce and share content about, and for, introverts. The site offers an online training course for parents and stories submitted by readers about being introverted. There’s even a podcast.
Kids, Cain says, “are at the heart and center of it.”
Mealtimes Matter
- My passion for mealtime planning is a very personal one. I was married to a man who lost his eyesight from diabetes in his early 20’s. When we married it was important that I learned ways to make meals that would be easy for him heat and eat while I was at work.When our daughters came along, it became even more important that I had at least three meals a week planned, prepared and ready to go at a moment’s notice for my family. It simply made life easier. I discovered having that one area of my life organized made a BIG difference in how I handled other areas of my life as a wife and Mom.
Do Christian Parents Flirt with the Idol of Sports?
Todd Hill writes at the Gospel Coalition about sports in a family’s activities.
- As I walked into the middle school auditorium for a recent school event, another mom asked how I was doing. I told her our family was grateful to be able to breathe again after finally finishing soccer season. “Our family never breathes,” she said, and proceeded to describe how travel soccer overlaps with travel lacrosse all year long. They were going to try squeezing basketball into their son’s schedule as well. She listed each responsibility in her family’s schedule like a badge of honor.
I was exhausted just listening.
Around the Warren
Unseen
Helena Sorensen reminds us that the fruits of our labors are often long unseen.
- I’ve just finished a draft of a new book. It’s thrilling to see a world wake up, to follow characters along uncharted paths, to discover a story where, before, there was nothing. Unfortunately, it will take several months before the book is ready to enter the publication process and after that, it will take months before it’s released into the world. From there, readers will have the chance to read it or not, and if they choose to read it, they will have the freedom to comment or not, to criticize or not, to care or not. By then, I’ll have moved on to another project, wondering all the while if this story meant anything to anyone anywhere, or if it was just for me. There are days when my work feels much like shouting into a canyon and hearing nothing in response but the echo of my own cries.
“Dear old world…”
Words from L.M. Montgomery, graphic from Paul Boekell.
For Story Lovers of All Ages
Liz Cottrill introduces us to Patrica Polacco’s Chicken Sunday.
- It’s a good thing there are children in our lives—not just to round out our families or the human race either. It’s a good thing because, without children, adults would not voluntarily pick up a picture book for reading pleasure. But, thanks to reading to children, the essential and beautiful things of life come into sharp focus with the succinct tales that turn us right-side up, reminding us of the essentials of life we easily forget.
Something to Do with Your Kids
My nephew hated getting his hands dirty when he was little. Eating finger foods was not his favorite thing, and finger painting was near-torture. Maybe you’ve got a kiddo like that in your house–or maybe you just are tired of the mess of painting crafts. Either way, here’s a great plan for no-mess finger painting from the Kids Activities Blog.
And Something to Watch
If you’re new here, you may not know yet that I love outer space. Well, wonder no more. Be introduced to my fascination with this timelapse video of lightning striking earth an astronaut took from orbit.
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 16 - May 10, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 15 - May 3, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 14 - April 26, 2025
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