The Warren & the World Vol 4, Issue 9

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

For All Who Hurt With Nothing Left

Alia Joy Hagenbach writes at the Grace Table about struggling and feeling unable to give any more.

I dreamed grand dreams right here in the middle of the ordinary because everyone else seems to be able to pack their kids up and send them off to school or gather them at the table and homeschool them or be up all night with a toddler and still make room to do and go and be. Other people seemed to be able to teach bible studies and write books and travel and speak on stages or pushed up close with their knees almost touching over coffee while intimate confessions are spilled and the gospel is oozing into the cracks. Other people can bake casseroles and visit the sick and sit with the dying. Other people can write about the injustices in the world without the rage of the heartbroken, sagging under the burden of being too sensitive and fragile to hold much at all. A person whose capacity is so low they have to retreat like a child, covering their eyes and plugging their ears while drowning out the shattering pain in the world.

Shannon Hale: Fairy Tales Told Anew

Carolyn recommends some books by one of my favorite authors at House Full of Bookworms.

I’ve been on a bit of a Shannon Hale kick recently. I listened to three of her books in a row this past month: Goose Girl, Princess Academy, and Book of 1,000 Days.I love reinvented fairy tales (so long as good versus evil isn’t turned on its head). And Shannon Hale’s retellings truly bring these tales to life.
Each book by Shannon Hale portrays a kind girl thrown into impossible circumstances who must learn to be courageous, selfless, and noble. Each tale contains just enough fairy tale magic to make it sparkle, but the magical elements never overwhelm the story.

when the world is falling apart…

Mandy reminds us at Life. Faithful. that God is in control, even when we look around at a world that seems to be falling apart.

When you look around, what do you see?Do you see a world that’s falling apart? One where it seems like the “bad guys” are always winning? One where people have shunned God, His commands, and His values?
People have turned God’ word upside down. They are calling right wrong and wrong right. The created have turned their backs on the Creator, attempting to drag His name through the mud in order to excuse their own bad behavior and poor choices.

Help bring the Wingfeather Saga to the Screen!

In case you missed it, our friend Andrew Peterson launched a Kickstarter this week to begin the process of turning his beloved Wingfeather Saga into an animated series. I’m sure we’ll have more to tell you about it in the coming days, but here’s a chance to get in on an awesome project from the start.

Today is the day. After months of meetings, prayers, conversations, emails, and phone calls we’re officially launching the Kickstarter campaign to bring the Wingfeather Saga to the screen. Let me repeat myself: we’re going to make a serious run at animating—literally, “bringing to life”—all four books, the entirety of Janner, Kal, and Leeli’s story.
What?
YES.

Around the Warren

Of Quasars and Nebulae, Cabbages and Kids

Guest Katherine Shumate reminds us of the beauty in the ordinary.

I am pregnant with our fourth child. Our five-year-old daughter all but demanded, upon threat of secession, a baby sister instead of a third brother. But the grainy ultrasound revealed our coming son, miniaturely and precisely detailed, wiggling arms and legs at the very joy of having them.Within me, God is sculpting a delicate yet hardy human person using my body and diet as the raw materials. Humanity’s most astounding fusions of art and science do not approach the intricacy of this baby’s development. I’m not doing any of the artistic work—just providing the safe haven for its unfolding. But it struck me how easily we see far off, rare, enormous things as impressive and miraculous, while the close-to-home, “ordinary” things are overlooked as drab.

A Slugs and Bugs Conundrum

Helena Sorensen has a problem: she can’t quite figure out how to tell you everything she loves the new Slugs and Bugs album from our friend Randall Goodgame.

That’s where I’m stuck, searching for a place to begin.I could rave about Ben Shive’s brilliant production work. There are layers of interest in every song, little rhythmic and melodic and comic nuances that make each listen a treat.
I could talk about the fact that the songs are wildly sing-able. You can walk away from the album after onehearing and find yourself humming snatches of melodies. In my book, that’s huge.

Then there’s the humor. Count Dracula teaches us what it means to covet, and some of the members of the Society of Extraordinary Raccoons Society swing from the ceiling fans.

Something to Do with Your Kids

We’re entering the time of year when people who know what to do with their gardens begin doing those things (I’m not one of those people, so I shall speak in vague terms here). I know, generally, that some stuff starts indoors and starts early, and I’ve done lots of watching friends work with their kids to get a head start on the vegetable or flower garden. Here are a a few ideas for how to get your kids involved in this coming summer’s growth!