The Warren & the World Vol 5, Issue 41

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

The stories are true!

K.C. Ireton writes at Lancia Smith’s site on the flash, kairos, the lifting of the veil.

I stood in church, my brothers and sisters standing, too, all of us singing our praises. One song ended, another began, a song I have loved since we first started singing it three years ago.
Come broken and weary
Come battered and bruised
My Jesus makes all things new
All things new
The words washed over me as I sang, and toward the end, these words struck with particular force:
O hold on to the promise – The stories are true
And then—the flash.

Children’s Poets Your Kids Should Know (and will love!)

Erica at What Do We Do All Day has a book list of children’s poetry books.

There is something so joyous about reading poetry to my kids. Each poem, even the short one, is so full. Full of meaning, full of emotion, full of subtext, full of fun, full of thought. I never read poetry to my kids without smiling.

Jesus Wants Your Weakness

Charlene Nelson considers how suffering glorifies God.

Suffering has shown me that my strength is not in me.
The raging seas have made me cling to the rock of my salvation. I can say in full conviction, “If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought ‘My foot slips’ your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up (Psalm 94:17–18).”

Mothering a Rebellious Heart

Courtney Reissig posts at Risen Motherhood on the challenges of leading rebellious people–and children.

“I feel like I am talking to a brick wall”. It’s a statement I make nearly every week. I have four children, ages four and under (there is a set of twins in the mix). I ask them to pick up their toys, yet they keep playing. I ask them to share, instead they scream at each other. I tell them it’s time to read the Bible or do our catechism questions, instead I’m met with cries of protest or disdain. My words, commands, and correctives often fall on deaf ears. And I feel defeated.

Around the Warren

On the Incarnational Nature of Parenting

David Kern challenges parents to think incarnationally in their work of parenting.

My son, Coulter, is nine months old which means that he is discovering all kinds of miraculous little things. Just this week he has discovered that when he slams the cabinet doors against their frames they make a loud noise and that when he pulls mommy’s hair she makes a similarly loud noise. He has discovered clapping, and teeth grinding, and what it’s like to take an accidental gulp of bath water. He has discovered kissing. On the lips. And it’s the cutest thing in the world.
So, naturally I have been thinking a lot about how young children learn.

Light for a Loved Boy

S.D. Smith points us to a song by Andrew Peterson and the blessing he wrote his son.

You’ll Find Your Way by Andrew Peterson. As if the song weren’t enough, Andrew shares a portion of the letter he wrote to his son Asher as he turned 13. The song is for Asher and the letter is beautiful. It is just the sort of thing we at Story Warren love to see and share. It’s a blessing. An actual blessing.