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 God Who Sees Me
Over at Letters to My Littles, there’s a piece on the comfort of God’s presence in the midst of anxiety.
- The tears flowed freely as I read her article, one of the finest pieces on postpartum anxiety I’ve ever found. She knows me, I thought. I’m not alone.
But the revelation failed to bring the comfort of solidarity, for in this arena, I don’t want to be known. I never asked for membership to this club, much less a spot on the board of directors.
I’m tired of anxiety.
Make Me a Footnote
Paul Borthwick writes on the blessing of being a small part of someone else’s story.
- More than a half dozen years ago, a friend called me with some exciting news. He wanted me to know that I was cited in a book listed on the New York Times best-seller list! I pretended to act suave and unaffected, but after his call, I immediately went looking for the book at the bookstore. I dug and dug through the book, and couldn’t find anything – so I called my friend back.
He told me to look at a certain page. I found the page, and he said, “Do you see the first footnote?” I found the tiny little “1” buried in the text. He said, “Now look at the back.” So, I flipped to the endnotes. Sure enough, there I was – listed in the endnotes in font so small I could hardly read it.
Mystery Book List for Elementary, Tweens, and Teens!
Redeemed Reader has a great booklist of mystery stories for every age.
- Calling all mystery lovers!
Mystery book list for all ages! Whether or not you’re planning to see Murder on the Orient Express this month, you likely have a mystery fan in the house. What can they read when they’ve exhausted the library’s stash of Boxcar Children, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys?
Cheers to an ordinary motherhood
Rachel writes at Finding Joy encouraging the ordinary.
- I have a closet full of clothes.
I’ll stand in it, look at the options, turn to the right and grab my black yoga pants. The ones I wore yesterday and probably several times last week. I’ll mull over a different shirt, but grab the black teeshirt that I love that I paid $12 for at Old Navy this summer.
Someday I’ll wear those clothes.
That’s what I tell myself. But, not today, today I choose what I love.
It’s kind of ordinary.
Around the Warren
What’s in a Name?
Tyler Leland writes about the importance of a name.
- “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
What a genius introduction to a flawed character. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader bluntly reveals the character of Eustace Scrubb before he even has a chance to defend himself.
Names define who we are. C.S. Lewis knew it. We know it. And the Creator of names definitely knows it. From the very beginning, God gave mankind identifiers.
Forever You Instructs and Delights
Loren Eaton recommends the fun of learning in Forever You.
- A couple years ago, I read an op-ed in the paper where the author bemoaned how toy manufacturers always marketed their products as “educational.” Nowadays, it seems as if every dolly and digger needs some sort of salubrious rationale before a kid can play with it. What’s the problem with simply having fun? the author wondered. I share his concern, particularly when it comes to children’s publishing. When browsing for something to read to my kids, I have a hard finding much of anything that doesn’t bow to the educational impulse. There’s nothing wrong with learning, but I want them to enjoy the written word in and of itself.
Something to Do with Your Kids
Sometimes, you just need to get messy. Here are some suggestions of ways to do so indoors!
And Something to Watch
A friend of mine tells me that Demel’s in Vienna, Austria has excellent apfelstrudel. Since I’ve only spent about an hour in the train station in Vienna, I’ll have to trust her. But for now, I’ll certainly admit that it’s fun to watch them make it!
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
Carolyn Clare Givens is displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her two literary cats, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. She's the author of The King's Messenger and Rosefire and in her free time helps run Bandersnatch Books.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
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