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
Decluttering And Simplifying Your Way To Hell
Joshua Gibbs explores the value of a cluttered mind at the Circe Institute blog.
- We need our homes. But we have things, and our things need homes, too. Some of our things can stay with us, but we have so many things, all of our things will not fit in our homes. And so we have built little apartment complexes for our things which we call storage units. Many of our things live in nicer little homes than a great many human beings in the world.
The permission of silence
At finding joy, Rachel Marie Martin reminds us we have permission to be silent.
- I’ve craved silence as a mom.
Don’t we all? We live in constant movement, constant doing, constant noise.
Oh silence. I’ve written about it, joked about it, spoken in front of hundreds about just that – that silence, that stillness, that nothingness – that freedom.
Yet, today, I had that moment.
Complete silence.
Listen to me. It was total silence – like a scene from a movie where the hero is sitting in a room staring out the window and there isn’t a sound around.
How to Help Your Kids Understand the Bible
Sara Wallace walks us through ways to help kids dig into the Bible themselves.
- The best part about watching my firstborn learn to read was knowing he was well on his way to reading the Bible for himself. It was amazing to think God’s Word would be accessible to him.
But that was also an intimidating thought. Where to begin? It seemed overwhelming.
Get Kids Off Screen Time: 27 Favorite Audiobooks for Kids
At Imagination Soup, Melissa Taylor has a list of her favorite audiobooks for kids.
- Want to get your kids off of screen time and reading more? Try audiobooks! This list gives you ideas of favorite books perfect for families with kids of different ages and genders. These titles appeal to both boys and girls with different interests. Try audiobooks on family road trips, at home, while carpooling, or any time.
Around the Warren
Two Things for the Children to Remember
Lindsey Murphy reminds us of what it’s important to remember.
- A few years ago, I found myself sitting in the sanctuary of my church, wearing all black, mourning for the sudden and shocking death of a beloved man in our church family. This man had not only been a dear presence in my life in Birmingham, but had sung next to my daddy in the church choir in my home church in Memphis. His daughter babysat me, and his wife had sat at our table with my mother. It was the deepest blow of an already hard year.
As people filed in, the room became flooded with familiar faces, friends both new and old. My childhood piano teacher sat a few seats away from my childhood pastor. A few rows over sat some of my mother’s best friends that had prayed for me since the cradle. But there was one face in the group that I couldn’t name, but, for the life of me, I knew.
Book Review: Brambly Hedge
Sarah Clarkson reviews the Brambly Hedge books.
- When I think back to the favorite books of my childhood, books whose tang of atmosphere and illustration are still keen in my mind, one of the first I remember is the series of English country tales known as the Brambly Hedge books. These picture books were so intricately illustrated and vividly told that I remember them as if they were a place I visited, some small corner of earth that I explored. The author of these fine tales, Jill Barklem, spent years researching the customs, handcrafts, and traditional celebrations of the rural English countryside before she set to illustrating them in her own stories for children.
Something to Do with Your Kids
Here are some indoor games to help you celebrate the depths of a January winter.
And Something to Watch
If you are a Star Wars fan and a Hanson fan, this is for you. If not, well, go check out Hanson singing “Mmmbop” acoustic a couple of years ago and tell me you’re not a Hanson fan…and then watch this anyway, because it’s kinda hilarious.
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.
Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 30 - September 16, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 29 - September 2, 2023
- The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 28 - August 19, 2023
Leave a Reply