Story Warren

Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation

The Warren & the World Vol 8, Issue 31

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It’s been a week of re-reads for me–finding some old favorite books again and tucking into them all over. Just today I listened to a friend read a chapter from Anne of Green Gables on Facebook. Sometimes you just need to discover your favorites all over again.

Around the Web

Daphne’s Favorite Graphic Novels for Kids

Need a recommendation for some good graphic novels? Who better than a 10-year-old to give them.

  • This was going to be a summer reading post, but since summer is almost over, this is an anytime reading post, perfect for kids who are already fans of graphic novels as well as those who are new to them.
    It is always a great time for finding a new series of fun books to read!
    Jean’s daughter Daphne (age 10) LOVES graphic novels and is here to share why your kids might like them too, along with some of her favorites.
    Read more

Brave Words with a Broken Heart

Justin Taylor reminds us of Paul’s unusual boldness.

  • Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love. —John Stott
    John Piper has tried to capture this reality with the term “brokenhearted boldness.” The word boldness is self-evident, connoting truth and confidence and courage and strength. The word brokenhearted is not quite as obvious. It refers to a spirit of contrition, trembling, sympathy, and gentleness. People who are “brokenhearted” put on “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12).
    Read more

Gardening 101: Fallow Time

Adam Whipple reminds us of the importance of fallow time.

  • Our backyard is surrounded by blessed groves. There’s a black maple directly behind the house, standing virtually alone in the path of the west wind. A couple of teenaged walnut trees toss their tennis ball fruits to the ground with slack-armed irregularity. At the south end, near “The Swamp,” green ash and cottonwoods spear the airspace, vying for sunlight. Storm-beaten in my neighbor’s yard, venerable poplars and oaks rain down the leathery opacity of their leaf litter. I collect all of it, every scrap of autumn-shed habiliment from these disrobing hardwoods.
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The Most Important Lesson Parents Teach

Melissa Kruger reminds us that the most important lessons are not the ones we tend to focus on.

  • Motherhood is joyful but daunting. We never feel like an expert because the subject keeps changing. Just when we know how to parent a toddler, it’s time for elementary school. Once we’ve gotten tweens figured out, we’re parenting teens—and then, all of the sudden, we’re waving goodbye as they head off to college. As we go through each stage, we’re bombarded with a list of advice and things we need to “make sure” to do so our children succeed.
    Read more

Around the Warren

Back Row Heroes

John Sommer explores good work without recognition

  • “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
    C.S. Lewis
    There are moments when someone slaps us on the back and says “good job.” There are times that a smiling person sincerely says, “Thank you”. There are occasions when we are awarded or even honored, but there are many more occasions when nothing is said and no one notices. For the thousands of peoples that are recognized and given their few minutes in the lime-light, there are billions of people that go about their everyday lives doing their duties with no one ever noticing them in any extra special way. 
    Read more

New Graphic Novel: When Stars are Scattered

Laura Peterson recommends a new graphic novel.

  • “For me, the first years are lost.”
     Golly, that’s a great opening sentence, isn’t it? After reading it on the first page of the new middle-grade graphic novel, When Stars are Scattered, I immediately had questions. The first years of what? Why were they lost? The only solution: keep reading. The answers that unfold on the subsequent pages are both difficult and beautiful. Award-winning novelist Victoria Jamieson collaborated on this memoir with Omar Mohamed, who spent his childhood with his brother Hassan in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. 
    Read more

Something to Do with Your Kids

Looking to make the most of the final days of summer? Check out these family activities for the month of August!

Something to Watch

I mean, a Sandra Boynton cat singing melodramatically in French, accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma? There is nothing wrong with this prospect.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

-The Story Warren Team

Carolyn Clare Givens
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