Story Warren

Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation

The Warren & the World Vol 8, Issue 40

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I was in a conversation today on grief and trauma in which various members reminded the rest of us that this year has been traumatic for all of us. We’re all living lives that are somehow different than they were before, and the grief over what we’ve lost is real. As we turn toward the end of the year and begin to make complicated decisions about holiday visits with family, I pray that each of you feels held by the One who created you. 

Around the Web

Thank You, C. S. Lewis

I mean, did you expect me to pass up a lovely piece with that title? Hayley’s reflection is a sweet reminder of all that Jack has given us.

  • This morning, doing devotions, I was reflecting on the resurrection. The phrase Deeper magic, before the dawn of time drifted unbidden into my reflections.
    I smiled as other images and words rushed after it. A great emperor beyond the sea. Dawn. A cracked stone. Mice. Two joyful British girls playing tag with a mighty golden lion.
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Hutchmoot: Homebound Archive Access Extended

Did you miss getting a ticket to Hutchmoot: Homebound? Never fear, our Our friends at The Rabbit Room have kept registration and access open for several more weeks! Many of us here at Story Warren joined in last weekend and friends – this is a delight. There is a whole Playroom for kids to enjoy teatime poetry with some of our favorite authors, music from artists featured here at SW, and sessions and content for grown-ups from SW contributors S.D. Smith, Sally Clarkson, James Witmer, and more! This might be the best $20 you spend all year. We hope you can join in the fun.

  • We’re not ready for the fun to end. So we are extending archive access for Hutchmoot: Homebound 2020 until November 15th—for everyone.
    This means that even if you missed the October 11th deadline for registration, you can still access the entire archive for $20. And if you were already registered, you don’t have to do anything. The archive will simply stay open.
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Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

Janie at Redeemed Reader recommends this middle grade novel in verse.

  • Jacqueline Woodson’s poignant verse novel explores the cost of professional athletics to some families.
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Two Truths & A Lie About Family Devotions

Courtney Doctor demystifies that complicated exercise of family devotions.

  • When my oldest two children were little, we were invited to a family’s house for a meal after church one Sunday. This family were leaders in our church and life-long Christians. As a young, new believer, I was intimidated just to go to their house, but even more so when I learned they had family devotions around the table at the end of each meal. I pictured all of their children sitting quietly around the table, with their hands folded nicely in their laps, listening intently to their father read long passages in the Bible. I wasn’t very far off in my imaginings and observing this “perfect” family read the Bible together created two things in me—the thought that this is what “super-Christians” do and the simultaneous feeling of, “I could never do this.” 
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Around the Warren

While We Dust, They Dream

Lesley Gore catches snapshots through the windows.

  • Sometimes, if my camera is not nearby, I take a mental snapshot in the hope I might remember.
    Through the Point d’Esprit lace of my bedroom window curtains, I could see them, four stair-step children hauling our biggest Radio Flyer wagon to the pasture behind the house. Our oldest son was lugging the wagon by its handle, and hunched around the sides and the back were his two younger sisters and his little brother, helping him push the wagon with all the elementary-sized strength they could muster.https://storywarren.com/while-we-dust/

Jennifer Trafton’s Henry and the Chalk Dragon

We’re celebrating the audiobook release of Henry and the Chalk Dragon with a repost of Laura Peterson’s excellent review.

  • It’s not often that I read an entire book in just one or two sittings, but that’s exactly what I did earlier this week with Jennifer Trafton’s eagerly-anticipated new novel, Henry and the Chalk Dragon. 
    Friends of Story Warren might know Trafton from her earlier book, The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, or her awesome creative writing classes for kids, or her contribution to the Wingfeather Tales collection. Knowing and loving all those things as I do, I was thrilled to sit down with Henry and the Chalk Dragon and jump into more of Trafton’s writing.
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Something to Do with Your Kids

Sometimes it’s more fun to color something you’ve created than it is to just get something out of a book. Try some of these ideas!

Something to Watch

Olive and Mabel are trying to find a way to help around the house.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

-The Story Warren Team

Carolyn Clare Givens
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