I’m home again, complete with a cat on my lap who has tucked her paws into my armpit. I’m not sure why Harriet Vane does this, but it makes me laugh every time.

Around the Web

How to Hear from God: If You Want a Daily Encounter with God

Ann Voskamp points to our communicative God.

• To be raw honest,  I have fallen deeper than I have ever known.
  Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go quite like this.
  But we just have breathed through all of this whole season. What’s going like anybody thought it would?
  Sure, the news and social media streams are all screaming first thing, day after day, trying to prove who’s telling the truth about the real state of things, trying to convince which way is right through a myriad of messes.
  Sure, we’ve got personal pain, unspoken broken, that’s only been exacerbated a thousandfold during a global pandemic and devastating lockdowns. 
  And, in the middle of everything, like Jonathan Edwards said: God is a communicative being. 
  Read more

Picture Book Roundup: Ordinary Wonders

Our friends at Redeemed Reader have another Picture Book Roundup for us!

• The Night Walk, The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures, and The Lost Package focus on simple pleasures and everyday services we take for granted.
  Read more

Kindness: More than Just a Random Act

Janie at Redeemed Reader recommends a middle grade graphic novel.

• Mary Kassian writes at Risen Motherhood with wisdom on how to be and teach kindness.
  Read more

Using a Literature Approach to Teach Early American History

Emily at Table Life Blog explains the Beautiful Feet Books’ approach to teaching history. She’s writing about homeschooling, but you can explore the literature whether you homeschool or not.

• Are you planning to study the beginnings of the United States in your homeschool? Here’s how Beautiful Feet Books’ literature approach to early American history can spark curiosity for your kids and help them engage with history in a meaningful way.
  Read more

Around the Warren

Make Believe Makes Believers

S.D. Smith writes about the beautiful reality of make believe.

• My son plays happily. He flits easily between two worlds: the world that is and the world he imagines. His conversation assumes the extraordinary. His play is an adventure in make believe.
  How like faith.
  Read more

The Ice Cream Truck at Midnight

Ken Priebe shares a snippet from his new book, The Ice Cream Truck at Midnight.

• We hear the owl call around midnight. That’s how we know it’s here.
  I remember well the first night it arrived. I was up late with a spinning mind that wouldn’t let me sleep. That particular summer day had been a rough one for my family. I lay in bed, looking at the shadows on my ceiling, trying to figure out if the pattern created by my nightstand lamp looked more like a crane or a snake.
  Read more

Something to Do with Your Kids

Have you ever tried process art with your family? This post explains what it is and why it’s valuable.

Something to Watch

Dude Perfect airplane trick shots? Yes, please.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

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Carolyn Clare Givens

Carolyn Clare Givens is a displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her literary cat, Lord Peter Wimsey. 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.

Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)

• Beauty for All - January 5, 2026
• The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 38 - October 11, 2025
• The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 37 - October 4, 2025