We had a few days of really great weather this week. My windows opened, my cats basked in the sunshine, I basked in the sunshine. And tomorrow will be cold and rainy again. But the tease of spring is a reminder that resurrection is coming.

Around the Web

Big Picture Parenting

Shea Patrick looks at anchoring truths in the midst of parenting.

• Lately, it seems I am often at wit’s end in my parenting. We have five children in the home between the ages of 8 and 13, and many days it is a struggle to keep my head above water. In the midst of this chaos, I have found that an understanding of covenant theology—the big picture of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to His children— provides real gospel hope for parents just like me.
  These three specific truths have anchored my mind and heart:
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The Lost Art Mysteries–Heist Thrillers for Middle-Grade Readers

Carolyn Leiloglou recommends some adventurous books. 

• Readers have asked me for more adventurous books that boys would like, and I think the Lost Art Mysteries series by Deron R. Hicks fits the bill. Boys and girls alike will be pulled into these fast-paced novels that read like a spy thrillers. They’ll be so engaged they won’t mind learning a little bit about art along the way. Maybe they’ll even ask to visit an art museum after reading these! (Let me know if they do!)
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What Happens in Your Child’s Brain When You Read Aloud

Sarah Mackenzie at Read Aloud Revival breaks down what’s really going on.

• Ready to dive into a little brain science? Today, we’re discovering what happens in your child’s brain when you read aloud.
  This is probably not a surprise, but… A LOT is happening.
  Dr. John Hutton of the Reading and Literacy Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is joining me to break this down. 
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Little Seeds that Split Great Rocks

Tim Challies addresses division and dispute with an apt metaphor.

• In the warmth of a Canadian summer, in the reaches of a distant forest, a maple seed falls from the sky. This seed, called a samara, is a masterpiece of design that looks and behaves much like the blades of a tiny helicopter. As it falls through the air it spins, and this spinning action generates lift, and this lift keeps it aloft long enough to fall far from the smothering shade of its parent tree. As that seed helicopters down, a gentle breeze nudges it so it lands upon a nearby outcropping of rock. For a day or two it lays there, exposed to sun and rain, until a sudden gust of wind pushes it into a tiny fissure. 
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Around the Warren

Driving East

Glenn McCarty remembers every morning that no matter how dark the night, the sun will rise.

• I’ve been fortunate the past ten years or so since I started teaching in Bloomfield, New York, my morning commute takes me essentially due east. So, for the first few months of the year and the last few months – those which bookend all those jet-black, western New York mornings after daylight savings time – I’m driving into the sunrise. 
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Sharing Family Stories

Taryn Frazier defines (and recommends) some great family stories.

• After a year of living very near to my nearest and dearest, I sometimes feel as if the nuclear unit gets a bit radioactive. My gang gets bogged down by the sameness of COVID life, our family feuds looping like gifs.
  Parents and caregivers haven’t had the same access to our social networks or supportive institutions like school and church, so we’ve borne the weight ourselves. But man was not meant to be alone–we learned that at the beginning–and “every man to his own tent” was not an ideal Biblical situation either. 
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Something to Do with Your Kids

If you’ve observed Lent in past years, you’ve likely already started your traditions. However, if Lent is something new to you and you still want to be intentional during this season, there are some great family resources in the New City Church Lent Project. 

Something to Watch

This lovely poetry film of Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things” is worth watching—and maybe memorizing.

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

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Carolyn Clare Givens

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.

Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)

• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 32 - September 30, 2023
• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 31 - September 23, 2023
• The Warren & The World Vol 11, Issue 30 - September 16, 2023