Hello, Readers! Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely and your Christmas preparations are going well. As for us: we haven't bought one gift yet. Not one. And it isn't because we don't have much to buy: our list is so long we have to put it in tiny font to fit on one printable page.

Well, anyway, it looks like that won't happen until early next week at this point, so on to the links (I've collected quite a few for you, since there was no links post last week - hooray! Double the links!):

Learning

Writing

• The ABCs of Writing by Edie Melson for Novel Rocket.
• The Trouble with Frosting by Therese Walsh for Writer UnBoxed.
• Plotting the Non-Plot-Driven Novel by Donald Maass for Writer UnBoxed.

Living

• Ten Things I've Learned in Thirty Years of Marriage by Theresa Kiihn for The Federalist.
• God's Word and Our Words by Jeff Robinson. Convicting!
• Five Points for Parents Who Want to Pass On the Faith: Keving DeYoung reviews Families and Faith by Vern Bengtson.
• When Dad Doesn't Disciple the Kids by Jen Wilkin. This reminds me, yet again, of how thankful I am for a husband who cares about the spiritual welfare of our children.
• Socialization...for Moms by Amida for Simple Homeschool. Yes, kids make "friends" relatively easily, but what about Mom?
• Stockpiling Treasures in My Junk Closet by Margot Starbuck for CT.

Loving

Christmas

• The Peculiar Grammar of Christmas Songs by Arika Okrent for Slate. "Troll the ancient yuletide carol"? Yes.
• Advent Purists Sound Like the Grinch by Rachel Lu for The Federalist. Full Disclosure: my faith tradition does not follow a liturgical calendar, including Advent, and really, no one is actually sure when Jesus was born - I've heard arguments for spring, fall, and there are some who hold out for December, notably the writing team Brock and Bodie Thoene - so I celebrate Christmas more as a cultural holiday, with the added benefit and blessing of most of our country actually talking - and singing - about my beloved Saviour. I'll take it. Let's not shoot ourselves in the foot over this.
• "Do They Know It's Christmas" is the Worst Christmas Song Ever by Leslie Loftis for The Federalist. A worthy challenger, to be sure. You can see my Top 10 Worst Christmas Songs in this old post. I also once made a list of 19+ Christmas Playlist Substitutions just in case your Christmas playlist is feeling stale.
• 10 Classic Toys Every Child (And His Parents) Wants for Christmas by Joy Pullmann. They call them "classic" for a reason.
• 5 Reasons for Musicians and Church Leaders to Love Caroling the Story by Keith Getty. So many of our beloved carols are theologically and doctrinally rich if you sing all the verses.
• 11 Christmas Books Everyone Should Read by Brian Phillips for CiRCE Institute.

Everything Else

• No, I Won't Pray for You by Tim Challies. Bold, but deals with something I've been thinking about.
• Body Talk: Beyond the Tween Abstinence Lecture by Liuan Huska in CT. Yes! There is so much more to tell our children than just, "DON'T".
• Where's Your Happiness? by Shane Barnard at TGC.
• 'My Work is More Important Than Yours,' So We All Say by Bethany Jenkins for TGC.
• The Real Reason Young Adults Drop Out of Church by Ed Stetzer for CT. The last paragraph is pure gold.
• Celebrating Bad Food: An Interview with Christopher Kimball by Ben Domenech. It's a long piece, but it's fascinating.
• The Anti-Hustle from Sarah Writes. (H/T: Mystie.)
• Made me laugh (and yes, I've seen some of these before, but it still made me laugh): 24 Kids Who Are Wise Beyond Their Years from Buzzfeed.

Here at Living Unabridged I reviewed Small Talk, I was reminded of the Surprising Benefits of Saying No, and I shared our 5 Favorite Christmas Books.

What did you find around the web this week?

Linking up with: