Living Unabridged

I hope your December is filled with good things. Ours has been. There are lots of great things going on this weekend but the most exciting for us is...(drumroll) our oldest daughter turns fourteen tomorrow. Yes, that means we have made it through Teenage Year 1.

There are definitely some new challenges that come with parenting a teen, but fortunately for us, she is helping us figure it out as we go along. She's basically the best teenager I've ever met, so we are definitely spoiled.

Much harder than raising her is realizing that Philip and I will have at least one (and usually more) teenager to raise for the next nineteen years. {Prayers appreciated}

And on that note, on with the links for this week!

Learning

• Old Books > New Books by Lance Schaubert at Writer UnBoxed.
• 4 Simple Responses to Science Based Atheism by Samuel James for TGC. Some tools for our students' apologetics tool boxes.
• Books for Word Lovers by Heidi at Mt. Hope Chronicles. I hadn't heard of most of these and I think my family of word lovers would enjoy them.
• To End Campus Tantrums, Treat Young People Like Adults by Maria Thielman at The Federalist. In addition to the advice, this is also an interesting look at dual or early college enrollment.

Living

• How We Instagrammed Away Our Feelings by Andie Roeder Moody at her*meneutics. Social media is a fact of life. But what are the consequences and how do we deal with those consequences?
• Parents, It's Time to Realize Big Government is Your Enemy by Joy Pullmann at The Federalist. Scary stuff, but it is happening and we do need to be informed.
• You Don't Need a Date Night by Tim Challies. I think Challies has taken some heat for this one but I am going to agree with him: you don't NEED a date night. I want them and I appreciate them when they happen (and I have to admit that after tonight we'll have had not one, but two this week) but when we enjoy our spouse's time no matter what we're doing Date Night loses its do or die quality. If you are in a season of life where Date Night can't happen (and we have survived several of those), do not despair. Your marriage is NOT doomed. Enjoy the moments that you have (and maybe put the kids to bed earlier...).
• Sexed-Up Children's Toys: Nothing is Sacred, Even Candyland by Amy Graff. I've noticed this too, and it's yet another point in favor of searching yard sales and thrift stores for our kids' toys.
• On Advent and Christmas Traditions: Don't Be the White Witch by Brandy at Afterthoughts. I l {heart} this post very much. Let's not be so hung up on what other people do or what we think we SHOULD do. But yes, let's have traditions. (How our family handles this: after Thanksgiving we made a list of things we want to do, see, watch, read, make, or eat in December. Each family member able to talk has input. That way we don't get to January second and have someone wail, "But we didn't make Oreo Bark! We're supposed to ALWAYS make Oreo Bark.") I do feel like I should say that our religious convictions mean we do NOT observe Advent, as such (or any liturgical calendar through the year). But we do appreciate the Advent of Christ. (Hope that makes sense.)

Loving

• When it Comes to Donald Trump, I Hate Everyone by Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist. YES. (I may have had to leave the room in the past couple of weeks when I was at an event where someone started talking about "how Donald Trump speaks for us." It was leave the room or deck someone.)
• Immanuel: Is God Still With Us? by Max Lucado in CT. Lovely reminder.
• Ships Under Financial District from Found SF. There are more than 70 ships buried under San Francisco. This post has pictures and explains how and why.
• Meet King Bansah: Part-Time Monarch, Full-Time Auto Mechanic by Mirka Laura Severa. Fascinating pictures and story.
• Of course I can't let this weekend go by without sharing some Star Wars posts. Here are two (No spoilers!): The Secret to Star Wars' Staying Power by Will Collier and Chewie, We're Not Home by Varad Mehta both for The Federalist. The second post is longer but also more thought-provoking. I'd recommend the first to those of you wondering, "What's the big deal?!" and the second to those of us who know why it's a big deal but are wrestling with the implications.
• I am definitely going to watch this: All of Dickens' Best Characters in One Series. (Really hoping Pancks from Little Dorrit and Guppy from Bleak House show up, or at least the actors who played them.) Dickens wrote so many memorable characters my only concern is who they might have to leave out.

From Living Unabridged:

• Blogging has taken a back burner to everything else going on right now but I did share a list of Christmas Playlist Substitutions.

Last year:

• My most popular post ever was published one year ago: 4 Things Children Don't Need.

What caught your eye this week? (Feel free to leave links to your own link round-ups, too!)

Posting may be light over the next couple of weeks. Just in case I don't post again: I wish you a Very Merry Christmas! (And you can still find me around Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.)