A Pillar of Salt: TM Suffield warns us of nostalgia during Christmas season, “Advent tells me that my idea of Christmas is manufactured nostalgia, a good portion of which is created by people who want to sell me things. They don’t want me to be satisfied, or to learn to wait, or to wrestle the darkness—they want me just the right sort of sad to buy more things.”

The Middle Years: Melissa Edgington begins her reflection on mid-life, “These days I feel a little as if I’m grieving for a younger me. I look in the mirror, and I contend with the greying hair and the imperfections that come with age, always shocked to remember that my neckline sags in the way of grandmothers and old great aunts. I have come to middle age, and I must say that it’s a difficult stop on this journey of being a woman.”

7 in 10 Women Who Have Had an Abortion Identify as Christian: This is an eye-opening report that ought to remind us that we need to care not just for the unborn, but for those who have to navigate the tragic decision of abortion. We need to be vulnerable places of care and support. The findings state, “For half of those regular churchgoers (52%), they still haven’t told anyone at their church about their abortion. Less than 2 in 5 (38%) say someone at their church knows they had an abortion. Women likely haven’t told people at their church because most don’t see the church or the people there as safe and feel they will be judged, not loved.”

Our Dog’s Annual Performance Review: Caroline O’Donoghue’s article had me cracking up. “You are a terrible employee. But you’re a very, very good girl.”

Sexual Abuse, Sexual Brokenness, and the Gospel: Preston Sprinkle interviews Jay Stringer on his podcast “Theology in the Raw.” Stringer shares his findings in his book Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing. The book shares significant research that reveals the key drivers of unwanted sexual behavior: from pornography to infidelity.