During our honeymoon 31 years ago, while in Oxford England, Jenny and I spent a couple of hours at one of the most famous bookstores in England.

I remember the large oak table near the entryway which featured a number of classic novels for purchase.

I had been a lifelong devotee of the great theologian and writer John Henry Newman, and I had never read his novel Loss and Gain.

I had wanted to do so for years and so made my purchase and sat down three weeks later upon our return to the states to read it.

It is one of only a handful of books that I have read at one sitting, but it made an indelible impression upon me, his golden narrative catalyzed by a young man’s search for truth, which can be both exhilarating and painful.

The theme of loss and gain can sometimes define a year too.

I thought of that novel a couple of evenings ago when Jenny and I were discussing the final edits of our annual one-page Christmas letter which we share with a few family and friends.

In this calendar year, our family has lost no less than seven dear friends who were not only special to us but also particularly close to us at foundational hinge-moments in the various and changing chapters of our lives.

I had the privilege of speaking with Rachel Day Hughes, one of the leading actors in “I Heard the Bells.” A 2013 graduate of Liberty University, Rachel played the role of Fanny Longfellow, the beloved wife of Henry:

Paul: Can you tell us about your childhood and family?

Rachel: I was very blessed to grow up in a wonderful Christian home. My dad is a worship pastor and served at First Baptist Dallas. That’s the first church I remember. Then we moved on to serve in churches in Branson, Missouri, and then Richmond, Virginia. That’s where my family is now, where my dad is serving at North Run Baptist Church. God was so faithful to me throughout my childhood. I’m the oldest of three kids. My brother is three years younger than me, and he’s now an Air Force pilot. My sister is six years younger than me, and she’s a music teacher.

The Lord brought me to Liberty University, which is where I studied acting and received my degree and then went on to performance at Sight and Sound for a number of years.

Paul: How much of a role did music and acting play in your family? A lot of singing and instruments?

Rachel: Oh, I wish there were more instruments! There was a lot of music, a lot of theater, a lot of worship.

Even as the world recently welcomed its 8 billionth newest citizen, fertility across the globe is plummeting. And dramatically so.

Though many assume overpopulation is an issue, the opposite is actually true. Declining population is a more pressing issue. The United Nations tells us that the number of nations around the world actively developing policies to kickstart their national fertility has risen from 19 to 55 since 1986. Why? Because they realize more people are essential for a better way of living.

Fertility has taken a nosedive in the United States for well over a decade now, marked by an extremely concerning trend line. It is obvious to anyone. Logic does not get any more basic. You cannot sustain a nation that chooses not to create its next generation of citizens.

A major academic study appeared earlier this year in the Journal of Economic Perspectives exploring the reasons behind this precipitous decline in babies in the United States. These findings are extremely interesting and support the perspective we have taken at Focus on the Family, that personal values, and the culture that drives them, matter. This study was written jointly by highly respected demographers from the University of Maryland and Wellesley College. Two of the lead authors are research associates at the prestigious National Bureau of Economic Research, the leading intellectual community of economists and demographers in the U.S.