My favorite posts of 2011

As 2011 draws rapidly to a close, I find myself thinking about this past year at Imparting Grace. I can scarcely contain my gratitude to have been part of the blogging community this year! What joy I've derived from friendships with the wonderful people who are part of this blog--those who drop by occasionally, those who visit often, and those who read every post. I am reminded of the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "I am a part of all that I have met." Who would have ever believed that so many of us could meet in the blogosphere? What a blessing!

If you're interested in strolling down Memory Lane with me, here are a few of my favorite posts of the year.

Thoughts from a Blogging Mother


This Week in History



Long Days, Short Years


Lessons from a Fire Hydrant


My Inner Martha


To you, my blogging friends:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:3).

**What were some of your favorite moments in 2011?

Best of 2011

As this year draws to a close, I find myself grateful that the calendar is about to turn. My biggest memories from this year will definitely be my husband's open-heart surgery in April and his subsequent re-hospitalization in May, capped off by my son's emergency surgery in November. Whew! We're thankful that all of us are healthy here at the end of the year!

Of course this year has also included some fun memories, like my middle son's high school graduation and his going off to college. I think I've laughed more and cried more this year than ever before!

As I looked back over my posts for the year, though, I remembered that I did manage to complete some fun projects. Here are a few of my favorites:

No-Sew Faux Roman Shade

Table Transformation

Leaving a Red Dining Room Behind

Guest Room Update

What about you? Was 2011 a year of big accomplishments for you? What was your favorite project? I'd love to know!

I'm joining Rhoda's party at Southern Hospitality. She's been the best example of grace in 2011. Blessings, Rhoda!

Christmas haul

I can scarcely believe all I got for Christmas, but I'd like to share with you. The list is just too exciting to keep to myself! I got

Love

Peace

Joy

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-Control

Sound too good to be true? Well, I haven't received large portions of all of these yet. But this is what I'm getting. These are the things that are being given to me--the fruit of the Spirit of the Lord that lives within me--all because of the greatest gift ever given (Galatians 5:22).

Jesus.

The same gift was given to you, too. So even though the "big day" is over, we still celebrate Christmas.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

What did you get for Christmas?

Home for the Holy Days

Christmas is coming! Folks all over the world are preparing to celebrate what for many is the most wonderful time of the year. "Happy holidays!" we say, often forgetting that the very word holiday is derived from Old English words for "holy day."

With all the busy-ness of preparing for our Christmas celebrations, though, it can be easy for us to miss the awe-inspiring holiness of Christmastime. Many traditions are connected to Christmastime, but none more important than the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Here are a few things we do to keep our focus on Christ at Christmas.

Our Christmas decorations are centered in our living room, which is where most of my cross collection is found.

One of the first things we put out every year is this Nativity set. It's an inexpensive porcelain set we purchased when our sons were very small. These figures have moved with us five times, and so far nothing has broken. I like displaying it here by the crosses, commemorating both the birth and the death of Jesus.

Other Nativity scenes can be found in our decorations, too, like this primitive wooden one:

It's on display in our living room, too. If you look closely, you can see that the figures are hot-glued onto the stable floor. I don't remember when I did that; I'm sure it's when the boys were very young.

This year we added these Nativity candles from DaySpring; aren't they beautiful? (I read about these at Nesting Place and ordered them from DaySpring.com; I'm not sure if they're still available.)

When my boys were small, we read lots of Christmas books. The boys loved books about Santa and Rudolph, of course, but they also loved B is for Bethlehem, The Legend of the Candy Cane, and The Crippled Lamb. Whenever I read The Crippled Lamb, one of the boys would look at me as I turned each page--to see if I was crying yet. They knew what was coming! I still get these books out each Christmas, and I read them again myself.

One of the most important things we do to keep Christ first and foremost in our Christmas celebrations is to gather with our church family. Our church's assistant pastor, Chris Breslin, wrote a Advent devotional book this year, and he told me that I could share it with you. If you need a good Advent devotional, click here to download one free of charge. There's also a kids' Advent devotional book. I get to help plan our church's candlelight Christmas Eve service, which is one of the most meaningful services of the year.

What do you do to keep the focus on Christ at Christmastime? Link a post about your Christmas decor, traditions, favorite books--anything that's special to you. If you've written a a Christmas devotional, I'd love to read that, too! Be sure to link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. And please include a link to this party. (If you don't have a blog, feel free to link to a Facebook post or leave a comment describing your traditions--I'd love to hear from you!)

My favorite things

Melissa at 320 Sycamore is having her annual "My Favorite Things" party today. It's such fun to see what people like!

Now that winter's here, my skin care favorites are even more important than they are in summertime. I swear by two products, both very affordable and both made by Olay:

images courtesy of Olay.com

Want pretty skin? You need to do two things: moisturize and protect. And you don't have to spend a foturne. The body wash with shea butter is the most moisturizing, nourishing product I've ever tried. And Olay Complete moisturizer is a fantastic sun block as well as moisturizer. I have no affiliation with Olay, but I use these great products all the time.

image courtesy Google.com

As much as I love reading blogs, at Christmastime I like to have real books in my hands, and the Southern Living books have always been among my favorites. Lately I've enjoyed pulling out my old copies. I have Christmas with Southern Living 1985, which is from the year I got married. Now I've started looking for copies from the years my sons were born. It's such fun to see what was fashionable during those important times in my life!

image courtesy sncmusic.com

One of my favorite things to do during December is to listen to music. Two years ago, my guys and I saw Straight No Chaser live at Christmastime. Now it's an annual tradition for us! We'll see them in concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, this Saturday, December 17. They always put on a great show.

Lastly, my favorite thing to do in December is to reflect on the most precious gift ever given: the gift of God's son. In fact, I'm having a party on Monday, December 19, to celebrate ways to mark the occasion. I'd love for you to join me here for "Home for the Holy Days."

So what are your favorite things? I'd love to know!

My inner Martha

"I'm no Martha," we say, "but look what I made!" Or, if we really want to compliment someone, we'll exclaim, "You're a regular Martha!" or "Martha would be proud!"

Surely Martha Stewart is to be congratulated for inspiring and empowering women to embrace the domestic arts. Thousands upon thousands of us look to her for ideas and inspiration.

In the midst of all my efforts as a wannabe Martha, though, I was reminded of another Martha--the Martha who must certainly have been a homemaker par excellence, and a wonderful, faithful woman into the bargain. Martha of Bethany, friend of Jesus, busied herself and bustled around to make her home welcoming to Jesus. What a great woman! Her sister Mary, on the other hand, seems to have languished a bit when it came to homemaking, preferring to sit and listen to Jesus talk and leave the lion's share of the work to Martha.

Truth be told, I've always felt a lot of sympathy for Martha.

And I think Jesus probably felt a good bit of sympathy for Martha, too. Martha must have felt awfully comfortable with Jesus to be able to voice her concerns to him. Luke 10 tells us that Martha said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me!"

She was right, wasn't she? There was work to be done. Jesus needed a meal, and that meal wasn't going to prepare itself. Many hands make light work, Mary. Chop chop.


Jesus's answer is very tender, but it gets right to the root of the problem. "Martha, Martha," he says, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her."

Ouch.

Quite frankly, I want to be a Martha. I want to have cool projects to blog about. I want people to ooh and ahh over my creations.

Let's be honest: Mary doesn't produce page views. She doesn't get retweeted. Her hanging out with Jesus doesn't produce pictures that will be pinned to Pinterest.

Yet Mary is the one who has chosen the better part. Even at a busy time, she chooses to spend time with Jesus, and the Lord of Lords says that she has her priorities straight.

And so, this Christmas season, while I really want to be a Martha, I'm going to try to be more of a Mary. Maybe, just maybe, I need a little less Christmas--

and a little more Christ.

I'm grateful to be called back to what's important by sharing Tuesdays Unwrapped with Emily at Chatting at the Sky. And I'm joyfully joining Amanda at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading.

Christmas house tour

A Christmas tour of homes is one of my favorite things. I'm glad to welcome you to our house.

We're all ready for a blanket of snow!

Our front porch is our outdoor living room. The decorations here are simple but festive.

Now the front door is open wide--come in!

To the left of the front door is my husband's study.

Here is the stone fireplace that you see on the front of the house. I love the stacked stone, and I keep the decor very simple here.

Back to the foyer, where magnolia leaves and poinsettias take the spotlight.

This is the first year we've had a blue dining room. I like the way the blue walls work with our traditional red and green Christmas decor.

The front windows are hard to photograph because of the light, but here's a glimpse of the window decorations. I made the swags from boxwood and magnolia cuttings from our yard, then added ornaments strung on lengths of ribbon. These I simply stapled to the top of the window frame.

The primitive sideboard holds an angel and the Christmas carol plaque I created last year plus some pretty satin-finish ornaments.

Every year I display these Lenox "Trees Around the World" plates on my mother's china cabinet. The plates are from 1991, 1993, and 1997--the years my sons were born. These were their Christmas gifts from me those years.

My mother's tea table in the corner gets a little Christmas cheer, too. I love to display white lilies and Christmas greenery in this lovely pitcher my husband gave me for Christmas two years ago. A bit of ribbon dresses up plain red candles.

The living room is the site of our Christmas tree, which is still a work in process. I'll share that later this week. The living room fireplace is the one we gather 'round for Christmas morning, so it's where our stockings hang.

The topiaries are simple to make--you can see the tutorial here.

Cocoa and Snickers like to sit by the fire, too. It's not often that they'll share this chair!

Next stop on the tour: the kitchen.

The window over the sink usually wears a faux Roman shade, but it's sporting a festive garland and a homemade "NOEL" for Christmastime.

I like a Christmas centerpiece on the island, but any decoration must be non-fragile and must leave lots of workspace. The antique wrapping paper holder and scale fill the bill.

The kitchen table centerpiece is a LEGO creation of my youngest son, who is known on YouTube as LegoLee329.

Click here if you'd like to see more of my kitchen.

And our last stop is the screened porch, which is two stories above the ground. It feels a bit like a treehouse.

Click here if you'd like to read more about my porches.

Thank you for joining me for a Christmas tour of my home!

SPECIAL NOTE: Next Monday, December 19, I'll be hosting a linky party called "Home for the Holy Days." It'll be a chance to share ideas and inspiration for keeping the emphasis on Christ this Christmas. You can read all about it here. I'd love for you to join me!

I'm joining these tours:

Holiday House Tour at Hooked on Houses

Christmas Home Tour at The Inspired Room

Christmas Tour of Homes at Nesting Place

Holly Bloggy Christmas Home Tour at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner