Thursday, January 28

Grace at Home No. 410


Hello, friends! I hope you're doing well here at the end of January. 

I'd like to tell you how I'm doing, if you'll permit me to do so with a photo:


That's a very happy new Grandma with her first grandson. I'm so grateful that I've been able to be with my daughter-in-law to help out after Jackson's birth.


And another photo: that's my grandson FaceTiming with his daddy, my oldest son, who is a U.S. Navy aviator and is currently deployed. It tears me up to be here holding this precious baby when I know my son can't be here. If you don't already appreciate the men and women of the armed forces, I ask you to reconsider. They and their families make really big sacrifices. 

I'm so grateful you're here today for the Grace at Home party, where we celebrate all the ways we make our homes places of grace! Here are some highlights from last week's party.

Want to embrace winter in your home decor? Paula from Sweet Pea will teach you step-by-step how to make these gorgeous frosted branches.


Want to decorate your house for Valentine's Day? Check out this darling garland created by Julie from My Wee Abode. She gives excellent detailed instructions for making your own.


If you're like me, you've been wanting to get more organized this year. Niky from The House on Silverado shows us how to make wheeled crates for organizing the pantry. What a great idea!
Need a new recipe for dinner? Take a look at this recipe for Chicken and Corn Gratin from Estelle at Homemade on a Weeknight.


Check this out: Lisa from Fresh Vintage by Lisa shows her winter mantle and offers a wonderful idea for easy scripture memorization. I love this!


And if you could use a voice of encouragement these days, you'll want to read this post from Dr. Michelle Bengtson. 


Thank you to everyone who linked up!

Now for today's party.  Here at the Grace at Home party, you can link up any post you've written that demonstrates how you're filling your own home with truth, goodness, and beauty. I invite you to link posts about
  • DIY projects
  • decorating
  • recipes
  • hospitality
  • homemaking tips
  • parenting
  • marriage
  • faith
  • self-care
  • soul care
Whatever you do to make your home a place of grace, I'd like to hear about it.  Here's what I ask of you.  Please include the permalink to your post, not your blog's home page.  Please let people know that you've linked up.  No more than three posts per person, please.  Note that if you link a post here, you are giving me permission to share your post, including a photo.  And visit at least one of the other party participants--that's what really makes it a party, and during these difficult times, it can really make someone's day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thursday, January 14

Grace at Home No. 409


What a week it's been, huh?

I'm guessing that many of us have watched more TV news during the past 10 months than ever before in our lives—and then in the past week, we've watched even more. Some of us have probably sworn off all news as a way to escape the difficulties going on in the U.S. capital. But however we've dealt with it, it's been a week when making our homes places of grace has been vital.

Here are some highlights last week's Grace at Home party I think you might enjoy.

If your house is looking at little bare after putting away your Christmas decorations, you might enjoy these winter decorating ideas from Carol at Blue Sky at Home.

One tip for bringing beauty into your home during the grey days of winter is to buy fresh flowers. But even grocery store flowers are pricy, right? MaryJo from MasterPieces of My Life shares some great ways to stretch those flowers and make them last!


A lot of us are trying to get our homes organized at the start of this new year, aren't we? If you're not quite sure where to start, you'll appreciate this post from Coco at The Crowned Goat.


If it's cold in your neck of the woods (and I think that covers most of us in January!), you'll be glad to get this hearty soup recipe from Marty at A Stroll Thru Life.


And if the weather prompts you to make hot soup for your family, you might also want to think about the feathered friends around your home. Jennifer of Satsuma Designs shows how to make a pine cone bird feeder that's sure to bring some song to your yard.

We all need to be caring for our souls during these difficult times. Tai from A Spirit Kissed Soul has created downloadable Daily Bible Meditation Care Cards that can be a big help!



If you're struggling to know how to pray during these crazy times, I've created a daily prayer guide that I'd love to give you.

A resource for praying during uncertain times

Thank you to everyone who joined last week's party! 

Now for today's party.  Here at the Grace at Home party, you can link up any post you've written that demonstrates how you're filling your own home with truth, goodness, and beauty. I invite you to link posts about
  • DIY projects
  • decorating
  • recipes
  • hospitality
  • homemaking tips
  • parenting
  • marriage
  • faith
  • self-care
  • soul care
Whatever you do to make your home a place of grace, I'd like to hear about it.  Here's what I ask of you.  Please include the permalink to your post, not your blog's home page.  Please let people know that you've linked up.  No more than three posts per person, please.  Note that if you link a post here, you are giving me permission to share your post, including a photo.  And visit at least one of the other party participants--that's what really makes it a party, and during these difficult times, it can really make someone's day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thursday, January 7

New Year, Same Old Need for Grace (and the Grace at Home party)


Oh, my friends.

Yesterday, January 6, was Epiphany. It may be that your tradition doesn't recognize Epiphany as a special day—I'd never heard of it until I was well into adulthood. 

Simply put, the feast of Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles. The particular event marked by many churches is the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. Of course, this didn't take place 12 days after Jesus was born, but having a special day to celebrate makes a lot of sense to me.

In other traditions, January 6 marks a celebration of the baptism of Jesus, particularly because it's the revelation of Jesus as God. (Remember that the heavens opened and God's voice was heard saying "This is my beloved Son"? Jesus was more than just the son of Mary and Joseph; he was the Son of God.)

But in the United States January 6 will now be remembered as the dreadful day that people—U.S. citizens—stormed the U.S. Capitol. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I don't talk about politics. I have opinions, of course, but I don't express those opinions online. I don't intend to change that policy.

Yet I cannot be silent today. This was terrible. These acts were treasonous, and I believe that committing them in the name of Jesus was blasphemy. Yet I don't think we can dismiss this as the action of "thugs." Sure,  many of the people who did this were thugs. But it appears that some were ordinary citizens who allowed themselves to be caught up in evil, who cooperated with evil, even though many of them felt that they had been tasked with saving the nation from evil. Make no mistake: their actions were inexcusable, and I am outraged at them, but my overwhelming feeling today is sadness. I am sad that people can be so easily led astray.

And so I want us to reclaim January 6 as Epiphany: a day when eyes are opened, when Jesus is revealed. 

I want us to remember that Jesus came not as a ruler flaunting his power, but as a helpless baby who grew up to live a life guided every moment by the Spirit, who taught us to love God and love one another, and who sacrificed his life in order to save us. I'm reminded today of the words of Philippians 2, who describes Jesus as one "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

My prayer is that our eyes will be opened to the truth of what Jesus did for us—that the eternal Son of God became a human being so that all humans can become sons and daughters of God. Our place in the family of God is not dependent upon anything on this earth. 


Friends, we live and work by the grace of God. Remember, grace is not just forgiveness; it's God at work in our lives. We woke up this morning in a world created by God. We breathe air provided by God. As the apostle Paul said to people in Athens, "God himself gives life and breath and everything else. . . . In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17). 

We live by the grace of God. We are tasked with growing in that grace. And we are privileged to reflect that grace to everyone around us. That's why I started the Grace at Home party years ago—to celebrate all the ways we try to make our homes places of grace. 

If y'all would like for me to continue to host this party, I'd be glad to do so. Please let me know. 

For now, here it is: a chance for you to link up any post you've written that demonstrate how you're filling your own home with truth, goodness, and beauty.
  • DIY projects
  • decorating
  • recipes
  • hospitality
  • homemaking tips
  • parenting
  • marriage
  • faith
  • self-care
  • soul care
Whatever you do to make your home a place of grace, I'd like to hear about it.  Here's what I ask of you.  Please include the permalink to your post, not your blog's home page.  Please let people know that you've linked up.  No more than three posts per person, please.  Note that if you link a post here, you are giving me permission to share your post, including a photo.  And visit at least one of the other party participants--that's what really makes it a party, and during these difficult times, it can really make someone's day!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter