A room for living

A few weeks ago I revealed my new blue dining room. Today I'd like to show you around one of the most-used rooms in my home: the living room.

Here's the closest I can get to a full-room shot:

To be honest, this is the trickiest room I've ever tried to furnish and decorate. It's large and full of light and has lots of nice features, but it also has three doorways to other rooms, two walls of built-ins, and one wall of French doors and windows. The only unbroken wall is way down at the end of the room, far from the fireplace and the television. How do you do space-planning for a room like this? I'll show you what I've done.

First, here's a look from the front door. You can see straight ahead into the living room.

Stepping into the living room, you can see the one unbroken wall to the left and the seating area to the right.

The back wall holds most of my collection of crosses. This collection started many years ago with an Easter gift from my husband. Since then, I've been given many different crosses by friends and members of my family. I've also collected special crosses from different places I've visited. I have crosses from Brazil, Canada, England, and France, as well as from lots of different cities in the United States. I love the constant reminders of Jesus as well as the beautiful works of art that people have made in His honor. My husband jokes that we should also be well-protected against vampires. He's so funny.

You can also see that I've created a little reading corner back there--a "thoughtful spot," as I like to call it.

Now for the rest of the room.

I've anchored the seating area with a rug. This is the "Medallion Kirman" from the Original Karastan collection. I love the colors. (By the way, I have no connection with Karastan rugs; I'm simply a big fan of them. If you're interested in buying a Karastan, you should know that two months of the year {May and October, I think} are special sale months for the company--they put all their rugs on sale half-price! I have several Karastan rugs, and I've bought them all for half-price or below half-price. Your retailer may offer special discounts in addition to the half-price sale.)

The living room is right next to the dining room, where the rug is Karastan's "Floral Kirman." Can you tell that the colors in the two rugs are identical?

The other end of the room includes the fireplace and the TV. I'm grateful that these are side-by-side. When we're not using the TV, we close the cabinet. The Flemish floral over the fireplace is pretty much a permanent fixture. I love the way the painting echoes the colors of the rug. And the little blue accent table by the club chair harks to the blue in the dining room.

The fourth side of the room is filled with built-in lighted bookcases. These are much like the lighted cupboards in the dining room.

Here you can see into the dining room on the left.

Looking the other way, you can see the dining room on the right and the kitchen straight ahead.

One of my favorite features is the way the bookcases are built into the walls and the doorways are framed out to make the walls look very thick. See?

In case you're wondering whether we really live in our "living room," I'll give you a peek under the coffee table.

A stepper, some hand weights, a foam roller, and a weighted ball. Not very pretty, but very handy for getting in a little exercise while watching TV!

Here's another look at the room in the late-afternoon light. I love the way the sunlight is filtered by the matchstick blinds and comes pouring in through the transoms.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! I'm joining these great parties:

Room by Room at Cottage and Vine

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Roomspiration Link-Up Party at View Along the Way

Open House at No Minimalist Here
Show Us Your Living Rooms at Kelly's Korner

This week in history: the good news

Three years ago this week, my 14-year-old son had major open-heart surgery. Twenty-six months ago this week, my husband had major open-heart surgery. And last week, my husband had a second major open-heart surgery.

Three years, three surgeries, three artificial heart valves. Mercy.

There have been times over the past three years when I have felt as if it were all too much. And kind people would say to me, "God will never give you more than you can handle."

Although it's meant to be encouraging, there's just one problem with that statement. It's wrong.

Of course, the intentions of the folks who say those words are right and good. It's the statement itself that is wrong. It's actually a misquotation of a verse in the New Testament, I Corinthians 10:13, which says,

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

So there is a promise that you will not face more temptation than you can bear. But hardship, difficulty, adversity? No. There is no promise that you will not face more hardship than you can bear.

That would be very bad news if it not for one thing: You don't have to bear it. Jesus bears it for you.

One thing I've learned over these past three years is that I am pretty strong. I can handle quite a bit. But the biggest thing I've learned is that I'm not nearly strong enough to handle everything that happens. In fact, when I try to handle things by myself, things just get worse and worse. Then I'll remember the truth, and back to the feet of Jesus I'll go. What really amazes me is that He never runs out of patience with me.

This week is another anniversary, of course. Nearly two thousand years ago this week, the Son of God, who had come to earth to live as a man, offered himself as a sacrifice for us. The story is so familiar--Thursday's betrayal, Friday's crucifixion, Saturday's despair, Sunday's triumph. Every year we sing about it, we wear springy clothing and fill baskets in honor of it. It's a story worth telling and re-telling; the celebration is important.

But sometimes, in the messy details of life, we forget some of the truth behind the story. It can be so easy to feel as though we're having to deal with things all by ourselves. Even if we believe that the death of Jesus is enough to ensure that we can live with God in heaven for eternity, we sometimes forget that Jesus offers us salvation right now. "Eternal life" is not something that starts when we die; it begins now. Life with God is a present reality, not just a hope for the future.

He doesn't promise that we won't be given more than we can handle. He promises that we won't be given more than He can handle.

And that is good news indeed.

Thanksgiving decor

Welcome, November! I love November. . . when days are short, skies are gray, and temperatures are chilly. There's something about this month that makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot cider and read a good book.

Before I start reading, though, I like to put away the Halloween decorations and get out the Thanksgiving decor! Our tradition is to begin decorating for Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Until then, I keep the decor autumnal. Here's what I've done so far.

The dining room with its Thanksgiving bounty:

I love my cornucopia. I got it just after my oldest son was born, so this is its 19th Thanksgiving. It's made of papier-mache. I stuff it with gourds and corn and nuts. And since my family roots are from Kansas and Tennessee and all my ancestors were farmers, I like to add the staple crops from those two states--wheat and cotton.

In the living room, I added autumn hurricanes to the chest on my wall of crosses.

I'd admired the double-walled hurricanes at Pottery Barn, so I made my own by putting Dollar Tree vases inside hurricane globes I already had. Then I simply added autumn leaves.

You can barely even see the inside glass, but the leaves are kept safely separated from the candle. Love it!

I'm not sure if I've shown y'all my latest addition to my cross collection. See that beautiful tassel? It was custom-made for me by Heather of Butterfly Genes. I think she can make a tassel topper out of almost anything, and she does the most beautiful work. Thank you, Heather!

What about you? Do you decorate for Thanksgiving? Or are you chomping at the bit to get the halls decked for Christmas?

**Joining The Thanksgiving Challenge at The CSI Project**

Lost and found

Unbeknownst to me, a tiny box waited in the branches of the Christmas tree. One of those good-things-come-in-small-packages boxes. For me.

My favorite Christmas gift this year was in that box: a beautiful silver necklace with two charms. Knowing well my love for crosses, my husband bought me a lovely cross necklace. I oohhed and ahhed over it and immediately put it on, remarking that it looked almost like a tiny set of dog tags, proclaiming for all the world that I belong to Christ. I loved it.

And then, just a few days after Christmas, it disappeared.

Puzzled, I looked through my jewelry box. It wasn't there. I remembered what clothes I was wearing when I wore the necklace last, so I searched them, thinking it must have been snagged. It wasn't there. I searched the floor of my closet, thinking perhaps I had pulled off my sweater without removing the necklace and it might have gone flying. It wasn't there. Anxiously I searched the house. My car. It wasn't there. Panicked, I clawed through the dust in the vacuum canister. It wasn't there. Finally I inquired at Lost and Found at the grocery store, which was the only place I'd gone on the day the necklace disappeared. It wasn't there, either.

It wasn't anywhere. It was just gone.

I cried. Sobbed, really. And then I fretted for several days before finally working up the courage to tell my husband. As much as I hate to admit it, I was afraid that he would be angry at me--angry that I hadn't taken better care of his gift. I was scared that he would think me ungrateful and irresponsible. Although I've known him for so long, I doubted that he would understand. In my dismay and disappointment, I doubted him and his capacity for love and sympathy.

Then one day he asked, "Is something bothering you?" and I had to come clean. I cried while I confessed. He wasn't angry. He's not that kind of husband. He just took me in his arms and comforted me. He tenderly patted my back and reminded me that it might still turn up, that there was always hope.

I knew, though. I knew it was gone for good. I knew the situation was past redeeming.

And then, yesterday, I was doing some cleaning. You know the kind of cleaning that you put off for weeks but you know you need to accomplish and it nags at you until you finally just get it done? I finally got around to it. And as I was taking a bag of trash out to the rolling cart in the driveway, something silver caught my eye.

My necklace. There it was, lying on the concrete, miraculously untangled and unscratched. Just lying there, waiting.

It once was lost, but now it's found. And it's once again where it needs to be--clasped firmly around my neck, a silent but eloquent reminder of my identity.

I belong to the One who found me--the One who reminded me yesterday that nothing is past redeeming.

--Gratefully and humbly Unwrapped with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

Christmas Tour of Homes

It's time for the Christmas Tour of Homes with the Nester, and I'm excited to join to the party. This is my first bloggy Christmas, and am I ever enjoying myself! It's such fun to get to take a look at everyone's homes all decked out for the holidays.

Welcome to my house!

I showed you some of my house here. Now for a little further look:

First, the dining room. I've had a red dining room for years, with the shade of red changing over the years. Right now I'm enjoying a red that's very brown, and I love the way it looks at Christmastime. I know red dining rooms are a little passe', but I'm just not ready to give mine up yet.

On the antique primitive sideboard is one of our Nativity scenes, this one made of olive wood:

Our other Nativity set is in the living room. I like it displayed here with my collection of crosses. Many of us celebrate Christ's birth at Christmastime. I like to remember that He came to live among us and to teach us, but ultimately to give His life for us. So what began at the manger was completed at the cross.

I decorate my Christmastime kitchen with snowmen. My husband and I moved to Michigan when our oldest son was 10 weeks old, and we lived there for seven years. The kids loved the Michigan winters, and we had plenty of real snowmen. After we moved away, some dear friends who are native Michiganders gave us this set of snowman plates:

And a collection was born. Most of them reside on my antique dough cabinet:

Just outside the kitchen is my screened porch, which was easy to gussy up for Christmas: a little red ribbon and some greenery, and it's ready to roll.

It's fun to add a few little Christmas touches here and there throughout the house. For instance, I've dressed this little hall table with a red vase that I got at Nester's Swap Meet:

I added sticks from my yard, some greenery (part fake, part fresh), and two antique Santa mugs that belonged to my grandmother. The mugs look really pretty at night because I put those little battery-operated votive candles in them. I've seen the battery-operated votives for awhile, but never bought any until this Christmas. Oh, my goodness! I didn't know what I was missing. The glow and flicker of candlelight without the danger of fire.

And though I don't really do too much Christmas decorating in my bedroom, I did place some greenery around one of my favorite lamps:

I wish you could meet you all in person, but getting to look around one another's homes is the next best thing. Thanks, Nester, for hosting all of us!

Christmas House Tour

It's time for Julia's Hooked on Holiday House Tours. Thank you for hosting us, Julia!

My husband and I were having lunch together today, and, remembering that Christmas this year is on a Friday, he asked, "Is Christmas three weeks from tomorrow?"

No, sweetheart. Christmas is TWO weeks from tomorrow. Just two short weeks and Christmas will be here. Can you believe it?

I love decorating for Christmas. I also love having the house decorated for Christmas. I'm not sure which one I enjoy more--the fun of decorating or the wonder of having things decorated. Let me show you some of what I've done.

As you approach my house, the first thing you'll see is my front porch. I love this space, which I've tried to make into an outdoor living room. So it seems only natural for it to have a Christmas tree here:

Now come on in--it's chilly outside! We're blessed to have a nice big foyer. Just off the foyer is my husband's study. It's a very masculine room, complete with stone fireplace, leather club chair, and antique nautical prints. So I've kept my decorating to a minimum--a garland for the stone fireplace and a couple of candles are enough to add a touch of Christmas.

To the right of the front door is this antique dresser:

Here I have some of the magnolia leaves that remind me of my mom. I also love to display these little angels that spell "Noel." I'm not sure how old these are--they belonged to my mom's mom. Aren't they darling? My youngest son, Lee, likes to change them around to spell other words, like "Leon." And one day he said, "Too bad you don't have a 'B' and an 'R.' You could spell 'Lebron.'" It's not just Christmastime. Basketball season is upon us.

Just beyond the dresser is the doorway to the dining room. My favorite Christmas decorations in the dining room are on the china cabinet:

Our oldest son was born in 1991, the year that Lenox introduced its "Trees Around the World" series of plates. I bought one of these plates in 1991, 1993, and 1997, the years our sons were born. I love them displayed here.

And at night, it's fun to light up the china cabinet:

To the left of the front door is the staircase, where I like to hang another garland:

As you can see, the foyer leads straight into the living room. I've shown you my wall of crosses. Right in that corner is where we put our Christmas tree.

Our tree is definitely a sentimental one--it's covered in all kinds of ornaments. My husband and I got married in 1985, so this is our 25th Christmas together. We've added at least one ornament to our collection every year. We've bought our sons an ornament every year, too. So the tree is filled with ornaments belonging to all of us.

Across the room from the tree is the fireplace.

Our stockings are all hung here. It's funny that one of our stockings hangs with the toe pointing to the left; the others all hang with the toes pointing to the right. Luckily the odd one belongs to our oldest son, so it belongs in the middle. (Do you hang your stockings in order? Ours go Dad, Mom, Son 1, Son 2, Son 3.) I love the candles on the mantel, along with my homemade topiaries and fresh greenery.

As you can see, the dogs love that chair by the fireplace. But that chair is a hot commodity on Christmas morning, when the boys will argue about who gets to sit there. I don't really care where I sit, as long as I get to be with all of them.

Come back on Monday for Nester's Tour of Homes and we'll poke around a bit more!