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Looking Back While Looking Forward – Top Posts of 2015

December 31, 2015 by Patti 12 Comments

Another year draws to a close, and while most people have already put away their Christmas pretties, I linger.  I sit beside the fire in the den sipping hot tea and gazing upon the figures on my woodland themed mantle, dusted with shimmering snow.  I see the glow of the Christmas tree lights in the living room behind me reflected brightly in the den’s windows before me.  The rains pour down outside my windows and the dark clouds have cocooned my home in darkness.  Here in my den I find shelter from the heavy winter storm.  

Shhh . . . don’t remind me that the temperature outside is in the 60’s and that Christmas is over.  Let me spend a little more time enjoying the Wonder of Christmas.

Looking back on 2015 today I’ve compiled the most viewed posts of the year.  They are in two categories, Home Decor and Inspirational, since my blog is comprised of both!  If you choose to see more of any of these posts you can simply click on the pictures.

Here’s the countdown:

Drum roll please . . . because I’m kinda goofy like that!

Dining Room Reveal10. At Long Last Dining Room Reveal

Fall Porch 20159. Southern Etiquette & How to Make Your Neighbors Jealous of Your Front Porch!

Spring Basket8. My Secret to a Great Looking Arrangements Using Faux Flowers

Weathered Baskets 7. Giving Baskets a Vintage Look With Chalk Paint

Greenville Gardens Tour 1086. Southern Gardens Tour Part I

Screened Porch5. Spiffin’ up The Screened Porch The Easy Way

Preserved Boxwood 4. Decorating With Preserved Boxwood

Living Room Reveal3. Living Room Reveal

Twigs Easter Table 0022. One Fantastic Easter Table

 French Country KitchenAnd finally, in the Home Decor category,

1. Ideas For Adding a French Country Look to Your Kitchen

Next is the Inspirational category which was special to me.  It wasn’t just the traffic that caused me to share the top three, but there were also personal emails and stories shared behind the scenes that blessed me to no end as people related to the words God inspired me to write.  Whenever I wonder if I should include these posts on my site (because most people don’t want a Home Decor site that is “preachy”), the response I receive back confirms that I am to continue to speak what God lays on my heart.  I am probably more blessed than anyone who reads one of these posts by the feedback received.

So, moving right along, the top three Inspirational posts are:

welcome-sign3. Freedom Friday – on Hospitality

San-Simeon-Hearst-Castle2.  Freedom Friday – On Forgiving Yourself

Finally, the top post in the Inspiration category was the most heartbreaking for me but also a blessing to have been loved by a dog this good.

Snoopygirl1. Freedom Friday – Wise Words From a Dog Named SnoopyGirl

So, looking to the year ahead, I am excited that I’ll be continuing as a contributing author for Faith’nFriends (I hope you’ll all go over to the website and show some of the other writers some love), my friend Debbie Kitterman and I will be teaming up to teach on online course about starting a Mastermind Group, as well as getting our own group off the ground, I’m praying that I will have the opportunity to attend another writer’s conference this year, I’m looking forward to being on the launch teams of a couple of different books that author friends will be releasing in the new year, and I will also be plugging away here at home as I work on my own book and #write365.  Of course I will continue to make home improvements to share on Old Things New.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the year with me.  I have certainly enjoyed meeting new friends here on the blog and continuing relationships with those of you I’ve come to know and love through this wonderful job I get to do called blogging.  I am MOST blessed of the Lord!

Happy New Year and abundant blessings to you all!

My Signature

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:

 TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, NiftyThriftyThings, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, Sunday Stillness

Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings, ProjectInspired
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, Making Your Home Sing Mondays, The Beauty in His Grip What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse,  NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles,
Dream.Create.Inspire.Link, MeCoffeeAndJesus,Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky,Time Warp Wife,Solo Deo Gloria Sisterhood,Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants,
TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, A Little R & R, Whole Hearted Home, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Women with Intention, Coffee for Your Heart
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours, ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty, YourTurnToShine, Serving Joyfully/Thriving Thursdays, The Deliberate Mom/Shine Blog Hop, I Choose Joy,  Live Free Thursday, Thought Provoking Thursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround, TheShabbyNest, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,  ShabbyliciousFriday, TheCreativeCollection, Christian Mommy Blogger Fellowship Fridays, Blessing Counters,Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays,Faith & Fellowship Bloghop, Grace & Truth Linkup, Grace&TruthSharingRedemption’sStories, Dance With Jesus, The Weekend Brew
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, 
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGallery, Still Saturday, The Weekend Brew, Recommendation Saturday, Make My Saturday Sweet

 

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Filed Under: 2015, Blogging, Craft Ideas, DIY, Dog Love, Easter, Faith 'n Friends, Flowers, Freedom Friday, French Country, Friendship, God's Grace, Home decorating, Hospitality, Inspiration, My Home, Screened porch, Southern Living, Spring Decorating, Summer, Wallpaper Tagged With: Blogging, Boxwood, Craft ideas, DIY, Dog Love, Easter, Faith 'n Friends, Floral Arrangements, Flowers, Freedom Friday, French Country, Friendship, God's grace, Home Decor, Hospitality, Inspiration, My Home, Screened Porch, southern living, Spring Decor, Summer, Top Ten of 2015

Freedom Friday – Expectations That Rob us of God’s Best

April 3, 2015 by Patti 15 Comments

Hope, or a desire for something to happen, can be good.  The Bible says that without hope a people perish.  Hope in Christ gives us purpose.

 Expectations, as my husband is fond of pointing out, are “resentments waiting to happen,” especially since they can be beliefs centered on a future that may not even be realistic.

Mt Rainier067

 Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts. Why?  Because though once bound in chains Christ has set me free –  FREE to live, to love, to dance, to sing, to be who God created me to be!

Mt Rainier 041

In recent weeks God has been speaking to me through other people about some of the expectations I’ve placed on Him for my own life.  Now, don’t get me wrong. The Bible is full of promises to those who follow Christ and God is faithful to keep His promises.  Those are good expectations to have.  My problem is getting ahead of God with this busy imagination of mine and working to achieve the things I am sure think God wants for my life!

Have you ever gotten ahead of God, imagining and planning how your life would play out?  Have you ever been WRONG?

The problem is, when we start having expectations of how things are going to be without God’s clear direction we can start working toward our own end rather than waiting for what God wants to do in our life . . . and what God wants is always THE BEST THING for us.  Sadly, our expectations can become so targeted that we miss God completely!

Let’s not mix hope with expectation.

Mt Rainier 035

My inspiration for today’s FF came from two sources, Pastor Roy of Outreach Church and Diane of An Extraordinary Day.  Both have recently shared messages that touched on the time leading up to the crucifixion of Christ and the crowds who were streaming after Jesus, expectations running full bore.

 One week before Jesus’ crucifixion (now celebrated as Palm Sunday) Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a donkey just as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. The Jewish people had long anticipated a Messiah who would come and rescue them from the tyrannic Roman Empire, and they became excited at the prospect that this Jesus was the one, their expected deliverer!  Palm branches waved wildly and garments were laid down upon the road to carpet the way for Messiah.

“The King who comes in the name of the Eternal One is blessed!  Peace in heaven!  Glory to God in the highest!,” shouted the crowds (Luke 19:38 The Voice Bible).

As my friend Diane pointed out in her post The Day Jesus Lays it All Down for Us, the people were familiar with the words they were quoting directly from Psalm 118:26 so they should’ve been familiar with the verse that followed in Psalm 118:27:

“Bring the sacrifice, and tie it to the horns of the altar.”

WHOA!  Pause and think about THAT!

Mt Rainier 047

  Tweet this! In their expectation of what their Messiah should be, the people were blinded to the greater thing He would become.

During the triumphal procession into Jerusalem throngs of people followed after Jesus.  As the week moved forward Jesus taught in the Temple daily where the ire of the “religious folk” was raised higher with each passing day; He shared a final Passover meal with his disciples where he warned Peter that he would deny him; He was betrayed to the authorities by one of His own disciples; the crowds began to fall away and finally, when He came before Pilate one final time, many who had followed now turned upon Him demanding his death!

Mt Rainier 075

Matt. 27:24 tells us that, “Pilate saw that unless he wanted a riot on his hands, he now had to bow to their wishes,  so he took a pitcher of water, stood before the crowd, and washed his hands,” saying,  “This man’s blood will be upon you and not upon me.

The crowds replied, “Indeed, let His blood be upon us – upon us and our children!”

Still missing who Jesus was, in light of their own expectations, they didn’t even know the significance of  their own words.  Indeed, Christ’s blood, spilled out on the cross, would be upon them and upon all future generations.

A covering for sin, bringing life to those who believe and accept Him, and death for those who reject Him.

Mt Rainier 005

Expectations caused the people to miss who Christ was just as expectations can cause us to miss “the best” that God has in store for us.

Today, Good Friday, this is what I’m thankful for:

  • The blood of Jesus shed for me.
  • Robes of righteousness that cover me even when I don’t always get it right.
  • God teaching me AGAIN that I need to let go my own expectations and turn every part of my life over to Him . . . Yes, He has my heart but does he have my future, my hopes & dreams, my family, my everything, or am I still holding on . . . just a bit?
  • Knowing that what God has planned for my future is far better than my own plans.
  • Peace in knowing for certain that He is Sovereign God.
  • Joy in walking with Him and learning new things daily . . . and an eternity of new truths to learn ahead of me still!

What are you thankful for?

Long Beach Sunset 014

 

 Wishing you and yours an Easter weekend filled with awe as you experience anew, God’s great LOVE for YOU!

Blessings,

My Signature

Photos taken at Mount Rainier National Park and Long Beach, Washington

I have been know to link to the following Inspirational Parties:

Spiritual Sundays Beauty in His Grip Button

What Joy Is Mine

Project Inspire{d}

 
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Holly Barrett

purposefulfaith.com

Joy Dare Blog

a-wise-woman-builds-her-home


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Thriving-Thursdays1

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Barbie Swihart Equipping Godly WomenDance With Jesus

countingmyblessings Amanda’s Books and More Sandra Heska King - Still Saturday Faith Along the Way Renewed Daily - Recommendation Saturday
Mondays Making Your Home Sing Mondays The Beauty in His Grip What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings A Proverbs 31 Wife Darling Downs Diaries The Art of Homemaking Mom2Mom Linkup
Tuesdays Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky Cornerstone Confessions Titus 2 Tuesday Teaching What is Good Time Warp Wife Solo Deo Gloria Sisterhood More of Him Testimony Tuesday
Wednesdays A Wise Woman Builds Her Home Juana Mikels Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays A Little R & R Whole Hearted Home So Much at Home Mom’s Morning Coffee Women with Intention
Thursdays Serving Joyfully/Thriving Thursdays

3-D Lessons for Life/Thought Provoking Thursdays The Deliberate Mom/Shine Blog Hop I Choose Joy
Fridays A Look at the Book Christian Mommy Blogger Fellowship Fridays Blessing Counters Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays Faith & Fellowship Bloghop Grace & Truth Linkup
Saturdays Still Saturday The Weekend Brew
Sundays Spiritual Sundays Sunday Stillness

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Filed Under: Christianity, Easter, God's Grace Tagged With: Christianity, Easter, God's grace, The Bible, The Cross

One Fantastic Easter Table!!!

March 27, 2015 by Patti 26 Comments

Twigs Easter Table

Sometimes I don’t feel like the awesome self that God created me to be.

Sometimes, even when I’m writing posts about Being Grateful, trying my best to make you laugh, and trying my best to make me laugh at myself, I can’t pretend to feel like everything is perfect.  

Twigs Easter Table 034

But that’s okay. I gave up perfectionism quite awhile ago and exchanged it for a life of living with as much authenticity as I can, and it is a much easier way to live.

Twigs Easter Table 001

Twigs Easter Table 002

So when I’m feeling a little frustrated that this broken wrist of mine makes it hard to create or write, or even type . . . when slowing down allows feelings I’ve been burying with busyness to surface and reminds me of how much I miss friends I left behind . . . wayyy over on the opposite side of the country . . . it’s okay.

Twigs Easter Table 024

 It’s good to feel sadness over being so far from people that I love.

Twigs Easter Table 021

It reminds me that I’ve been blessed with good, good friends . . .

Twigs Easter Table 016

Twigs Easter Table 015

. . . and family who I love more dearly than they can fathom.

Twigs Easter Table 009

So when I’m forced to slow down and the feelings arise I embrace the sadness, thanking God for the many people He’s placed in my life that have brought me such joy . . . and thanking God for the new friendships He’s developing here in this, our new community.

Last week, since I couldn’t paint or construct or sit typing for very long I went to a favorite new place here in Greenville, SC.

Twigs Easter Table 005

TWIGS is a wonderful home and garden shop where I like to go to soak in beautiful displays and be amazed at the creativity of others.

Twigs Easter Table 006

Last week I went into TWIGS to buy a few tulips for my front door arrangement (check it out HERE) and they allowed me to photograph their Fantastic Easter Table!

Twigs Easter Table 007

Twigs Easter Table 003

Twigs Easter Table 020

Twigs Easter Table 008

Twigs Easter Table 004

Twigs Easter Table 017

Twigs Easter Table 032

Isn’t it over-the-top stunning?

Twigs Easter Table 039

I also snapped a few photos of the display that greets you as you walk in the front door.

Twigs Easter Table 042

Twigs Easter Table 041

Do you see the bushels of mini-watermelons?  This store always brings a great big smile to my face!

Twigs Easter Table 010

I’ll be in a cast for at least five more weeks so you may see the posts slowing down a bit.  While my mind is full of ideas, my right hand isn’t cooperating very well and typing is a SLOW and somewhat painful process.

I hope you were inspired today by some fabulous Easter decor.  For more ideas check out my Pinterest board:  Spring/Easter Ideas  I think you’ll love it!

Blessings,

My Signature

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
 UnderTheTableAndDreaming, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive,
ThreeMangoSeeds,  NiftyThriftyThings,
SilverPenniesSundays, SundaySoiree, SundaysAtHome
Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse, UncommonDesigns, WestFurnitureRevival, BoogieboardCottage, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings, AnExtraordinaryDay,
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, RedheadCanDecorate
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse,  NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,NotJustAHousewife, 
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles, 7Alive,  Maison de Pax.
VintageInspirationParty
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants,  DIYByDesign, TheStyleSisters, AdornedFromAbove,
SomedayCrafts, GreenWillowPond, Fishtail Cottage,  TheCityFarmhouse,
BeyondThePicketFence, TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, Inspiration2
Thursday:
NoMinimalistHere, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, AllThingsWithPurpose, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours, ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround, TheShabbyNest, LizMarie, Redoux, JenniferRizzo, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,
ShabbyliciousFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, SixSistersStuff, It’sOverflowing, BeDifferentActNormal,
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SayG’DaySaturday,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGaller
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Filed Under: Easter, entertaining, Flowers, Home decorating, Spring Decorating, Tablescapes Tagged With: Centerpieces, Easter, Entertaining, Flowers, Home Decorating, Spring

Top Ten Posts of 2014

December 29, 2014 by Patti 12 Comments

Old Things New Top 10Do you know that I adore you?  I do!  I am so thankful that you take the time to read and comment on this little blog o’ mine.  You encourage me.  You spur me on to new things. You are my impetus to keep going when things become a bit rough.  I am SO thankful for you and as I write this post I’m praying that God will shower you with rich, rich blessings in 2015 . . . and I know that He wants to . . . because He adores you too!

So here are my Top Ten Posts of 2014 in order from oldest to newest:… 

Read More »

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Filed Under: 2014, Chalk painted furniture, Christmas, Coastal Style, Easter, Fall Decor, Flowers, Furniture Painting, Home decorating, Lakeside Living, My Home, Southern Living, Tablescapes Tagged With: crafting, DIY, Furniture Painting, Home Decor, Lakeside living, southern living, Top 10

Easter Blessings

April 20, 2014 by Patti 1 Comment

1-Easter decor 001Easter blessings to you,

My Signature-001

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Filed Under: Easter Tagged With: Easter

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OldThingsNew

I am Perfectly Imperfect Patti, daughter of the King, wife to the amazing Mr. OTN, mom to two grown daughters, a great son-in-law, and companion to two spoiled dogs. At Old Things New I share DIY’s, budget friendly home transformations, as well as posts about how God transforms our souls. I myself have been made new and I love to share what I’ve learned through WRITING and SPEAKING. To view a short Vimeo of “Our Story” (Mr. OTN and I) please follow the link at the top of the page.

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