{may your days be merry & bright}

Christmas festivities are in full-swing around these parts.  In addition to our long-held and treasured traditions, there's a new excitement and freshness this year as we anticipate welcoming home our college-age son for Christmas break.  "I'll Be Home for Christmas" has once again taken on sweet meaning and significance.

In a year, season, life of significant change, I take special comfort and joy in the familiar, but of course, my greatest hope is in my unchanging, faithful God.  I'm savoring the traditions that help me prepare my heart to welcome Him and lift Him high.

Among those traditions is our annual Ladies' Christmas Brunch.  Held at our church each December, this evangelical outreach to nearly 500 women is one of the most anticipated events of the year.  A day filled with the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the season culminates in a rich presentation of the gospel.  This year we were blessed and honored to have Jill Briscoe as our featured speaker.

Here are a few snapshots of the two tables I decorated for the brunch.

This was my "Joy to the World" table, featured in one of the two "Music of Christmas" rooms. 

These chargers have quite a story to tell.  Once upon a time, they were gold.  Then I needed them to be red, so I spray-painted them.  And this year I'm in love with chalk paint, so I decided to give them another makeover.  Each lady seated at this table got a mini wreath as her take-home favor.  

My second table was a vintage kitcheny/hot chocolate theme.  

Guests at this table received a little mason jar of hot chocolate mix for their favors.  And yes, chalkboards and labels made an appearance here, too.  I'm a chalkboard junkie.

The silver coffee pot on this table is a treasure to me.  It belonged to the wife of the founding pastor of our church.  She was a godly, bold, and courageous woman who lived her faith in a way that was compelling.  When she passed away a few years ago, her daughter passed her mama's coffee pot on to me, knowing it would be loved and cherished.  It is.