• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

December 13, 2019

Christmas Home Tour

One of my most prized possessions is a Perry Como Christmas album. Yes, an actual vinyl album.

It belonged to my mom when she was a girl and, in my humble opinion, Christmas doesn’t officially begin until I hear the first strands of ‘No Place Like Home for the Holidays’. In fact, I literally can’t sing that song any other way than how Perry Como sings it and have found all other interpretations to be severely lacking.

When records gave way to CD’s, I made it my mission to find a copy of the Perry Como Christmas album for myself and for my mom too. That CD is now about as worn out as the vinyl album.

But, since time and technology continue to march on, I’ve recently discovered the joy of customizing playlists on Amazon Prime music and I decided that this year I would compile all of my favorite Christmas songs into one place.

Of course, the very first album I wanted to add was Perry Como’s and after a quick search I found it and added it to my playlist.

A few days later, we went to cut down our Christmas tree and that evening, as I began opening bins of ornaments, I brought my portable speaker into the living room and started my Christmas playlist.

But, I quickly realized that something was wrong. There were songs I had never heard before. Even Perry Como was singing words that were totally unfamiliar to me.

And if I hadn’t been up my eyeballs in lights and ornaments I probably would have stopped to figure out what Amazon Prime music had done with MY Perry Como Christmas album. Because, this one had some extra songs on it. Songs that didn’t even sound very Christmas-y!

But, instead, I kept it playing. And as I carefully unwrapped decades worth of ornaments, each one bringing back a different memory, I heard these words crooned to me and…well…they took my breath away.

And I wanted to share them with you today as I give you a little Christmas tour.

 

“You can tell when you open the door. You can tell if there’s love in a home.”

 

 

“Every table and chair seems to smile, do come in, come and stay for a while.”

 

 

“You almost feel you’ve been there once before.”

 

 

“By the shine and glow of the room!”

 

 

“And the clock seems to chime…”

 

 

“…Come again, anytime.”

 

 

“You’ll be welcome, wherever you roam.” 

 

 

“You can tell when there’s love in a home.”

 

My eyes welled with tears as I let the words wash over me. There I sat surrounded by all of the trimmings for my tree and I was just stunned that such a simple, little song could so perfectly capture everything that I want my home to embody.

I don’t want people just to see the furniture or the decorations or the art on the walls.

I want all who walk through our door to see past all of that. I want people to be able to tell that there is love in this home.

It’s not perfect. Most definitely not! But, there is so much love here.

Love for those who sleep under this roof. Love for our neighbors and our community.

And, most of all, love for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who we celebrate and honor at Christmas.

Because it was out of God’s deep love for us that He sent His Son to this earth so that you and I could be reconciled to Him and know the most perfect love in existence.

My hope and prayer for you this Christmas is that your hearts will be overflowing with love and that it would pour out into your homes and then spill out your door into your neighborhoods and among friends and even strangers.

Let’s be people who live up to the words of that song that wasn’t supposed to be on my playlist but that I needed to hear so very much.

Merry Christmas dear friends!

P.S. ‘Love in a Home’ was originally featured in the Broadway play ‘Lil’ Abner’.

15 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Decorating, Family, Good Ideas, Good Thoughts, Holidays, Home Tour Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas decorating, Christmas home tour

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « My French Country Christmas Mantel
Next Post: The Imprint »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol says

    December 13, 2019 at 11:17 AM

    Beautiful home, and beautiful words. Have a blessed Christmas season.

    Reply
  2. Peg says

    December 13, 2019 at 11:40 AM

    This was lovely!! Merry Christmas!!! xo

    Reply
  3. Carol Reddin says

    December 13, 2019 at 12:05 PM

    Your home and messages are beautiful. And I listen to Perry Como all through December. I’m happy that album still means so much to you too. Love you so much. Mom

    Reply
    • Michelle Brannan says

      December 14, 2019 at 8:33 AM

      I pray you and yours have a blessed Christmas!

      Reply
  4. Robyn Gouge says

    December 13, 2019 at 1:40 PM

    I am totally with you on Perry Como! That version is my favorite as well. What a sweet song! And what better love than that of Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to die for us. That is the truest love of all. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Marilyn says

    December 13, 2019 at 3:27 PM

    Your home is lovely. We have a Perry Como album[yes it is a record] that we always play at Christmas. When he sings Ave Maria it is breath taking. Did you see the special on Perry Como a while back? It was on PBS. It will probably be repeated eventually. It was not a Christmas show. FYI Debby Boone is Perry Como’s God Daughter. Wishing you and yours a blessed Christmas and a Happy,healthy 2020.
    MERRY CHRISTMAS
    Marilyn

    Reply
  6. JoAnn says

    December 13, 2019 at 4:45 PM

    Beautiful home and a beautiful post. You brought back memories of my Mom playing her Bing Crosby Christmas albumn. I think we had Perry Como too. Thank you for helping me remember. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  7. Michele M. says

    December 13, 2019 at 4:53 PM

    What a truly fabulous post.

    You got it, girl friend.

    God bless you and your entire family this holy Christmas, and in the coming new year!

    Reply
  8. valarie sanford says

    December 13, 2019 at 9:32 PM

    so very, very pretty!!!

    Reply
  9. Lisa says

    December 14, 2019 at 5:25 AM

    Vanessa, everything you touch sparkles and glows. 🎄🎄🎄

    Thank you for sharing your words and your beautiful home.

    PS… My parents had one of those albums that featured all the greats of the day, Perry Como included. I used to listen to it over and over on my record player. ♥️♥️♥️

    Reply
  10. Yvonne says

    December 14, 2019 at 11:35 AM

    Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful home and the sweet Christmas message
    It’s wonderful that music can bring back so many cherished memories and create new ones too
    Wishing you a blessed Christmas

    Reply
  11. Shelly says

    December 14, 2019 at 11:52 AM

    Your home is definitely warm and inviting. I listened to this song on Utube.
    Loved it! Thank you, and I loved your post!
    Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  12. MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) says

    December 14, 2019 at 9:10 PM

    AMEN! AND AMEN! VANESSA! This was such a beautiful post! I love how your love for Jesus just shines through each of your posts! How people need the Lord!

    May you and your dear family be blessed with a wonderful Christmas!

    Thanks for all your work you put into your posts. I always enjoy reading them. Bless you!

    Reply
  13. Sandy says

    December 22, 2019 at 1:03 PM

    A Perry Como Christmas is my #1 CD that begins decorating and baking for Christmas. Michael Buble’s Christmas CD is a close second. Merry Christmas. Your home is lovely.

    Reply
  14. Fran says

    October 26, 2020 at 9:56 AM

    Love everything about this post!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Take the Quiz

Stay updated!

Get all the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • A New French Country Dining Table February 3, 2021
  • Open Now December 17, 2020
  • Tradition and a Christmas Home Tour December 9, 2020
  • Tabletop Hot Cocoa Station November 29, 2020
  • A New Front Door November 10, 2020

Get all the latest straight to your inbox

Footer

Instagram

I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
Follow
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2021 At The Picket Fence