Cultivating a Heart and Home of Hospitality |intro|

*note-I wrote this two weeks ago with every intention of posting it sooner. Things have been a little busy.*

I feel inspired, inspired to write and it's a rainy Saturday afternoon. Working man is at a woodworking class and I just steamed down part of my "to-iron-mountain". Does anyone else get so far behind, that their husband has to ask for a shirt to be ironed for Sunday? Haha! Because I never, sometimes, a lot of the time do. But my ironing gave me time to think on something that the Lord has been bringing to my mind often these days. I find myself meditating on it throughout the day, the whole week even.

Hospitality.

That big scary word, or maybe I should say work. Frantic mode takes over with even the smallest, inkling of a thought of having people over."Will I have time to get the house completely clean? What do I fix so i don't go over my alloted grocery budget? Do I try to provide entertainment for their children, since I don't have any?" You can find me wandering scurrying around the house muttering the lists of things I have to do before company arrives.

I really do like having people over.

And as I was ironing I was thinking to myself: What makes a person's place enjoyable? What is really neccessary for succesful, enjoyable hospitality. I mean I already have the homemaking routine down, it's not like I don't know how to cook, clean, set a table(ok, sorry Hutchins for the foam plates last week!), ect... Whose houses have I been to that I really feel at home and what makes it that way?

That's what I want. I want people to come to my haven and feel welcomed, comfortable, at home in my home.

That's what makes the difference.

It is and it isn't the setting and surroundings. Yes, hospitality is really about the people, ministering and fellowshiping with people. Yet if your surroundings aren't welcoming and comfortable the people aren't going to be themselves, let their hair down so to speak. If my house is so stiff and formal that people aren't sure if they can sit down without asking, then they sure aren't going to have a great time- they are going to leave with a tension headache!

My studying has begun and I'm sure will continue for years to come, because I'll never reach my destination of "Perfect Hostess". All I can do it try. Try and make people feel at home in my home.



So keep checking in here as I share a series of posts on what I am learning about hospitality.