What God is Teaching Me About Hospitality and a Book Review

I love showing hospitality to people. I think it is a combination of gifting from the Lord and training from my wonderful southern family. Being hospitable was all I’ve ever known from holiday family gatherings, church socials, parties, and social visits. I spent my childhood watching my grandparents and parents feed people and invite them into our lives. When I went away to college my dorm room became a place where I could show hospitality, from late night conversations, chocolate to heal the emotional hurts, and band aids and Tylenol for the physical pains it was a place where people gathered.

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However, somewhere around the time that I became a working mother with two small children I became so overwhelmed that simply stopped being hospitable. It was not an intentional decision, my plate was full and I didn’t think I could add anything else to it. I was juggling work, children, and church and did not see time for including hospitality into my life. I always felt like the house needed to be cleaner, I needed more time, and I was too exhausted to be social after a long day.

Fast forward a few years, I now have 4 children and I work from home. It would still be really easy for me to feel like I didn’t have time to show hospitality. However,the reality is that not only is it a gift from God, it is a command from God that we show hospitality. This does not mean that we are all required by God to thrown big elaborate dinner parties, but in our own ways we are all commanded to be hospitable.

About two years or so ago, God started really showing me that I needed to be using my gift for hospitality more and that I did not need to wait for everything to be perfect or to host elaborate gatherings (though I do love a good dinner party) in order to demonstrate hospitality. God put several books into my life to reinforce His desire for me to be hospitable. The Life Giving Home and The Life Giving Table by Sally Clarkson, A Life that Says Welcome by Karen Ehman (full review), and most recently Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt.

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In addition to books, God gave our family an opportunity to show hospitality to hundreds of relief workers in the after math of Hurricane Florence. I certainly would not wish the disaster on anyone and the days and weeks afterwards were challenging. However, it has provided us with the opportunity to show hospitality, outside of our home. First on a daily basis, and now several times a week we have the opportunity to cook meals and provide for the needs of workers who have come into town to help with the disaster recovery. The details of that opportunity really deserve their own blog post and I will be writing more about it soon, but God really used it to show me that there are many ways of being hospitable.

While we still have several months of relief efforts ahead of us, that ministry is winding down and I had been wondering what God might have in store for our family. Both my husband and I have a desire and a gifting for hospitality but we both sometimes get overwhelmed in the day to day of life and forget to be intentional about hospitality. I found the book Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt and was given a copy for Christmas. This book was such a blessing for me in helping to confirm so of the things I was feeling and to offer up ideas and insight into ways that we could be more hospitable as a family.

One of the things that I loved most about this book is that she talks about hospitality from the view point of a family. It is very important to us that our children be a part of our hospitality efforts. We know that if we want them to grow up to demonstrate hospitality they need to have seen it modeled and participated in it while they are still under our roof. From the time they are old enough to color pictures and put silverware on the table our children begin to help us serve others. I loved how Jen shared not only how her children helped them to show hospitality but also the effects that it had on them as they got older.

She goes into multiple types of hospitality in various chapters in the book. Everything from pot lucks and dinner parties to inviting her son’s college friends into their home on the weekends. She even goes into topics such as hospitality through adoption and hospitality in hard times such as illness or death. She talks about how they showed hospitality on a nearly nonexistent budget when times were tight. It was such a great reminder that hospitality isn’t just having people over for dinner (though that is a wonderful way to show you care).

At the end of each chapter is a section called Elevate the Ordinary. These little gems are simple suggestions to take things a step further. Ideas like saving money by purchasing your paper products at after holiday sales, using a simple mason jar and fresh cut flowers to decorate for free, creating family traditions, and ways to make your home one where the kids want to hang out.

Whether you are just get started in the world of hospitality, or if like me, you just needed some fresh ideas and encouragement to jump back into that ministry, this is a wonderful book. This book can help you make your life and family culture one of hospitality.

What are your favorite ways to show hospitality? What areas are you struggling in or would you like to see tips on?

Hospitality Pineterst

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

2018 A ‘Purposeful’ Year

January 1st is a time when many people evaluate the year behind them and make goals or resolutions for the year ahead. There are many ways of doing this but several years ago I started doing the ‘word for the year’ idea. While some years I’ve done better than others I have found it to be a really good fit for me personally. It gives me focus and guides me without making me feel like a failure if I don’t meet certain specific guidelines.

This year my word of the year is ‘Purposeful’. I spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks praying and thinking about choosing my word. I knew that I wanted to be very aware of how I was spending my time and using what was given to me in both time and resources to live well with-in the will of God.

To accompany my word I have chosen Proverbs 19:21 as my scripture for the year. ^“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 NIV

I want to make sure that no matter what my plans and desires, I am focusing on the Lord’s purpose for my days. Sometime I think that for me it is easier for me to do that on a large scale than a smaller daily scale. I want to go into each day focusing on doing whatever it is that the Lord wishes of me that day. Some days that may be focusing on my home or the children’s schoolwork. Some day I may need to lay aside those carefully crafted plans to focus on other needs in our family, church, or community.

What do I think being ‘purposeful’ will look like in a practical daily sense? I intend to prioritize my prayer and quiet time as well as our family devotions. If I am ‘purposing’ to follow God’s will I have to make sure that I am spending time with him daily so that I may clearly see his will. I intend to evaluate how we are using our time to make sure that we are using it effectively. This doesn’t’ mean that every moment has to be busy and productive but that we are not wasting our time. Sitting quietly and reading a book with my children may not sound productive but it is certainly purposeful. I intend to be purposeful about reading one book per month. I also want to be purposeful about eating well. I am not looking to diet but want to continue and increase our focus on eating well as a family.

I’ve included links to a few of the resources I intend to use to help me with being more ‘purposeful’ this year below. I would love to know if you have a ‘word’ of the year for 2018.

Resources:

Quiet Time Challenge (Not Consumed): I need to be purposeful with my time with God and I’m hoping this free challenge will help get me back on track. If you need further resources for quiet time she has some great ones in her store.

Finding Selah: This is the first of 12 books that I plan to read (1 per month) and I’m hoping to help find that intentional peace and rest.

Simple Sermon Notes Journal I am hoping this helps keep me focused on Sunday mornings (especially when I’m balancing a new born in a couple months) and helps me to be Purposeful in my walk with God.

Which Planner is the Best One?: Taking the time to plan (while be open to God’s leading) should help me be more purposeful in my use of time.

Deals and Freebies!

Free Daily Writing Prompts for Elementary or Teens Write Shop is offering free daily writing prompts to help make teaching writing just a little easier.

Write Shop is also having some great sales and giveaways for their 17th birthday this month!

Apologia is having a huge store wide stock up sale! Great time to buy if you want to change curriculum for next year or if you are looking to switch things up this semester.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is also getting ready to have a big sale! Stay Tuned for more information.

Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and more!

When you sign up for our free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Triage

“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” Prov. 23:26

Our second grader has been learning a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet. Above is her verse for M. She writes it a few times a day, and recites the whole set every day, adding on the new one for the week.

I’ve been thinking about this one. For a while. It does not say, “give me your music standards” or “give me your clothing preferences”. It says “give me your heart”.

Out of our hearts (our innermost beings, what makes us tick) everything issues.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23

The word “keep” is a military term, and it means to guard. Protect it. My kids will tell you that I often admonish them to guard their hearts when it comes to friends, music, viewing, reading, and thinking habits.

What do I want from our kids? Three young people who have given me their outward standards and appear “good”? Children whom everyone praises for their conformity?

Nope.

It’s a messy business, but I want their hearts. It’s sort of a triage. That means that there may be some things people observe in our kids, about which they may shake their heads and “tsk, tsk”. But, you know what? I’m starting to be okay with that. Because I know that although not everything observable is perfect, I am aiming at a deeper target. A higher priority which will govern it all, in time. What do I want for our kids?

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8

I refuse to play the “you’re a pastor’s kid” card. Their accountability transcends far beyond what people may expect of them. I want them to know it. I want them first to consider God’s opinion. He looks beyond the outward appearance, and into the heart. He sees it all.

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Heb. 4:13

This is what I want them to pay the most attention to…El Roi, “thou God seest me” (which is another of Katie’s memory verses).

So, you’ll see our kids behave imperfectly. They are sinners, just like you and me. They are individuals who have to learn to discern. We are attempting to teach them. 🙂 We are triaging.