Hospitality tips

I've enjoyed a few posts on hospitality on the True Woman blog. Check out Making Things a Little Easier for some hospitality ideas. I also enjoyed the comments section on this post, and made my own comment about some of our hospitality adventures! We have had lots of people over in the last few weeks, and sometimes I've had to choose not to worry about the state of my house. If I was going to wait until my home was clean to invite people over, it would probably never happen - unless we hired a cleaner!

Humble hospitality

If you often have soup for dinner, why not pop over to Deb's post about the effect just a bowl of soup can have. Humble hospitality allows people to welcome others even when they don't have much. Dave has often said that it is better to joyfully serve someone a peanut butter sandwich than to fuss and stress about an elaborate dinner. I don't think I've served guests just soup and bread for dinner yet, but maybe it is time to do so! Hospitality is not about entertaining or impressing, it is about extending love to others and welcoming them into our lives. Read Deb's post and be inspired!

Soup for dinner?

Soup has traditionally been thought of as a first course to a three course meal. I don't know about you, but I never make three course meals! So soup and homemade bread has become a full meal for us. It is filling and nutritious, and there is not really a need for anything else. Besides, I can make a whole huge pot of it, freeze some, and have easy meals stored away. The gift of a giant pot (not pictured) was one of my most valuable wedding presents!


Our table is full of wedding/engagement gifts. Place mats, plates, bowls, pot, glass candle sticks, salt grinder . . . we also love using some crystal candle sticks that Dave's Mum and Dad gave us. It is wonderful to have a table that reminds of us of the many loving people God has placed in our lives.

What about you? Do you ever serve just soup and bread for a main meal at your house?

Welcome to our table!

My favourite time of day in our new home is dinner time. It is fun to have someone to cook for, and to decorate the table. It doesn't look like the picture below every night, but we almost always try to make some effort to have an attractive table and yummy food.


Nearly every night after dinner Dave reads a chapter of the Bible and we pray. Sometimes we even remember to do this when we have guests. We are trying to start a "family tradition" of a devotional time around the dinner table. Spiritual food is just as important as physical food, and combining the two reminds us of that.

We have also enjoyed making a good start at being hospitable, with guests at our table at least once or twice a week so far. Welcoming people into our home is one of the priorities we have for our marriage. I have been delighted to enjoy exercising hospitality with Dave, as he is an excellent host. He is also very encouraging with regard to my efforts at cooking and table decorating! It is wonderful to be able to minister to others as a Christian couple united in Christ. We were delighted last week to be able to act upon the true meaning of hospitality - love of strangers - through having two people we hardly knew for dinner. We had never met one of them before! We look forward to having two more sets of people around for a meal in the coming week. We often thank God for enabling us to be hospitable, and for blessing us so much in the process.