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Classic Re-Post: Blessing Guests
By Kendra | January 18, 2010
Originally posted on April 10, 2006
♥
Often I hear mothers of preschoolers tell me that they cannot have guests into their home without feeling completely overwhelmed. You already know what I’m going to say, don’t you? A little organization and forethought can make blessing your guests both easy to accomplish and extra special for them.
But first you need a battle plan. I don’t do well by the seat of my pants, so I like to have things at the ready all the time. I keep napkins ironed and ready to go, because I don’t use cloth napkins regularly enough that keeping them ironed becomes a burden. We also have some sweet young ladies at church who are more than happy to iron napkins. It might not hurt to ask, especially if you have friends who are training their daughters to serve the body of Christ. Napkins are also easy starter projects for beginning ironers.
Can you keep your votives pre-filled with neutral-colored candles? Often a table with votives as a centerpiece is beautiful and soothing. Mine are filled with off-white candles that pretty much go with all my nice napkins and placemats. Votive containers and candles are really inexpensive at places like Cost Plus and Pier One.
If you’ve read my site, you’ll know that we have a Company’s Coming! chore list. The kids are really helpful with this because they love having guests and they know the extra work is worth it. What is on the list will not make my home a showplace but it will make it tidy and comfortable for guests (and the bathrooms will be clean!)
Sit down when you have a moment and make a list of several menus you like to serve. My list has three for winter and three for summer. When I’m feeling really uninspired or am having guests on short notice, I can glance at the list and say, “We’re having that!” Make out a shopping list to accompany each menu and half your work is done!
We have frequent overnight guests and so I gave them each their own plastic shoebox to keep things like toothbrushes and deodorant. When my mom drives up to visit for the day and then last-minute decides to stay overnight, she’s not stranded without a few essentials. I also keep a basket of assorted diapers in our guest bathroom and those have come in handy plenty of times.
Hebrews 13:2 “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. “
Topics: Home Organization | 4 Comments »
January 18th, 2010 at 6:54 am
This is so cute! I love the ideas!
January 18th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I’ve been thinking that we need to be hospitable lately, so this is very timely! We use cloth napkins daily and all I have to say is, “Who irons napkins??”
January 20th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Our napkins get laundered and then oh so delicately shoved into the basket. No need to iron here! Oh and when we have company we use paper napkins! I know…I’m weird!
February 10th, 2010 at 4:27 am
[...] There are a couple of websites that I’ve come across that give great ideas for learning to practice hospitality. One of my favorites is a blog called The King’s Missus. Lindsay is always showing great ways that she can be hospitable and giving without spending lots of money, like in this post HERE. Another woman I’ve been learning from is Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace in articles like this one. [...]