Archive | March, 2009

Christa's gift of decorating shines forth at the Valentine's Dessert

In light of our book study on the topic of Hospitality, I requested my dear sister, Christa, to share how the Lord has been using her in demonstrating hospitality as a single woman. She also includes some thoughts on how parents can encourage their daughters in this area. May this post encourage all young ladies out there to the great potential you have to impact the lives of others during this precious season! Christa blogs regularly over at Empowered Traditionalist.

It was our Valentines Dessert banquet, the tables were set, the candles lit, refreshments ready to be poured. I surveyed the dining room; there was three days worth of preparation in front of me. What if something goes wrong? Is the cheesecake too dry? Do we have enough drinks?

If you’ve ever entertained as a single young woman, I’m sure you can relate to the nervous panic attacks right before the guests arrive. Extending hospitality while single can be intimidating, but like any worthwhile skill, it just takes practice.

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Wel­come back for our chap­ter 4 dis­cus­sion on Prac­tic­ing Hos­pi­tal­ity: The Joy of Serv­ing Others by Pat Ennis & Lisa Tat­lock. This is part 4 of an eight week dis­cus­sion on this book. Past chapter summaries can be viewed here: part 1, part 2, and part 3.We are so glad you decided to join us! I Even if you are not par­tic­i­pat­ing in the study, I encour­age you to keep reading. Chapter 4 focused on Hospitality & Management. I was not able to summarize the entire chapter, due to it’s length, but here are some highlights.

SUMMARY

This chapter begins by emphasizing the importance of management to the successful extension of hospitality in practice. “Management skills are important for Christian women primarily because such skills are the key to extending hospitality with ease, enjoyment, and resourcefulness.” The authors continue: “Management involves organizing and planning all the details for each hospitality event. Organizing is the ability to arrange the various parts of your event; it implies that you are able to make decisions and accomplish tasks….Planning is the process of deciding in advance how to accomplish your tasks or goals.”

The end goal is to become “planners of generosity” with the help of three strategies:

1. Refuse Idleness – the opposite of idleness is diligence. The hospitable woman is willing to work hard as it takes consistent effort to maintain an orderly and prepared home. She is willing to pursue mentoring relationships with an older women if necessary to develop these skills. Above all, she is seeking to be faithful. She does not get consumed with undone tasks and give up, but rather makes a consistent effort every day to do her best for the glory of God.
2. Manage your home – Why is a managed home important? “Because a well-managed home views hospitality as a life-style – not just an event. You are living in anticipation that you will have guests in your home.” How can this be accomplished?

• Get organized – Take small steps. One room at a time. Create storage spaces. File, throw or give away items as needed.
• Establish a weekly cleaning schedule – For me this is Wednesday mornings. One week I do a basic cleaning of the downstairs as I see necessary, and on the opposite week I do a basic cleaning of the upstairs. This keeps it very management in this season of my life. Mondays is laundry day. Find a routine that works well for your family and stick to it!
• Identify daily cleaning chores
• Problem solve for your organization challenges – what areas do you struggle with and how can you solve these problems?
• Keep the pantry stocked – keep a quick meal ingredients on hand, including beverages and dessert.
• Prepare in advance for guests – What items might you need on hand for overnight guests?
  
• Straighten up before going to bed – take 5 minutes to walk around the house and make it generally picked up. This has helped me significantly! Involve your kids in the process before bed, if possible.
  
• Understand that orderliness, not perfection, is your goal.
• Have a proper perspective on possessions. “The purpose of organization is to prepare your home and possessions to be used and enjoyed by your guests – not to preserve them.”

3. Prepare for graciousness – Management is a tool to help facilitate a gracious environment for your guests.

The authors go on to share many further ideas about being prepared for hospitality which would make this post extremely lengthy to share. If you haven’t read it, I would encourage you to pick up a copy! I will continue by highlighting what stood out to me from this chapter.
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