Preparing for Spur of the Moment Hospitality

                                                              Photo Credit: Einstein T.

Several years ago a young man stayed at our house for several weeks while his single parent was receiving cancer treatments.  Last week he was in need of some hospitality during the school day and, spur of the moment, we were delighted to have him join us again. Although we hadn't planned to have him visit for the week, and we ended up dealing with sickness in our family (preventing me from being able to do our regular grocery shopping), the week went very smoothly. It reminded me again of the importance of preparing for the unexpected when it comes to hospitality.

Our pastor often says that hospitality is simply sharing what you have.  I love this. It is something everyone can do!  My freezer has been a huge blessing in this area.  When we bake cookies I often will bag up some and pop them in the freezer.  If I see pound cakes on sale I like to get a few extra, slice them ( so they will thaw faster), and put them in the freezer as well. If someone "pops in" for a visit I can quickly send one of the girls out to the freezer to bring in a special treat for our guests.  In the summer I try to keep extra Popsicles on hand for when children are visiting.

The freezer is great for unexpected meal time guests as well.  Homemade spaghetti sauce, soups, and ready to bake casseroles are wonderful to pull out of the freezer at the last minute.  If you have extra loaves of bread in the freezer and a large block of cheese on hand, grilled cheese sandwiches are a wonderful spur of the moment lunch. I mentioned spaghetti...this is my favorite meal to prepare if I am unsure of the number of people who will be eating with us.  Extra noodles can always be added to the pot, and spaghetti sauce can be stretched by adding extra tomato sauce. Chili and soups are also wonderful because extra cans of beans and/or veggies and broth can be added at the last minute to accommodated more people.

I also like to find ways to let our guests know that we celebrate their time with us.  I mentioned on my post about multi-generation birthday celebrations that I love to get party napkins on clearance from Tuesday Morning and other discount shops.  Sewing cloth napkins is a wonderful project for your beginning seamstress and can  also make an ordinary snack more special.  Cloth bandannas, scraps of holiday cloth, and even out grown dressed can be transformed into lovely napkins. Thrift stores are another excellent source for cloth napkins.  Keeping different flavors of tea on hand and serving them in one of our special tea cups is one of my favorite ways to welcome ladies that visit our home.  Going the extra mile to create beauty for our guests is a way of showing them we value them, and having simple items like napkins on hand can make this possible at the last minute.

The most important way to prepare for unexpected opportunities for hospitality is to prepare our hearts, and the hearts of our children, to graciously welcome interruptions.  People, not plans, are to be loved and served.  Teaching ourselves and our children to put the needs of others first is a life long skill and one learned well by setting aside our plans to welcome others into our home.  Years a go I had a Bible study leader who was telling us about how her father would whisper "F.H.B." ( Family Hold Back) into his children's ears when unexpected guests would be coming over for dinner.  What a lovely picture of teaching young ones to put others first!  I hope that God will bless you with some unexpected opportunities to extend hospitality this week and that you will find joy in preparing in advance for the times that will  be coming your way in the future!

This post is linked at http://oursimplecountrylife.blogspot.com/ and http://jasmine-aboverubies.blogspot.com/ .  Be sure to visit these sites for great ideas on homemaking! There is also a link  found at http://raisinghomemakers.com , one of my favorite sites for moms and homemakers!

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