Losing the Excuses {31 Days}
I have a lot of reasons why I don't invite people over too my house very often.
It's hard to keep it clean when you taking care of a baby
We don't have a lot of space
We don't have a dining room table
There aren't a lot of seats
I'd have to clean the bathroom
Our dog is so annoying, and we'll have to listen to him bark
And so on and so on. These are all true things. But they are silly reasons not to have people over. I actually enjoy hosting people in our home, but I am often unwilling to see past my excuses.
But, the other day, I told myself that I was sick of all these excuses and and decided to have our small group over for a pumpkin carving party. It was simple. And honestly, it wasn't that hard.
I knew that I didn't have to clean ever square inch of our little house--that it didn't have to be perfect. But I still spent the day cleaning and sweeping the very neglected floors. For me, it felt refreshing to clean and get ready--to enjoy the process of preparing for people. I made some apple, cranberry, and blueberry crisp and bought some sparkling apple cider. Keeping the details simple made the invitation for others to come in more doable and less overwhelming.
But I'm still working on muddling through the excuses I so often make for myself in order to avoid something that might be hard or work.
And when it comes to having people walk through our front door, I am letting go of the idea that our house needs more or isn't enough. Instead, I'll acknowledge that people are more important than an open floor plan or having a dining room table.
Are you a natural hostess or is it not your thing? I'd love to hear your ideas of how you make inviting others over simple and fun!
(see all the posts from 31 Days of Letting Go and Holding On}
It's hard to keep it clean when you taking care of a baby
We don't have a lot of space
We don't have a dining room table
There aren't a lot of seats
I'd have to clean the bathroom
Our dog is so annoying, and we'll have to listen to him bark
And so on and so on. These are all true things. But they are silly reasons not to have people over. I actually enjoy hosting people in our home, but I am often unwilling to see past my excuses.
But, the other day, I told myself that I was sick of all these excuses and and decided to have our small group over for a pumpkin carving party. It was simple. And honestly, it wasn't that hard.
I knew that I didn't have to clean ever square inch of our little house--that it didn't have to be perfect. But I still spent the day cleaning and sweeping the very neglected floors. For me, it felt refreshing to clean and get ready--to enjoy the process of preparing for people. I made some apple, cranberry, and blueberry crisp and bought some sparkling apple cider. Keeping the details simple made the invitation for others to come in more doable and less overwhelming.
But I'm still working on muddling through the excuses I so often make for myself in order to avoid something that might be hard or work.
And when it comes to having people walk through our front door, I am letting go of the idea that our house needs more or isn't enough. Instead, I'll acknowledge that people are more important than an open floor plan or having a dining room table.
Are you a natural hostess or is it not your thing? I'd love to hear your ideas of how you make inviting others over simple and fun!
(see all the posts from 31 Days of Letting Go and Holding On}
This is so good. Letting go of extraneous expectations is key for me too, with having people over. And yeah, we only have 4 kitchen chairs!
ReplyDeletei appreciate this right now! we are still moving and settling in and i am finding more and more reasons to not want to invite others over.. one of them being that we don't have a dining room table either!!! haha! i love hosting and i don't want to make anymore excuses! precious community is being missed out on when we create silly excuses to not join in fellowship :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE hosting. It's so fun and preparing the meal and dessert is just my thing! Sometimes things are as put together as I would like, but you just have to let go. I read recently in a Bible study I'm doing with friends, that when we host, we give people a small glimpse of heaven. They come to a place where they are loved, accepted, feel a sense of belonging and can just be. I LOVE that thought. I want my home to always be open to people. For people to feel like they can be themselves. That they feel like they belong and feel at home. Just a great thought! Maybe this will help you on those days when you'd rather just make an excuse why you can't host. :)
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