It Doesn’t Have to be Fancy
by Melissa Mulvaney
I don’t know about you…but for a long period of time I longed to entertain. A Martha Stewart feast in a Joanna Gaines designed home.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t cook anything like Martha Stewart, and I can’t decorate like Joanna Gaines, nor can I afford to.
So what can I do if I can’t entertain like that?
I can…
…show hospitality.
There’s a big difference, but to many people it’s a subtle one.
Entertaining is putting on a show. You know…a Pinterest-perfect meal on a Pinterest-perfect table setting in a Pinterest-perfect home with a Pinterest-Perfect family. I don’t know about you…but not a single thing in my life is close to Pinterest-perfect.
Hospitality is inviting people into my home, my life, my family. It might mean they eat a meal, it might mean they come over for coffee, it might even mean they stay the night.
And it might mean that my house is messy, my boys are rowdy, my dogs are unruly, there are dishes in the sink, the meal is ready late, and I haven’t showered that day. Because 9 times out of 10, one or all of these possibilities will be true.
But it’s in opening our homes that we open our lives to people.
Living our real lives in front of our real friends…this is what we should desire to do…not perpetuate the façade of perfection.
It means that I invite our friends over for dinner who have a family member in a wheelchair. Our home isn’t handicapped ready…but my husband and boys can help lift him and his wheelchair up into the house and we can serve the food in an easily accessible area and eat where he can roll to.
It means that I can invite a friend and her family of 5 who are passing through town to stay the night to avoid paying for a hotel, with only 2 hours notice. My kids can sleep on couches so my friends have comfortable beds and privacy for a night. And a quick vacuuming of the main areas of the house is good enough.
It means that though no one else is available or able to help us feed the homeless for our monthly dinner that I don’t have to cancel. I can make sandwiches and serve chips and fruit instead of a hot meal like we always serve.
It means that when a friend is recuperating from surgery, I can take a meal. A simple casserole, a bag of salad and cupcakes made with love is better than an extravagant feast any day of the week.
Opening my home, my life costs me very little, but makes an extravagant impact in other people’s lives.
How can you open your home and your life to others? We’d love to hear about it!
Melissa Mulvaney is a triple boy blessed mama. She is passionate about Jesus, writing, helping others and helping other ministries grow. She is known for being the loudest mom at her boys sporting events, ringing her cowbell until her arm hurts, dying her hair team colors and her loud (and according to her kids, embarrassing) laugh. She believes that if her loud, crazy laugh is her kid’s biggest complaint about her, they are pretty blessed.
You can read more at her Blog and connect with Melissa on Facebook and Instagram!
