When it comes to hospitality, my friend Karen Ehman says it doesn’t matter what size your house is, how it’s decorated, whether or not it’s spotless, or what you cook or don’t cook. The secret to making guests feel comfortable is more about the condition of your heart than the condition of your home.
In Episode 17 of the No More Perfect Podcast, Karen and I explore how to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others. We also discuss what it looks like to be hospitable to our own families–which is sooooooo important!
Karen has a knack for inspiring you to make others feel refreshed, rather than impressed. She redefines hospitality in a way that anyone can make it happen!
In our conversation, we explore and answer these questions:
- What does it look like to have the goal of “refreshing others?”
- How can we really see people and focus on what really matters?
- How do we practically reach out to those around us?
- How can we “take hospitality on the road” if we truly can’t host people in our home for some reason?
Listen in as Karen and I talk about the fact that hospitality is not so much about being organized, but more about being purposeful and intentional. This is a great episode to get your head and heart ready for the holidays!
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Reach Out Gather In: 40 Days to Opening Your Heart and Home
by Karen Ehman
Keep It Shut: What to Say, When to Say It and When to Say Nothing At All by Karen Ehman
Keep Showing Up: How to Stay Crazy in Love When Your Love Drives You Crazy by Karen Ehman
Empty Nest Full Life by Jill Savage
About Karen Ehman
Karen Ehman is a New York Times bestselling author, a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker, and a writer for Encouragement for Today, an online devotional that reaches over four million women daily. She has written 15 books and Bible studies including KEEP IT SHUT: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All and Keep Showing Up: How to Stay Crazy in Love When Your Love Drives You Crazy. Karen has been featured on media outlets including TODAY.com, Redbook.com, Foxnews.com, Crosswalk.com, Focus on the Family and HomeLife Magazine. Her passion is to help women live their priorities as they reflect the gospel to a watching world. Married to her college sweetheart, Todd, and the mother of three and mom-in-law of two, Karen enjoys sending hand-written notecards, cheering for the Detroit Tigers, and feeding the many people who gather around her mid-century dining table for a taste of Mama Karen’s cooking. You can find Karen on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
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I was very interested to listen to this podcast because I struggle with hospitality. My mother always stressed out before anyone came over, and I don’t know why, because our home always looked great. (My sister and I always said we didn’t live in a house, we lived in a museum!) Perhaps she was worried about making an impression. To this day she still gets stressed when my family goes to visit. I try to tell her it’s not about seeing the house, but about seeing her. Still, I struggle with being hospitable myself. I find myself going on a cleaning frenzy before people come over because I don’t live in a museum and we are real and we are messy. I always cringe when the doorbell rings because the house isn’t spotless. I have begun to loosen up though, because my kids say their friends don’t care and my husband says guys don’t care what the house looks like. It really isn’t about what your house looks like but how welcome you make your guests feel that defines hospitality. Giving my kids’ friends a few minutes of my time and visiting with them is more important than the fact that there are unwashed dishes in the sink and on the counter. I loved the Grant 2 story. It just reinforced that how we treat people can later become an unexpected blessing to us. Thank you, Jill and Karen, for sharing your gifts of wisdom, encouragement, and hospitality with me. Your podcast had lots of great tips on being hospitable at home and outside the home, and I look forward to utilizing them. God Bless!
Kim, I’m so glad you found it helpful!
So glad you had such important takeaways from this episode Kim!