When people tell me why they don’t show hospitality or invite people over they typically say, “I can’t have people over because my house is dirty. ” Please stop worrying about how clean your home is and just invite someone over. People want friendship more than they want spotless floors. Quit worrying about whatever is splattered in your microwave. In her book Welcome Home, Myquillyn Smith aka The Nester writes, “Hospitality is a high form of trust. It says, Here’s my mess, here are my unfinished things, and here’s the truth about me. Knowing you better is worth risking your knowing me better.
If you’re a Christian inviting other Christians into your home, you’re inviting your brothers and sisters in Christ to share a meal with you. I don’t know about you, but I’m not that worried about how my house looks if my brother comes over. He’s my brother. We’re siblings for life. If I have a pile of dishes in the sink I’m not worried that he will think less of me.
Which brings me to my next point: your value as a human being does not change if your home is messy.
Now let’s talk about practical solutions if a messy or dirty house is keeping you from inviting people to come over to your home.
If you want to have people over, but you’re in a season of life where time doesn’t permit you to clean up as much as you’d like, pretend it’s May 2020 and invite a friend to have lemonade with you on your porch. Remember hanging out with friends outside?
Sometimes people use the strategy of inviting people over as motivation to clean. I totally get that. I do get more clutter put away when we’re having people over for dinner than I do if we’re just cleaning up for ourselves. But seriously, people are more important than things. Invite someone into your home. You’ve heard it a thousand times and it’s still good advice: stop worrying about what other people think.
Maybe your house really, truly is dirty, but you want to show hospitality and need solutions. You’re aware the place won’t look like an Instagram post, but you want it to be better, more welcoming and less germy. Just clean one toilet and one sink. That only takes five minutes, and it’s really all you have to do in my opinion.
Bonus if you can take 60 seconds to clean the mirror and put out a clean hand towel. Don’t have time for laundry and need a clean hand towel for your bathroom? Get thee to a Dollar Tree for a pack of disposable guest towels. They’re like paper napkins, but rectangles. Still have a few minutes? Wipe off the table and kitchen counters. Boom. Clean enough.
Next, can you outsource something? Could you pay a child fifty cents to vacuum? Do you have a roomba that could vacuum for you? I’ve trained my kids to pick up the main living area before someone comes over. Usually I say, “I need you to pick up all of the cars and put them in the car drawer so Mrs. Jones doesn’t trip when she gets here in twenty minutes.” They’re great helpers because we’ve practiced preparing for guests so often.
Finally, please know that you can show hospitality with a messy home. You can make people feel welcome no matter what your home looks like.
Do you have a cleaning trick before company comes over? What holds you back from showing hospitality?
If you’re a Christian inviting other Christians into your home, you’re inviting your brothers and sisters in Christ to share a meal with you. I don’t know about you, but I’m not that worried about how my house looks if my brother comes over. He’s my brother. We’re siblings for life. If I have a pile of dishes in the sink I’m not worried that he will think less of me.
Which brings me to my next point: your value as a human being does not change if your home is messy.
Now let’s talk about practical solutions if a messy or dirty house is keeping you from inviting people to come over to your home.
If you want to have people over, but you’re in a season of life where time doesn’t permit you to clean up as much as you’d like, pretend it’s May 2020 and invite a friend to have lemonade with you on your porch. Remember hanging out with friends outside?
Sometimes people use the strategy of inviting people over as motivation to clean. I totally get that. I do get more clutter put away when we’re having people over for dinner than I do if we’re just cleaning up for ourselves. But seriously, people are more important than things. Invite someone into your home. You’ve heard it a thousand times and it’s still good advice: stop worrying about what other people think.
Maybe your house really, truly is dirty, but you want to show hospitality and need solutions. You’re aware the place won’t look like an Instagram post, but you want it to be better, more welcoming and less germy. Just clean one toilet and one sink. That only takes five minutes, and it’s really all you have to do in my opinion.
Bonus if you can take 60 seconds to clean the mirror and put out a clean hand towel. Don’t have time for laundry and need a clean hand towel for your bathroom? Get thee to a Dollar Tree for a pack of disposable guest towels. They’re like paper napkins, but rectangles. Still have a few minutes? Wipe off the table and kitchen counters. Boom. Clean enough.
Next, can you outsource something? Could you pay a child fifty cents to vacuum? Do you have a roomba that could vacuum for you? I’ve trained my kids to pick up the main living area before someone comes over. Usually I say, “I need you to pick up all of the cars and put them in the car drawer so Mrs. Jones doesn’t trip when she gets here in twenty minutes.” They’re great helpers because we’ve practiced preparing for guests so often.
Finally, please know that you can show hospitality with a messy home. You can make people feel welcome no matter what your home looks like.
Do you have a cleaning trick before company comes over? What holds you back from showing hospitality?
0 Comments