Loving on Others with Guest Gina Smith
We just returned last night from a whirlwind surprise trip to Charlotte, NC to see our two oldest kids. It was fabulous but it is good to be home!
I tried to keep up with reading all of your comments from over the weekend on my phone. So many of you loved how yesterday’s guest, Renee Swope, hosted our family in a very simple way–take out pizza, store-bought cookies & watermelon!
Now, our guest today gives you some ways to love on others in your life who drop in. And, a few ideas for loving on family members or even taking your love on the road!
Meet the clever Gina Smith!
Gina Smith has served alongside her husband at a small Christian college right outside of Washington DC for almost 20 years, where she serves as the Dean of Women.
She previously dedicated her days to serving her family, but now that her children are both college students she fully enjoys her calling to mentor to women and young women in person and on-line with her blog Keepin’ It Real!
Gina has been a mom for 21 years and she and Brian have been married for 23 years. Gina also writes for RooMag.com, MomLife Today, and Internet Cafe Devotions.
Now, here ‘s Gina!
Over the years, I have taken advantage of the weeks before and after Valentine’s day, and I have collected things that I can use when I serve those who sit at my table. I love heart shaped things!
I have purchased heart shaped cake pans, a heart shaped pancake griddle pan, a bundt cake pan that has hearts on the top of it, heart shaped cookie cutters, and ice cube trays that make heart shaped ice! I stock up on gift bags with hearts on them, heart shaped sprinkles, and anything else unique that I can find with a heart on it! I love all of it!
Here are some ways that I am able to serve those who are in my home, and show them I love them:
~ On a cold day we serve hot chocolate with whipped cream and heart shaped sprinkles.
~ I’ll choose to cook lasagna in a heart shaped pan or I’ll bake a cake in the heart bundt pan.
~ On a Saturday morning I make heart shaped pancakes.
~ If my daughter is having a rough week, I fill a gift bag decorated with hearts with her favorite Bath and Body Works body spray and lotion.
~ When my son has been working a lot, and I haven’t seen him much, I put a bag of chocolate kisses on his pillow.
~ When my husband comes in from working out, I fill a glass with heart shaped ice cubes and fill it with water for him.
~ If I know someone needs encouragement, sometimes I will put a small candle, a tea bag and some chocolate kisses in a clear gift bag, tie a ribbon around it, attach a heart shaped card to the ribbon and give it to them when I see them next.
~ I love to look for any excuse to use my heart shaped purchases!
The heart shape symbolizes love. I want love to be my theme. Love for others. Love for my family. I want them to know they are loved and cherished.
When people come into my home, I want them to leave feeling like they were loved. Life outside these four walls can be really hard. There is pressure and stress, and people walk through my front door who are tired and weary.
I want my home to be a haven. I want to celebrate and love on people, especially the precious people that have been loaned to me for a few years–My husband and children.
Having these things on hand makes it easy for me to pull them out and make an unexpected guest feel like we have been waiting for them!
Thanks, Gina!
Today’s giveaway is a $15 Target gift card and a signed copy of my book, The Complete Guide to Getting & Staying Organized. So, you can feel more on top of your game and be able to buy a few items to help you love on others too!
Since we are nearing the end of our study, {sniff, sniff} to be entered to win, leave us a comment with one change you want to make in your life as a result of this study.
ALSO: This Friday’s idea swap & share will be on the concept I mention in the book called “hospitality on the road”. Be thinking of a clever way to reach out and love on someone that doesn’t involve your home but involves you going to them!
REMEMBER: We are also interacting over at Karen Ehman’s Book Studies on Facebook. Click here to “like” the page & join us.
One of my favorite things to do to bless a family outside of our home and I’ll admit I have not done this in awhile, is to bring dinner to them. I did this a lot when life was a little more simple. I would make a nice pot pie or casserole. My whole family and I would pile in the car and visit some dear friends. We would be talking, the kids would mention they are hungry, and I would ask if they would like to have a meal together. Of course, they would be into the idea. As they would be looking around for something to throw together, I would run out to the car and get the casserole. It always blessed the socks off of them
Stop stressing over perfect and just do it. Nothing has to be from scratch and nothing has to be perfectly clean.
Be more willing to entertain spur of the moment and not get caught up in it being perfect.
I would love to get organized so I have the time to all the serving I can!
We used to have people over frequently, but after a very hard financial loss I stopped asking people over for dinner. This study has reminded me that it is not the expense of the meal, how elaborate it is, but the fact that we share a meal no matter how humble. I have invited 6 people to share a modest Easter dinner with us this year and feel confident that they will all be enjoy a simple meal and the loving company that accompanies it.
I am going to take a small gift in an organza bag to a young Mom having difficulties and make a heart shaped card and give some chocolates and a small candle :)
This study has reminded me how fun hospitality can be. I have a lot of teenagers in my home, but I have put off having their parents over. There is no time like the present! I am inviting someone over this week!
I am hoping to incorporate a lot of these make my home a welcome place that guests want to visit again and again.
To just open the door to my home (clean or not) and say Welcome!
I want to be less concerned with the appearance of our home and more concerned with the love that fills it be displayed when people come over. My family hates the time leading up to company because I go spastic over messes, we have a brand new baby and a 5 year old for goodness sakes there should be mess!
My new ‘thing’ will be to just have our friends over for ‘no reason’. Over the years (nearly 20 married & 16 as parents) our get together were almost always for a special occassion – a big to do with lots of planning & stress. Even hosting the grandparents for a weekend visit was a stress inducing clean fest! Over the last few years our schedules have gotten even more busy and I had a really bad year 2 years ago feeling depressed. My faith & the love of my family got me through (they didn’t really know about it) and I decided then that my house, my life, my kids can’t be perfect, but God’s love is and my love can be. I started focusing on how people felt rather than what they thought of my house or how I looked. This study supports that with lots of great tips & ideas. I especially love the ideas of putting scripture all around the my home and of loving on my family & friends (today’s post). I hope also, to bring this study to our church! We have lots of active women’s groups & I lead one of the Bible studies… I think this would be a wonderful study for all of them.
The theme that has stood out to me is it’s not about me, my house, my food but the guests and how I can serve them. I had a party last night and implemented many of the practical ideas. I dejunked the main rooms then speed cleaned them. We bought flowers, had candles, played worship music softly in the background. I tried simple food-tried & true. Cheese & Crackers were the hit! I wasnt stressing about the house and my husband was getting worried about me. :) He came home from work and he found us napping. He said, “You know the kitchen is dirty and the chairs need to be wiped down?” This is very unlike me so he was making sure I was still his real wife and not an alien. I actually made my first centerpiece. Real easy: our unity candle, a blue bowl, white pebble stones. Better than having it sit in a box! So thank you for all your ideas! I’m practicing!! I invited another family to come over & I told them I’m going to practice on you. :). Thanks!!
I definitely want to keep my kitchen cleaner on a daily basis….it is the first room you walk into in my house and I want it to be a welcoming place for my family most importantly and then others! :)
I am going to plan more get togethers at my house and be ready for anyone to come to my house. I am going to start getting subscriptions to different magazines that I can leave out for guests. And start collecting simple recipes to use when guests are coming.
Realizing that having people over does not always have to be a 6 hour extravagant evening-it can be coffee or tea and a coffee cake.
I need to stress less and enjoy more! I need to focus more on others and less on myself.
There are several things I want to try: heart shape themed gifts & goodies, placing scripture creatively around our home, and creating a place of relaxation and renewal for our guests and my family.
First I thank God for this wonderful lessons I gain from you all. What I will do is to be more organized and not to forget the needy
P.S. I also love heart-shaped items and have everything from heart-shaped pillows to plaques and pictures on the wall.
To invite friends and family members more frequently to my home without fretting about the details and trying to have everything perfect. Thanks so much for all the wisdom shared in this study.
I need to worry less about things I perceive to be imperfections and trust God to provide me with the opportunities and means to reach out.
I want to change several things about myself from what I’ve learned in this study. The first thing I want to concentrate on is letting go of the high expectations I have of what my home should look like before I open it to company.I want to learn to put the ost emphasis on my guest s and not my home.
What a blessing this study has been! So many great ideas–my personal favorites were the hearts, the scripture around the house, and keeping a pantry stocked with simple things to prepare in a minute.
The main things I hope I will act on are–1) showing my family how very important and special they are and 2) making a point of inviting single moms and older single women into my home. I think both of these groups often feel lonely/left out.
God’s blessings to all of you who participated in this study.
I’d like to be more inviting. As an introvert who speaks public ally, I don’t really want to talk more during my free time, but God has placed people in my life that need my family to be a beacon.
I also love to pick up little things here and there that remind me of people — although not heart-shaped things. My friends and family would think I had lost my mind! I think that’s because, to reference another good book, my “love language” is gifts. But one thing I’ve learned so far in chapter one of “A Life That Says Welcome” (I know, I’m a little late to the game!) is that loving one another deeply is part of hospitality (1 Peter 4:8-10).