#1. Prepare Your Heart!

We can spend hours scrubbing, cooking and decorating but if the heart we receive our guests with is not aligned with Christ’s heart, all our hard-work will be in vain.

Better is a dry morsel with quiet, than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs 17:1 NKJV

Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fattened calf with hatred. Proverbs 15:17

I have a very Martha personality and I find excitement in checking things of my TO-DO list. And, to be honest, preparing my heart isn’t always my top priority. I like quick results I can see. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

But the danger comes precisely when I’m checking things off my list.

But I, we, must always ask, “Lord, what’s on your list?”

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”

Ephesians 5:1 (NKJV)

My lovely friend, if you are a Christian, you have experienced the gracious hospitality of the King of the Universe. And it is His hospitality–His love shown in action, His welcome—that we are called to imitate.

And that is what should be at the top of our lists.

We have the opportunity to imitate:

1. His Invitation
2. His Character
3. His Actions
4. His Heart

**I encourage you to hop over to my 3-Part Wise Women Living Series: How to Prepare for Guests—The heart of Hospitality where I talk more about this.

In part 1, we dive in and discover more of the beautiful riches of God’s hospitality that He graciously, lovingly and generously extends to every person.

His love truly is unmatched and wondrous. ❤️

Opening our homes can be a scary thought as each one of us are very aware of our personal weaknesses.

However, if we want our invitation to reflect Christ’s, we must not distance ourselves from others in need.

We must allow Him to conform our hearts to His.

If we really desire to bless others and honor God, our welcome must be an imitation of His. Our hospitality must reflect Christ’s hospitality.

Freely received, now it’s our turn to give freely.

Below you’ll find 10 Ways to Prepare Your Heart for Guests.

Print it off for free & put it on the fridge or in a frame and be encouraged in the difficult or tiring moments that inevitably will come. 💜

And be sure to check out Part 2 in the series where we look a little more deeply at each one of these.

#2. Prepare Your Home! (or wherever you will get-together)

This step consists of all the logistics that go into hospitality. I know, I know, sounds a tad mind-numbing—not nearly as fun as some other elements may seem.

But having all the logistics in place really does make everything easier than trying to fly by the seat of your pants at the last minute—believe me, I know from experience. 😬

So I created something to take a little stress out of the process and avoid it from being so time-consuming—A Free, Printable Hospitality Planning Guide + Tips!

In reality, whatever the gathering there’s just 3 areas that we need to plan/prepare:

• The Location
• The Menu
• The Activities

And that brings me to step number three!

#3. Print off Your Free Hospitality Planning Guide + Hospitality Planning Tips!

My Hospitality Planning Guide + Tips comes with checklists & questions that will make planning each of these areas for your next gathering much simpler!

Let it take some of the stress out of planning for you so you can have more time to prepare what is most important—the heart.

Also, I invite you to head over to Part 3 of my Hospitality Series. I talk about the practical aspects of inviting others in as well as share some of our own experiences and the lessons the Lord has taught us through them!

Click here to download your Free Hospitality Planning Guide + Hospitality Planning Tips!

Happy Gathering! And may you revel in and reveal to others the Hospitality of the Most High King!

Love, Lauri

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And as always,

Be Kind. Be Encouraging. Be a Multiplier!