Just Open The Door: a book review

Hospitality can sound like a big and scary word. Images of appetizers, a table set with matching cloth napkins, a fancy meal plan, and a freshly cleaned (like every square inch) house.  Jen Schmidt breaks apart our preconceived notions on what hospitality is, and deals with each of our personal roadblocks to welcoming people in. In her book, Just Open the Door, Jen deals with topics such as available space, financial limitations, getting to know neighbors, hospitality on the sports field, the impact of one person trickling down to others, creating a culture of hospitality for your children, and spontaneous vs. planned hospitality (the benefits of both).

I loved this book! I had first heard about it from author and blogger, Crystal Paine, who had read the book, implemented the lifestyle/heart changes, and was so glad she did.  In her post, she shares that there is no one specific way to open your 'door'.  It may involve inviting a single person for coffee, a group over for dinner, new people and old friends, play-dates for kids, and hosting birthday parties. 

As you can tell from my picture, there were many pages I earmarked as ones I wanted to come back to later. Hospitality basically means welcoming people in as they are, and meeting them where they are at. For me, sometimes that even means meeting them at their house. As any mom of littles can attest to, sometimes it's just easier to have the play-date at your house so you don't have to pack everyone up to go visit someone. 

Ideas mentioned in the book included:

• having an extra blanket and snacks at sports practice
• picnic at a park
• neighborhood outdoor movie night
• spontaneous ice cream sundae bar (bring a topping to share)
• keeping extra pizzas in the freezer for impromptu guests
• inviting a new person over for coffee
• having a couch available for your kids' friends to join your family for the weekend
• using candles and favorite foods to welcome your own family in for supper (making them feel like special guests)
• "Come as you are" nights where your friends come in their gym clothes or pj's for snacks. 
• Walking alongside people in grief (meals, notes sent months later when everyone else has moved on except those who actually experienced the loss)

I received this book as part of the blogger review program with B&H Publishing Group/Lifeway . I was very thankful for the opportunity to review this book as it met all my expectations and will go on my recommended read list! 

Longing for another home.....

I have a list of characteristics on my "In my next home" list. Do you make those lists too? In my next home, I want room for a play room, space for chickens, space so the geckos don't have to live in our room, room for a second dog to keep ours company, etc. The secret is in finding a balance between having goals, and being content in your place in life.

The dream gives you motivation to make the most of your season. But I have to remember that I still live in the present, that the dream is 'not yet'. 

When my dog goes crazy because of all the foot traffic on our street, or the neighbor kids ring the doorbell and leave, or I have to downsize the garden because I can't keep hauling my littles to the community garden surrounded by busy roads, or I keep throwing away produce clippings instead of feeding my dream chickens, or I run out of space to keep the preschool materials organized, or I have to explain to my toddler that the people in the parked car right out side our front gate are making bad decisions, or our firewood is stolen........then my dream calls me with a fierceness.


But I live in the now.....and how I live now will determine if I will be ready for the dream when it comes to pass. Or if I will look back with regrets at how I wished away the time.


It's like waiting for this baby to come.   It takes forever!  The sickness, tiredness, emotions, and back pain make me feel like I will finish this marathon crawling the last 100 feet to cross the finish line.  I told my husband that I just wanted to be left alone so I could binge watch shows and eat ice cream for the next couple weeks...because I'm so weary.   That dream of holding our little one calls me with a fierceness.

But I live in the now......where toddlers still need to be raised, dishes washed, people invested in, and social events coordinated. And how I live now affects my life when that dream comes to pass. I don't want to wish this time away nor have regrets.

Jesus is coming back! Each night I pray with earnestness for that to happen soon. As I see footage remembering 9/11, or hear weather reports for the hurricane hitting the coast line, or even just read the news...I long with a fierceness for Him to return. But I live in the now...where people still need to eat, be loved, encouraged, healed and given the good news of His return. He offers victory over bondage and sin today, and the promise of eternity with Him.

How I live now has an eternal impact. I don't want to wish this time away. 

Let your dream fuel your motivation to make the most of your current season. Do all you can to be faithful in the present moment, here and now....so when that moment comes you'll have no regrets.  You can embrace that moment knowing you were faithful to complete all you were called to do in your present season.

Farewell Summer

Can you believe that summer is finishing and fall is beginning?  It's the transition stage where we still wear flip flops and paint our nails, yet we change our decor and dream of Pumpkin Spice everything (or at least I do!).  August was spent trying to soak in as much summer as possible! My husband told me I needed to rest more, but I countered it with I would after summer ended. :-)

Some of my friends are teachers, so we worked to squish in zoo trips, park dates, and lake trips before they headed back. At one point, we were making plans everyday so my daughter assumed that was the new normal, and started asking, "Where we going today, mama?  Where we going tomorrow?" Needless to say, she's had to adjust back to having "home days" too.

(our farewell trip to the spray park)

During August, my husband and I had the blessing of taking a weekend away while the littles stayed with grandparents. We read, talked, played board at, and (gasp!) slept in!  It was some much needed time away to breath, that probably won't happen again for months to come. We specifically chose a farm place where we could enjoy the quiet time, but that also had state park hiking trails near by.

What I've loved about August:
~summer sunshine and time with friends at the zoo, spray park, etc.
~Garden produce!!!

~Watching my toddlers develop a love of reading, especially the two of them reading together. :-) Today, the oldest was retelling a familiar story to the younger and I was impressed with her recall of story details!  It melts my heart to hear her reading/singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be" from Love you forever by Robert Munsch.

~Working more on Preschool as the days get cooler and summer activities slow down. 

~Reading: I'm currently reading Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt, and loving it! One of the main points is how we make "hospitality" overtly complicated and think we need everything (house, meal, timing, activity, etc) just right to be able to have people over.  And how people just want to feel welcomed....to your mess, your life, your blanket at the sports practice, your hotdog and potato chip picnic, etc. In her book, she shares how life changing simple invitations can be, which match her book tagline, "How One Invitation Can Change a Generation". 

~Watching: Nothing at the moment, but This is Us resumes shortly!

What are you enjoying about this transition from summer to fall?  I'd love to hear in the comments!

Journeying with you,
Felicia