Entertaining Angels: Red Letter Words, The Hip Hostess, The Reluctant Entertainer GIVEAWAY!
I’m SO excited for this giveaway today! It’s amazing, and it’s all about hospitality, and my friends Dee and Debbie are joining me.
We live in a culture where most of us don’t have strangers coming to our door asking for food. During the Depression, however, my grandparents did have this happen. I remember my Grandma sharing stories with me of how she’d feed them, give them coffee, share God with them, and send them on their way. I will never forget how later in life when I’d read this verse (Heb. 13:2), I’d think of Grandma, but it would also get me thinking not only about my life, but our culture today.
Years ago when I started blogging about entertaining and hospitality, I asked readers what kind of people they entertained the most in their homes.
The popular answers were:
1. FAMILY
2. PEOPLE FROM CHURCH
It actually made me sad that we don’t reach out more to neighbors, people of different faiths, backgrounds, and cultures.
Why do we stuff hospitality into a box, making it so pretty, perfectly safe, and always predictable? (Many of us rarely even open up our homes!)
So today Dee from Red Letter Words and Debbie from The Hip Hostess and I are giving away 3 items to ONE LUCKY WINNER.
We want to challenge you to think about hospitality with FRESH EYES.
We want to encourage you to do something different, radical, and courageous when it comes to opening your home for a meal.
It’s up to you to decide what it will be.
The cool GIVEAWAY:
Red Letter Words
Hebrews 13:2 Entertaining Angels gallery wrapped canvas
12×12
Here’s how Dee’s work is mounted. Down-right classy!
(Read the “Design Story” behind “Entertaining Angels,” HERE. A must-read!)
The Hip Hostess
4 BRAND NEW spring prints (below) – the winner gets to CHOOSE ONE!
This is fun! Do you know any of these bloggers wearing HH Aprons?
BTW, the NEW Annual “Hurry Spring” Sale starts today!
Use this Promo Code: SPRING25 for 25% OFF thru Mar 31
The Reluctant Entertainer
ONE signed copy (Yes, I’m wearing a Hip Hostess apron in my book! The Nester took this picture, but I know she won’t mind me using it here.)
COMMENT TO WIN all 3 amazing gifts that will help you with hospitality!
How do you feel about hospitality and does Hebrews 13:2 challenge you?
Do you always have the same people over for dinner or have you branched out?
– Facebook this post or TWEET about it @SandyCoughlinRE and @TheHipHostess and @RedLetterArt and get extra entries.
– Did you know Reluctant Entertainer has its own Facebook page?
– If you’ve never been a follower of RE, sign up today. This means my updates will come straight to your email!
– Let me know for extra chances to win. Contest ends Thurs. night midnight 3/17. Winner announced on FRI. 3/18! (USA, only!)
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I just *love* to entertain! I don’t do it as often as I would like. Usually because I don’t have the circle of friends that are available! :( But this verse has opened my eyes to open my mind and open my home to others that I wouldn’t necessarily think of inviting over. I just love it!
I am going to make it a goal for 2011 to invite more people into my home. :)
Hospitality tends to come fairly easily to me and my husband as well. We tend to branch out, but could definitely do more of it! It’s unfortunate, in our culture, it’s hard for people even to recieve a polite invitation from someone, simply because they don’t know them. We’ve been met with a “no thanks” more than once :(
Hi Sandy!
I joined (liked) your facebook page… and I am enjoying your facebook posts!
I joined your Facebook page, I put a link to this on my FB page, I signed up as a follower of RE, & I’m about to post this on my blog. Just trying to increase the chances of this great give-away! (‘Course, I’d have to read it then pass it on to my daughter with her awesome practice of hospitality…)
My mother has always said I have a gift for hospitality. I don’t see it. I love having people over, I just stress myself out before hand. I worry if the food will be edible, the house clean enough, will the children behave. Recently, I hosted a Love Party on Valentine’s day for some ladies from MOPS. Some of them were friends, some were ladies that I was just acquaintances with who needed some extra love. Everyone had a delightful time, food prep was way easy and we were able to just love on each other. They have all invited themselves back for the same thing next year.
I subscribed! =)
Hospitality comes very naturally to me because life is not just about me – it’s about all of us – we need to make one another feel special & loved because we are, by God!!
Having the gift of hospitality & space to do it, we have had missionaries from around the world stay with us (one couple for a month, a couple of years ago; a family of 7 two weeks ago for a couple of days). We’ve also had the privilege of hosting numerous wedding & baby showers here over the years, & many “over-nighters” for various reasons. It is harder to reach out to those outside church & family, but we recently had the neighbors in for a Super Bowl party. We try to have a cookout each year for the neighbors, too. But I’m convicted that we still need to reach out more to those outside the Body/Family!
I’ve taught seminars & classes on hospitality, using the verses that “command” us to practice hospitality (not leaving it an option open to excuses). I pray that this has encouraged others to “just do it!” whether or not they have the ideal setting. I think it’s sad that we have lost the freedom to just drop in on each other…
I think the “hospitality gene” has passed on to two more generations… My daughter & her husband both have it & use it, & their children just expect to frequently have people at their house. Last week they had one of our pastors & his family over for dinner & an evening: they have 5 boys, 6 yrs. & under! His wife later told me, “NO ONE ever invites our whole family over!”
This is such a fun give-away, with all the “freebies” being wonderful! Thanks for reminding all of us to take the Hebrews passage seriously & practice it!
LOVE THIS!!!! This is so inspirational!!!
Great verse! When we first began having people in our home, it was always the same crowd of people. But now we branch out and invite lots of folks! My husband is a pastor so we have the opportunity to meet a lot of neat people and have them over.
I love that verse in Hebrews! I posted it on my FB status this morning. It does encourage me to be more hospitable when given the chance. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to do that, but I pray that God will give me more ways to show hospitality to others in my service to Him.
I love to entertain or at least I say I do. Schedules these days are crazy. Church friends/families, family, neighbors and school friends have graced our table recently. I’ve been known to throw a neighborhood party and drop invitations at doors to homes of people I wouldn’t know if I saw them and with great turnout (most people are very curious to see how others live). I’ve recently fallen off the wagon so to speak with the stresses of life and a busy work schedule. I should not be too busy to entertain for the verse you mention is very revealing that it is God’s intent for us to swing our doors wide not only to ones we know and like but to those whom He has set out before us.
Reminders are good. Blessings.
The thought of hospitality is always in my mind, but putting it into action is often put on the back burner due to the busyness of the day-i.e. 4 kiddos, running here and there, messy house;-) But every time I do open my house (and my heart) I am amazed at the rich, joyful return. My goal is to look past the busyness and just say “come on in”.
This verse has fresh meaning for me, ever since our daughter began working with refugees. We’ve had people from Iraq and Nepal in our home, and we have been the ones blessed. To share what God has given us with people who have been displaced and are looking for community has changed us, and we are so thankful to the One who welcomed us into His family.
Hi there! YES Heb 13 DEFINITELY challenges me. i am NOT so naturally open!! i have, thankfully, started to think differently about hospitality thanks to my MIL & my husband. In the past everything had to be PERFECT before anyone could come over – and therefore people came over LESS and when they did it was HIGH stress preparation. My MIL is a missionary in Mexico who lives SO simply [in an adobe house!] and LITERALLY has an open front door. Anyone, even a deaf old beggar man, can stop in for a bite. My in laws are Bible translators and always have people from the villages staying with them to work on the translation so my MIL is CONSTANTLY feeding them, hosting them, letting them stay over, etc. Her OPEN heart and home, in all it’s simplicity and less-than-perfect state has opened up a whole new world to me. AND since my husband grew up that way he is consistently reminding me that things don’t have to be perfect we can just be open to others. They’ve been a great challenge to me in loosening up and letting people in.
For the 2nd question: we definitely have lots of different people. Until the last yr we worked overseas in a Muslim country… so we definitely had people of other faiths and nationalities around our table! :) AND i had to learn what to cook, what things honored them, were important to them in being hosted etc. It was great. For exmple: A place setting had NO importance BUT there should always be 3 different kinds of meat served… and a fish head is the most desired piece! :)
I am moving in a few months and plan to show hospitality to my neighbors .Being a military wife, hospitality is part of the job with our units, but neighbors are usually overlooked.
I tend to have family and friends over, it seems like no one has the time anoymore but my goal is to open my home more because in the end, life is about the moments, not the “doing”….
As a military wife, hospitality is part of the job. We are moving in a few months and I plan to reach out to the neighbors as well as fellow military folks.
Hospitality is something I think a lot about. As a single girl in a new city, the fact that people were willing to welcome me into their homes made a huge impact on me. I can’t wait until I have a home of my own and am able to open my doors (and kitchen!) to many in a way that reflects God’s love!
God is dealing with me, on this issue,, funny you should blog about it. There is a guy that I invited to church, total stranger, saw that he had moved in down the road from us (bad neighborhood and all that), with his son and and just felt God prompting me to invite them, I FINALLY stopped and asked and THEY CAME!!! They’ve been coming ever since, but we stop there? Why? Like that is enough? No, I don’t think so. I’ve been thinking about having them over for dinner. I think this is just another sign. Thanks! I LOVE this give away, such gorgeous stuff! :D
Just this week I’ve been removing things “from my plate” so that I can get my house in order for several things – one being to open my house up for entertaining. In the past I’ve only had family and close friends over – and not very often. Thanks for the reminder. It so encourages me this week.
My daughter is pushing me to step out into a less comfortable entertaining mode. She is hosting a dinner but has asked us to open our home for it. This is some of the message on the invite:
“Cana Supper: Where in small, drab, windblown places God wants to do something miraculous and totally out of keeping with its reputation for poverty and pomegranates.
We would love for you, and whomever you would like to invite, to attend.
We aren’t exactly sure what God wants to do, but we believe God has been bringing particular people into our lives, and now is the time to try to get as many of these people as possible in the same room.
We would like it, if you would consider praying for our community over the next few weeks, specifically asking God to:
break your heart for the things that break his
and
to open your eyes to what He is already doing around us.”
I am reluctantly excited…
I would love to be more hospitable. I love to cook, to entertain but having people to my house becomes a difficult process for me as I have to make sure everything is spotless and perfect. What a horrible habit, I know. Instead I like to be hospitable out in public – bring food in for funerals, by a coffee, cookie or lunch for a lonely widow by him or himself in the local bakery. never do I put my name on it as I think being hospitable doesn’t always mean doing it for recognition. Bringing grace and love to someone unexpectantly is something I want to share with my kid’s and the feeling of doing it with out recognition makes it all that more worthwile. :)
I tweeted!
I absolutely live being hospitable, but usually its only for friends & family. I feel it would be better if I would start doing more about inviting neighbors, my children’s friends, etc that may need that hospitality in their life. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have “enough” food to invite the “not-so-close” crowd, but that may be just what they need!