Open Home, Open Heart- how to stay organized without really trying!
When your passion is people and relationships of the heart are a top priority, staying organized becomes a necessity but not an urgency. When you open your heart to people and open your home to meet their needs, you realized how much time you spend throughout the week focused on the nonessential things in life.
Relationships of the heart last a lifetime and neither time nor distance changes the quality of the friendship bond. You never know when that opportunity for deep abiding friendship will come into your life and capture your heart, so be aware and alert to all possibilities.
Early in our marriage, my husband and I made a commitment to have an open door policy. It became well known to our friends and to our daughters and their friends that they were welcome in our home day or night.
Practicing hospitality means opening your home and creating a safe and secure environment for all who enter. The attitude of serving and having an open heart and home becomes the vehicle for balancing an organized life with a life of trusting God moment by moment. At times it is humbling when someone drops by and there is laundry in piles all over the living room. For 6 months, just about a year and a half ago, my daughter and I had craft projects all over our living room. She was planning her do-it-yourself wedding. My husband was so kind hearted to allow the creative mess to linger for months and months. People just did not seem to care when they stopped by and sometimes would sit down and join in the fun of creative crafting.
Here are a few tips for how to stay organized so that you can invite people into your home spontaneously and be relaxed and able to focus on the people and the relationships that need to be nurtured and encouraged and people that need to be loved.
1) Always have extra ingredients on hand to throw together a simple but nutritious meal. A pot of soup or spaghetti and a salad can feed any friends that come by at dinner time. You can even serve a crowd “breakfast for dinner” with pancakes and omelets filled with all sorts of tidbits from your pantry and refrigerator. (simple from the pantry throw together recipes will be featured on the blog soon)
2) Try to keep one room near the front of your house clean enough for a friend to sit down with you for a chat and a cup of tea.
3) Be willing to let your guests join in the fun of preparing a meal or snack in the kitchen with you.
4) Keep extra baked goodies in your freezer to take to a neighbor or friend or to pull out to serve with a cup of tea.
5) Clean one room of your house each morning. By spending just 20-30 minutes cleaning part of your home each day, you will be able to keep your home tidy and relatively clean. (www.realsimple.com has many creative house cleaning tips)
6) Try some multi-tasking ideas with a friend included, like inviting a friend to go on a walk and then you can catch up while you get some exercise. Ask a friend to help you clean out your garage and then offer to help her with a project at her house.
7) Be willing to set aside your agenda for the day if a friend calls or stops by and needs to talk.
8) Have an attitude of hopeful expectation.
What lifestyle tips do you have for staying organized enough to be ready for spur-of-the-moments guests?
